COLUMBIA, Mo. – Texas A&M had a heartbreaking five-set (16-25, 17-25, 25-18, 31-29, 15-12) loss to No. 22 Mizzou after taking the first two sets from the Tigers on Sunday afternoon at the Hearnes Center. With the win, Mizzou moves to 10-3 overall and 2-1 in the SEC and the Aggies drop to 10-4 and 2-2 in league play.
Senior Hollann Hans registered her fifth double-double of the season after leading the Aggies with 19 kills and 10 digs. The outside hitter also had three aces and five blocks to go along with her stat line.
Junior setter Camille Conner also recorded a double-double, her fourth of the season after finishing with 39 assists and 10 digs. Conner hit .400 after tallying seven kills.
Freshman Treyaunna Rush logged seven kills to finish with a .400 hitting percentage.
The Aggies were strong defensively, finishing with 12 blocks, led by middle blocker Mallory Talbert and Hans, who both had five. Libero Camila Gomez recorded 16 assists and Taylor Voss registered seven digs and an ace.
Set One
Back-to-back kills by Makena Patterson and Treyaunna Rush gave the Aggies a strong start. From there the Aggies controlled their lead throughout the frame. Conner smashed down two kills in a row, followed by a kill by Talbert, pushing the Aggies’ lead to 16-11. Gomez was solid on the service line, recording two aces to continue A&M’s success. Patterson would secure the first set with her second kill of the match, 25-16. Conner led the team with four kills, a .800 hitting percentage and dished out seven assists in the first frame.
Set Two
Talbert and Hans got the Aggies fired up with a block to go ahead 5-2 early on. A 4-2 run by the Aggies would build their lead to 11-5. A monster block by Hans and Talbert put the Aggies on top 15-7 as Mizzou would call timeout. A&M’s blocking game was on point as the Tigers called their second timeout after another big block by Patterson and Rush to give the Aggies a 21-14 lead. Hans closed out the frame with her sixth kill, 25-17. After two sets, both Hans and Lauren Davis led the Aggies with six kills apiece. The Aggies also had nine blocks.
Set Three
Mizzou got on the board first and built a 9-5 lead. A&M came within two with kills by Rush and Patterson, but the Tigers came out firing. Mizzou took a 22-15 lead with a 3-0 run. A&M took advantage of a Mizzou service error and Hans smashed down back-to-back kills to give the Aggies some momentum. The Tigers called timeout to stop A&M’s run, eventually earning three straight points to take the set, 25-18. Conner paced the Aggies with five kills on a .625 mark to go with 24 assists.
Set Four
Mizzou put together five consecutive points to take a 10-6 lead. Hans was instrumental throughout the frame and had back-to-back kills to pull the Aggies within one. Both teams traded points, as the Aggies continued to trail by one. Mizzou was able to grab its largest lead with the score sitting at 20-17. Hans and Conner put the Aggies back within one, both smashing down kills. Hans and Talbert came up big for the Aggies with a block to knot the score at 20. From there it would be an intense back and forth battle between both teams. Patterson put down back-to-back kills at Mizzou’s set point, but both teams struggled with service errors to keep play alive. Freshman Rush recorded her first collegiate ace to give the Aggies set point, 28-27, but the Tigers tied it at 28 with a kill. A&M had set point with a Mizzou service error, but the Tigers rallied off three consecutive kills to push a fifth set, 31-29.
Set Five
Hans would get the Aggies rolling with a kill and an ace. A block by Talbert and Lauren Davis put A&M out in front 5-3. Mizzou called timeout and went on a 5-0 run to go ahead 8-5. A&M pulled within one after back-to-back errors by the Tigers, but Mizzou went ahead 11-7 with a 3-0 scoring run. A kill by Samantha Sanders and an attacking error by Mizzou pulled A&M within two. The Tigers had a four-point lead at their match point, but Mizzou was in the net and Talbert fired down a kill to stop the Tigers. Mizzou put down its final kill of the match to win, 15-12.
Texas A&M Post-Match Quotes
Texas A&M Head Coach Bird Kuhn
Opening Statement
“Finishing. That’s the name of our game right now no matter who we’re playing. We need to believe and execute from point one to point 25. We need to execute the game plan and stay aggressive.
Up Next
Texas A&M returns to College Station to host South Carolina on Friday, Oct. 11 for its annual dig pink game. First serve is set for 8 p.m. in Reed Arena.
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Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics