BATON ROUGE, La. – Texas A&M rallied back from a 2-1 deficit and improved to 3-0 in Southeastern Conference play for the first time since joining the league with a 24-26, 25-21, 20-25, 25-23, 15-13 victory over LSU today at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Aggie sophomore setter Camille Conner led the charge as she posted a triple-double for the first time this season and the second time in her career with 46 assists along with 13 kills and 18 digs, both career highs. She directed a balanced offense that resulted in four players recording double-figure kills for the first time this season.
Junior outside hitter Hollann Hans led the Aggies and tied for match-high honors in kills with 21, marking her sixth 20-or-more kill performance of the season. She also had a career-high 18 digs to complete her team-leading sixth double-double of the season. Sophomore middle blocker Makena Patterson pitched in a career-high 15 kills while hitting .414 and finished with a personal high 15.5 points. In addition, sophomore opposite hitter Samantha Sanders tied her season high with 11 kills.
Defensively, A&M senior libero Amy Houser, the reigning SEC Player of the Week, tallied the first double-double of her career with a personal-best 11 assists and a match-high 24 digs, tying her career best.
Taylor Bannister led LSU with 21 kills and led all players with 24 points.
As a team, A&M led LSU in kills (68-65), attacks (209-192), and assists (62-58). LSU led in hitting efficiency (.234 to .201), digs (97-90) and blocks (10-4).
The Aggies, playing their second consecutive five-set match, improve to 10-5 overall, having won three consecutive matches for the first time this season. LSU suffers its fourth consecutive loss and falls to 5-10 overall and 0-4 in conference play.
UP NEXT
The Aggies continue their three-match road swing next weekend, taking on No. 11 Florida in Gainesville on Friday, Oct. 5 and South Carolina in Columbia on Sunday, Oct. 7. First serve against the Gators is at 6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, and the match will be televised on SEC Network.
SET-BY-SET SUMMARIES
Set 1 – There were 12 ties and five lead changes in the closely contested set. A&M had used a 4-0 run to equal its largest lead at 18-16, but the Tigers countered with a 6-1 run to go up, 22-19, forcing A&M to call a timeout. An LSU error, an off-speed kill by Hans and an ace by A&M junior outside hitter Brookah Palmer tied the score at 22-22. Following an LSU timeout, the Tigers got a kill from Bannister, but a service error tied the score at 23-23. Hans was credited with a kill on the ensuing play and put the Aggies at set point after LSU’s challenge of a touch called on the play was ruled inconclusive. Bannister kept the Tigers alive and knotted the score, 24-24, with a kill, and Milan Stokes followed with a kill to put LSU at set point. Bannister, who hit .750 in the set to lead LSU to a .405 to .289 lead in hitting efficiency, then put down her ninth kill of the frame to close out the win for the Tigers.
Set 2 – LSU, which outhit A&M, .083 to .053, had built its largest lead at 17-13 before A&M outscored the Tigers, 7-1, to take a 20-18 lead. An A&M attack error put the Tigers within 20-19, but LSU’s next serve attempt sailed long. Houser then stepped to the service line and recorded two aces during a 4-0 run that put the Aggies at set point, 24-19. The Tigers got a kill and a block to get within 24-21 but served into the net to end the set and even the match at a set apiece.
Set 3 – A&M jumped out to an 8-2 lead but the Tigers chipped away at the deficit. A&M clung to an 11-9 advantage before the Tigers went on a 9-1 run to go up 18-12. The Aggies, who were outhit, .175 to .106, got within 23-20 but could get no closer before an LSU kill and an ace ended the frame, 25-20, giving LSU a 2-1 lead in the match.
Set 4 – LSU spotted A&M a 5-0 lead to begin the set but eventually took its first lead at 10-9 on an ace. The Tigers continued to lead, 15-13, before Sanders, Patterson and Palmer each had a kill during a 4-0 run that returned the lead to A&M, 17-15. A&M, which narrowly outhit LSU, .277 to .271, continued to hold onto a two-point lead at 22-20 before LSU got three consecutive kills to take the lead, 23-22, forcing the Aggies to call a timeout. Freshman middle blocker Mallory Talbert got a kill coming out of the timeout, and Sanders followed with a kill to put A&M at set point. LSU’s next attack sailed wide to end the set and force a decisive fifth set.
Set 5 – There were 10 ties and four lead changes in the final stanza as neither team could build more than a two-point lead. A&M, which outhit LSU, .281 to 192, held onto a 12-11 advantage, but a bad set and a kill by Stokes gave the Tigers a 13-12 edge, forcing A&M to call a timeout. Hans came out of the timeout and blasted a kill through the block to even the score, 13-13, and Sanders and Talbert teamed for a block to put the Aggies at match point. Hans then recorded her seventh kill of the frame, tooling the LSU block for the match-winning kill.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Laura “Bird” Kuhn
On her thoughts on the match…
“The team fought and finished. We need to be way more consistent in who we are, but I’m proud of the way we earned that road win. We had a balanced offense and leaned on players [Mallory Talbert] to do their job coming off the bench.
“Amy Houser wills this team to win with how she competes. It’s so great to see and feel the team rally behind each other and find ways to win.”
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Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics