BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 8 Texas A&M Volleyball team fought off the LSU Tigers in five sets (23-25, 25-22, 25-27, 25-15, 15-10) on Sunday afternoon at Reed Arena. The Aggies improve to 2-0 overall, while the Tigers fall to 0-2.
Sophomores Lauren Davis and Morgan Christon were unstoppable on both sides of the net. Lauren Davis set career highs in both kills (20) and blocks (6). Lauren Davis also finished with a .349 hitting percentage. Christon recorded her second career double-double after finishing with 14 kills and 12 digs. Christon also tied her career high in aces after dropping in two.
The Texas A&M sophomore class continued to be impressive tonight as opposite hitter Treyaunna Rush slammed down nine kills, had three blocks and set a career high in digs with six. Libero Karly Basham tallied a career high in digs with 23.
Junior middle blocker Mallory Talbert recorded her first career double-double after slamming down 12 kills and sending back 10 blocks. Talbert also set career highs in block assists (8), total blocks (10) and points (18).
Senior leader Camille Conner paced the offense, dishing out 49 assists and tallying 11 digs. She recorded her second consecutive double-double and 29th of her career. Conner also finished with seven kills and four blocks. Fellow senior teammate Morgan Davis finished the day with five kills and five blocks.
Junior defensive specialists Allison Fields and Taylor Voss both finished in double figures in digs. Voss finished with 17 and Fields had 10.
Texas A&M returns to the action Oct. 22-23 at Ole Miss. First serve in Oxford, Miss. on Thursday, Oct. 22 is set for 6:30 p.m. and will air on the SEC Network.
Key Stats:
A&M has won 10 consecutive matches in Reed Arena dating back to Oct. 27, 2019
Lauren Davis had career highs in both kills (20) and blocks (6)
Karly Basham had a career high in digs (23)
Mallory Talbert set a career high in block assists (8), total blocks (10) and points (18) and tied her career high in solo blocks (2)
Treyaunna Rush set a career high in digs (6)
Taylor Voss tied her career high in assists (3)
Morgan Christon tied her career high in aces (2)
Three players recorded a double-double
Conner finished with a double-double for two consecutive matches and records her 29th career double-double (49 assists, 11 digs)
Christon records her second career double-double and first as an Aggie (14 kills, 12 digs)
Talbert records her first career double-double (12 kills, 10 blocks)
Post-Match Quotes
Head Coach Bird Kuhn
Opening Statement…
“I’m proud of our team. That was a huge team win. We had a lot of people step up. We made some changes during the match. Our foundation is our ball control, so we always kind of lean on that; that’s our roots. It was a huge team win, and you love to see people come in off the bench and have an impact. Even if we make other changes throughout the match, it doesn’t change the chemistry and energy that this team has.”
On what excites her the most about the young players on the team…
“We always talk about this. There is no age once we’re out on the court. We tell them that from day one, but it’s just cool to see them all feed off each other. I mean their energy and the way they train, it correlates to match it, so to see them and their personalities in match, that’s one of my favorite things, because you see it in our gym. For them to do that on the court in front of everybody and be who they are, that’s what you want to see. That’s when they’re the most comfortable and they’re in their element.”
Sophomore Outside Hitter Lauren Davis
On the team’s offensive performance…
“I think it was a really good offensive night overall for the team. Camille [Conner] did a nice job splitting up the sets and getting the one on ones through the whole game, which was able to open up options for everyone in the front row consistently. Overall we as a team just took advantage of those opportunities.”
On the schedule being back-to-back days of play…
“I think it is definitely interesting, especially going from last year to this year. We now have to transition faster from team to team. Preparation wise it’s been good since we have a full week to prepare for teams. Resetting after every game is going to be an adjustment throughout the season and taking advantage of every game being a new set at hand. We’ll have to make adjustments to their adjustments, but stick to our game plan at the same time. It’ll be interesting, but I also see it as something fun and exciting being able to take each game like it’s brand new.”
On playing alongside her sister and key blocks tonight…
“It’s really exciting being able to play next to my sister. She is a big energy girl and I like to think of myself as a happy player. We feed off each other out there. I think the blocks out there were huge tonight. Our blocks helped our defense out and our defense made our blocks look even better. We keyed in hard on that and stuck to our game plan of doing just that.”
Sophomore Outside Hitter Morgan Christon
On her match ending point…
“It felt good to help my team out and see them happy at the end. I was proud we were able to go five sets and feel the win at the end of it. I know we practiced going the whole five, which was tough, but we pushed through and look what that did for us tonight.”
On coming in off the bench…
“I just wanted to come in and do my job to help the team in any way I could.”
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Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics