After riding yesterday’s three-set sweep, the Aggies’ insatiable appetite carved up some Tiger leftovers in front of the 12th Man (23-25, 25-22, 25-27, 25-15, 15-10).
LSU put up a fight in five sets, but it was not enough to overcome Texas A&M’s superior ball movement and block party. Senior setter Camille Conner put up an astounding 49 assists for the Aggies. Lauren Davis came away with 20 kills, and Morgan Christon had 14. Mallory Talbert contributed on both offense and defense with a double-double, consisting of 12 kills and 10 blocks.
Set One: LSU 25-23
Aggies jumped out early, but they let the first set slip away.
Shortly after the start of the set, the momentum swung between both teams, and the score was tied nine different times. Midway through, the Tigers got hot, registering three consecutive kills followed by an Aggie error. A&M head coach Bird Kuhn called a timeout to put a halt to LSU’s momentum, 9-13.
The Aggies responded with immediate points, pulling the score within one, 12-13. However, LSU went on another run, only to be matched by another Aggie comeback as Lauren Davis notched a kill to tie the score at 17-17. Her sister, Morgan Davis, put the Aggies ahead with a kill, 18-17.
LSU’s Fran Flory then called a timeout, and when the Tigers returned to the court, they answered with a three-kill run and forced two Aggie error.
The Aggies battled back within one, 24-23, but LSU was able to seal the deal.
Set Two: Texas A&M 25-22
Both teams rallied back-and-forth for the beginning of set two, but the Aggies took over the reins when Morgan Davis and Treyaunna Rush tied the score 4-4 with a double-block.
From there, the Aggies gained traction as LSU committed an error. Texas A&M followed by recording two kills and a block, forcing the Tigers to call a timeout at 8-4.
After the timeout, both teams continued to compete, and the Davis sisters kept the Aggies alive midway through the set. Lauren recorded five kills, and Morgan added two more plus a pair of key blocks.
LSU called another timeout when the score was 18-13, and both teams answered with two points each, making the score 20-15.
The Tigers went on a 5-point run to tie it up, and Kuhn called a crucial timeout. Rush returned to the floor on fire, getting three consecutive kills, propelling the Aggies to a 24-21 advantage. Morgan Christon slammed down a clutch kill to claim set two for Texas A&M.
Set Three: LSU 27-25
Things were looking up for the Aggies when Christon began the third set with a service ace. However, despite this dominant start, the Aggies could not pull it together for set three.
A&M maintained control until Taylor Bannister’s ace put the Tigers ahead, 5-4, boosting their momentum. Christon kept the Aggies in the set with six kills. Taylor Voss served an ace for the Aggies to put them ahead, 20-18. A&M maintained their lead until Bannister tied the score with a kill on set point.
The Tigers continued to bring the energy, registering another ace to take a 25-24 lead. Kuhn called a timeout to regroup, but the Aggies could not maintain their grasp, dropping set three, 25-27.
Set Four: Texas A&M 25-15
The fourth set started tight, but the Tigers fell fast after forging a tie of 9-9.
The Aggies scored nine unanswered points, and an LSU timeout was unable to stop this hot streak. The Tigers fought back, but Lauren Davis showed no mercy with four consecutive kills, 23-12. Texas A&M made winning look easy as they sprinted to the finish line, 25-15.
Set Five: Texas A&M 15-10
In the fifth and final set, the score fluctuated, but the Aggies came out on top.
Even at 4-4, the Tigers pulled ahead, scoring three consecutive points, making it 7-4. Kuhn again called a timeout, and the Aggies continue to fight.
Rush recorded two kills for Texas A&M. Voss served an ace to tie the score, 9-9. LSU called a timeout after the Aggies extended the gap to 12-9. From there, the Aggies held the Tigers to one point and celebrated their win after Christon knocked down the game-winning kill, 15-10.
Postgame Thoughts
"I'm proud of our team. That was a huge team win,” Kuhn said. “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.”
Kuhn talked about the success of her underclassmen, saying: "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 the 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."
"I think it was a really good offensive night overall for the team,” Lauren Davis said. “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."
Outside hitter Christon touched 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 at what that did for us tonight."
Up Next: The Aggies will now gear up for Ole Miss this Thursday, October 22. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. at Gillom Sports Center.
That is unthinkable, and it would bury Aggie VB in the minds of many.cs69ag said:
Did we have any Aggie team members taking a knee for the National Anthem?