Aggies complete tournament sweep with victory over UT-Rio Grande Valley
Texas A&M Volleyball took care of UT-Rio Grande Valley in a 3-1 win to claim the Texas A&M Invitational tournament title in a 3-0 sweep. The Aggies are now 7-1 on the season, picking up their sixth straight win with less than two weeks before conference play kicks off.
Hollann Hans earned the All-Tournament honor for A&M, while Camila Gomez brought home the MVP title. Gomez had 10 digs on the night and is fresh off a career-high of 23 against Texas State. Makena Patterson had 12 kills to record her season-high, followed closely by Lauren Davis with 11, then Mallory Talbert and Hans with 10.
Set One: 25-21, UT-RGV
Texas A&M dropped set one in a back and forth battle with the Vaqueros. UT-RGV made their presence known at the net, averaging 4.0 blocks and holding the Aggies to a .115 hitting percentage. The Aggies trailed early until putting together a 6-1 run to regain the 15-14 lead. At the 20-point mark, the Vaqueros led 20-18 until the Aggies quickly tied it up. Down 23-20, the Aggies called a timeout and went on to fall, 25-21.
Set Two: 25-15, Texas A&M
Down 1-0, Texas A&M responded with offense to take the second set. The Aggies recorded an impressive .480 hitting percentage. Patterson paved the way in kills, recording five more and a total hitting percentage of .700. She was followed closely by Mallory Talbert, who earned her fifth kill and an overall .571 hitting percentage. The Aggies took the set 25-15, evening it up at 1-1.
Set Three: 25-17, Texas A&M
The third set started off tight, but the Aggies eventually took the set, 25-17. Tied at 8-8, a significant injury timeout occurred following an apparent head and neck injury on a diving play to outside hitter Victoire Nama of UT-RGV. Nama was treated off by paramedics and carted off the court before play resumed. The Aggies led 15-14 after the first timeout of the set, pulling away with a 10-3 run to go up 2-1. Hollann Hans led the team with four kills and combined with two other Aggies for three aces.
Set Four: 25-22, Texas A&M
In another close-set, the Aggies came out on top 25-22 to secure the 3-1 victory over UT-RGV. Another solid offensive team effort, the Aggies combined for a .333 hitting percentage and had 16 kills, the highest of any set.
Postgame Thoughts:
Tournament MVP Gomez shared how special the honor she received was and that it was a team effort. Further, she believes this tournament was a good learning opportunity: “This weekend was important. We’re getting ready for SEC play and this was a good start,” Patterson said after the match. “Going forward, we’re keeping the same mindset we have now. The upcoming week is our biggest yet, we have to keep the confidence, be sharper, and focus on adding more personality to our style of play.”
“We can execute when we focus. We needed to beat them with speed,” Aggie coach “Bird” Kuhn said of the team’s gameplan. “Once we had rhythm and had success, we had confidence and that’s where we thrived.”
Next Up:
The Aggies host the 4-2 Oklahoma Sooners Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. On September 20, Texas A&M heads to Austin to take on Texas.
