ATHENS, Ga. – Texas A&M hit a season-high .379 to sweep Georgia, 25-22, 25-14, 25-18, tonight at the Ramsey Center.
The victory ended a rough four-match stretch by the Aggies, who improve to 4-6 overall and 1-2 in Southeastern Conference matches. Georgia falls to 11-5, including 1-2 in SEC matches.
The Aggies got solid production from the outside hitters with Kiara McGee taking match-high honors with 13 kills while hitting .333. Hollann Hans pitched in 12 kills while hitting at a .435 clip. Setter Camille Conner directed the offense and finished with 35 assists and libero Amy Nettles led the back row with a match-high 12 digs.
The first set was tightly contested with 15 ties and five lead changes. Georgia equaled its largest lead at 18-16 before A&M went on a 3-0 run. The teams traded points and the score was tied, 20-20 before Nettles got a play-saving dig that led to a kill by middle blocker Kaitlyn Blake. Opposite hitter Samantha Sanders followed with a solo block and defensive specialist Amy Houser followed with an ace to put the Aggies ahead, 23-20. Georgia tooled the block to end the run, but Blake countered with a kill that put A&M at set point. The Bulldogs fought off set point with a kill but then served long to close at the set.
A&M, which hit .312 in the opening set, hit a blistering .565 in the second set while holding the Bulldogs to a .094 hitting efficiency in a dominating 25-14 victory to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Georgia held a 10-8 lead when McGee caught fire, posting three kills and a solo block during a 4-0 run that put the Aggies up for good. A&M later used a 7-0 run, capped by back-to-back blocks by Sanders and Blake, to go up, 20-12. Georgia ended the scoring streak with a pair of kills, but Hans put down three kills down the final 5-0 stretch, including a kill on a Georgia errant overpass for the set winner.
The Aggies led the entire third set while outhitting the Bulldogs, .312 to .138. A&M held a 7-5 lead when Conner powered down a kill to begin a 5-0 run by the Aggies. A&M continued to pull away, later using an 8-2 run to build its largest lead, 21-11.
Georgia would use a 4-0 run to get within 23-17 but committed a service error to put the Aggies at match point. The Bulldogs got a kill off the block before McGee put down the match-clinching kill.
T'ara Ceasar led the Bulldogs with eight kills but was held to a .040 hitting percentage.
The Aggies conclude a two-match road swing at No. 1 Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 3 before returning home to host Mississippi State on Oct. 8.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M volleyball team on Facebook and on Twitter and Instagram by following @AggieVolleyball.
TEXAS A&M POSTMATCH QUOTES:
HEAD COACH LAURIE CORBELLI
Opening Statement...
"We had such a fun night, one of the best matches the team has played together in a long time. We put it all together from our offense to our defense. The team has worked really hard this week on being more focused on better execution in a couple areas of our game that we have done a whole lot better job at. We are really excited about it. The team is thrilled in the locker room having a big celebration. We feel like we got ourselves back, and it feels really good."
On key contributions…
"I think quite a few people did stand out for this to happen, but I was most impressed with Camille Conner. Another on the road conference match that we really needed her to distribute well and locate well, and she just did a beautiful job. Our passing has improved a lot, and that's really the thing that has kept us out of contention the last couple of matches. Our passing was really been struggling, and now I think we are starting to get into a better grove with it and it certainly helps her and it helps the offense. I loved Camille's performance. I thought Amy Nettles played great, her passing and her defense. The outside hitters had some of the higher hitting percentages that they have hit in a very long time. They had very few errors. That was a big goal for us. To get Kiara [McGee] and Hollann [Hans] both and Samantha [Sanders], to get her going on the right is really effective and really good. We wanted to really get [Kaitlyn] Blake going again, and with the better passing, we are able to get our middles going. It's starting to feel more balanced, more like the Aggie way."
The victory ended a rough four-match stretch by the Aggies, who improve to 4-6 overall and 1-2 in Southeastern Conference matches. Georgia falls to 11-5, including 1-2 in SEC matches.
The Aggies got solid production from the outside hitters with Kiara McGee taking match-high honors with 13 kills while hitting .333. Hollann Hans pitched in 12 kills while hitting at a .435 clip. Setter Camille Conner directed the offense and finished with 35 assists and libero Amy Nettles led the back row with a match-high 12 digs.
The first set was tightly contested with 15 ties and five lead changes. Georgia equaled its largest lead at 18-16 before A&M went on a 3-0 run. The teams traded points and the score was tied, 20-20 before Nettles got a play-saving dig that led to a kill by middle blocker Kaitlyn Blake. Opposite hitter Samantha Sanders followed with a solo block and defensive specialist Amy Houser followed with an ace to put the Aggies ahead, 23-20. Georgia tooled the block to end the run, but Blake countered with a kill that put A&M at set point. The Bulldogs fought off set point with a kill but then served long to close at the set.
A&M, which hit .312 in the opening set, hit a blistering .565 in the second set while holding the Bulldogs to a .094 hitting efficiency in a dominating 25-14 victory to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Georgia held a 10-8 lead when McGee caught fire, posting three kills and a solo block during a 4-0 run that put the Aggies up for good. A&M later used a 7-0 run, capped by back-to-back blocks by Sanders and Blake, to go up, 20-12. Georgia ended the scoring streak with a pair of kills, but Hans put down three kills down the final 5-0 stretch, including a kill on a Georgia errant overpass for the set winner.
The Aggies led the entire third set while outhitting the Bulldogs, .312 to .138. A&M held a 7-5 lead when Conner powered down a kill to begin a 5-0 run by the Aggies. A&M continued to pull away, later using an 8-2 run to build its largest lead, 21-11.
Georgia would use a 4-0 run to get within 23-17 but committed a service error to put the Aggies at match point. The Bulldogs got a kill off the block before McGee put down the match-clinching kill.
T'ara Ceasar led the Bulldogs with eight kills but was held to a .040 hitting percentage.
The Aggies conclude a two-match road swing at No. 1 Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 3 before returning home to host Mississippi State on Oct. 8.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M volleyball team on Facebook and on Twitter and Instagram by following @AggieVolleyball.
"We had such a fun night...one of the best matches the team's played in a long time. We're really excited." -@LCorbelli #12thMan pic.twitter.com/Z5qa7LyHc7
— Texas A&M Volleyball (@AggieVolleyball) September 30, 2017
TEXAS A&M POSTMATCH QUOTES:
HEAD COACH LAURIE CORBELLI
Opening Statement...
"We had such a fun night, one of the best matches the team has played together in a long time. We put it all together from our offense to our defense. The team has worked really hard this week on being more focused on better execution in a couple areas of our game that we have done a whole lot better job at. We are really excited about it. The team is thrilled in the locker room having a big celebration. We feel like we got ourselves back, and it feels really good."
On key contributions…
"I think quite a few people did stand out for this to happen, but I was most impressed with Camille Conner. Another on the road conference match that we really needed her to distribute well and locate well, and she just did a beautiful job. Our passing has improved a lot, and that's really the thing that has kept us out of contention the last couple of matches. Our passing was really been struggling, and now I think we are starting to get into a better grove with it and it certainly helps her and it helps the offense. I loved Camille's performance. I thought Amy Nettles played great, her passing and her defense. The outside hitters had some of the higher hitting percentages that they have hit in a very long time. They had very few errors. That was a big goal for us. To get Kiara [McGee] and Hollann [Hans] both and Samantha [Sanders], to get her going on the right is really effective and really good. We wanted to really get [Kaitlyn] Blake going again, and with the better passing, we are able to get our middles going. It's starting to feel more balanced, more like the Aggie way."