Texas A&M Registers Sweep in Season Opener

Friday, August 25

College Station

6:30 p.m.

Texas A&M

1-0

Sam Houston State

0-2

Sam Houston State

Texas A&M

Photo by: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics

Aug 25, 2017 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score vs. SHSU Photos

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M volleyball team lit up the newly installed, gigantic high definition video boards with plenty of highlights while posting a 25-20, 25-19, 25-22 season-opening sweep over Sam Houston State tonight at the Texas A&M Invitational at Reed Arena. The match also marked the start of head coach Laurie Corbelli and associate head coach John Corbelli's 25^th season at the helm of the Aggies.

Two freshmen, setter Camille Conner and middle blocker Makena Patterson, both drew a starting nod while making their A&M debut. They were joined in the opening day starting lineup by sophomore outside hitter Hollann Hans, junior middle blocker Kaitlyn Blake, senior opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor and senior defensive specialist Gabby Litwin who started in the back row for senior outside hitter Kiara McGee. In addition, senior Amy Nettles was the designated libero in every set, marking 283 consecutive set appearances by the San Antonio native, who moved within two sets of breaking the school record of 284 consecutive set appearances held by Suzy Wente since 1994.

Blake scored the first point of the season, registering a solo block on the first play of the game. Patterson followed with her first career kill, and the Aggies would hold the lead for the reminder of the opening set.

A&M was up, 13-10, when McGee put down two thunderous kills during a 5-0 run that gave the Aggies their largest lead of the set. The Bearkats, who were outhit, .378 to .258, later used a 4-0 run to get within 23-20 before Conner put down her fourth kill of the set and Patterson followed with the set-clinching kill.

SHSU scored the first point of the second set on an A&M miscue, but it would be the Bearkats' only lead in the match. A service error then sent Blake to the line, and she served an ace and then registered a kill as her dig sailed over the net and fell in for a kill, giving the Aggies a 3-1 lead.

A&M later equaled its largest lead at 22-15. SHSU scored two points to get within 22-17 before the teams began to exchange point for point for the remainder of the set, with a Bearkat service error closing out the Aggies' 25-19 victory.

A&M was held to a .159 hitting percentage in the set but still managed to outhit the Bearkats, who were held to a .051 efficiency.
The Aggies began to distance themselves from the Bearkats early in the third set and eventually built their largest lead at 19-12. SHSU, which was outhit, .250 to .086, then mounted a furious comeback, getting within 23-22. Conner ended the rally and put the Aggies at match point with her ninth kill of the match, and Hans clinched the sweep with a match-ending ace.

McGee led all players with 14 kills while hitting .440, and Hans added 12 kills. Conner dished out 32 assists and directed the offense to a .257 hitting efficiency. Nettles led in digs with 12, and Patterson led in blocks with four as A&M outblocked SHSU, 8-6, and held the Bearkats to a .124 hitting percentage for the match.

Freshman middle blocker Morgan Davis made her debut to start the third set and finished with a kill and two blocks, and junior defensive specialist Amy Houser also contributed in the win, appearing in all three sets and posting nine digs.

Brooke White had 10 kills to lead SHSU, which fell to 0-2.

The Aggies were originally scheduled to play their next match against Texas State on Saturday at 1 p.m., but the Bobcats pulled out of the tournament and returned to San Marcos tonight due to potential flooding concerns associated with Hurricane Harvey. The match against the Bobcats will not be rescheduled, and the Aggies will conclude the tournament against Virginia Commonwealth at 6:30 p.m.

The following are the results and revised schedule for the Texas A&M Invitational:

Tournament Schedule/Results:
Friday, August 25
11 a.m.      Texas State def. Sam Houston State, 3-0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-15)
4 p.m.        VCU def. Texas State, 3-0 (25-23, 32-30, 25-12)
6:30 p.m.   Texas A&M def. SHSU, 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-22)

Saturday, August 26
10 a.m.      VCU vs. SHSU
~~1 p.m.        Texas A&M vs. Texas State~~ (canceled)
6:30 p.m.   Texas A&M vs. VCU

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.

POSTMATCH QUOTES:

TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH LAURIE CORBELLI

On difference between this match and the TCU scrimmage…
"It was 180 degrees. We came really prepared to just play Aggie volleyball. We upped the intensity and quite a few other things after the scrimmage at TCU that gave us some really good messages. The team responded really well, and they weren't all volleyball things. It was a lot of mental things. I'm really, really proud of how they regrouped and got together as a team and decided on what they wanted to get done tonight, and they went out and did it."

On freshman setter Camille Conner and the other freshmen…
"I was sitting there thinking I had zero hesitation putting Camille on the floor. She's got the composure of a senior. She's got the steadiness of a senior or even older. The confidence and everything that comes from her is just so together, and I trust her completely. She isn't afraid to make an error and is willing to go for it every single rally. I just absolutely love it. I just love having her on our team. I think we are a very lucky group. I think the other freshmen that played tonight, Makena Patterson and Morgan Davis, both came well prepared and aggressive. They came not with a heaviness. They seemed so relaxed and so light. They really did a nice job. I love watching them block. I think they are going to become some of the best blockers we have ever had in our program in the middle. We have been working really hard connecting our setters with our middles offensively, especially in transition when there is so much going on and people are running around the court and trying to nail these three new players that have been playing together for three weeks now. How impressive is that. I was really excited and am grateful they are all in our program."

On blocking tonight…
"Most of the notes on my notepad tonight were blocking notes actually. We are pretty much sticklers on the discipline of the block, and I think we did an okay job. I think we are only going to get better, and that is what is so exciting to me. It is a really difficult skill to get really, really good at. This summer they worked really hard. Kiara's [McGee] physicality is even more than it has ever been. Our left-side blockers are getting really high off the ground and getting across the net far. Our middles are all coming in bigger than we've had and getting across the net well. Once you are in the air, that is the part of blocking that is the hardest to master, so that is the area that I know we will only get better and better. I was not unhappy with tonight's blocking. I just noted what we needed to work on in practice with regards to blocking."

On first match of the season…
"I thought it was a really great first match to have. They played great defense. They come at you front row and back row with some kids that aren't afraid to swing hard and swing at a big block. They don't live and die with crushing balls. They live and die with the block helping them score. They see really well. That is the challenge for the block is to not let them take over. It is not always controllable, but you can do some things to help that. They did a really nice job. They didn't back off on serving. They got in our gym and started beating balls. All of our passers are returners. They have a huge responsibility this season to take that first ball whether it's defense or passing serve receive and put it where we can do our thing at the net. They know it is a big load and that's what we need them for. They have worked incredibly hard, and they compete really well in practice every day, so I don't doubt that they will get that done."

TEXAS A&M SENIOR OUTSIDE HITTER KIARA MCGEE

On her kills tonight…
"I could give credit to Camille [Conner] for moving the ball around, dispersing it really well. On the block, John [Corbelli] just kept telling us to stay high, so I was obviously hitting over them and finding the spots on their court that were open. I just kept going with what was working."

On adjusting to Camille Conner…
"I think it really relies on the trust that I have in her, and I know that she is so hard working and wants to get everything right. She asks after every set, is that good or do you need something. She just works with all the hitters on that, which really makes me put my trust in her. It is different from last year, but it is not a total 360. Camille is such a good setter. She knows what she is doing and has such good ball placement out on the court for where we are supposed to be hitting."

TEXAS A&M FRESHMAN SETTER CAMILLE CONNER

On her first game as an Aggie…
"For the first time, there was definitely a lot of nerves coming in warm up just because this was my first time playing. My teammates definitely helped me get adjusted from the very beginning of warm up by just saying, 'hey you got it.' Once we got into the game, the nerves started to go away."

On her overall performance and kills…
"I have been working on [attacking] in practice just trying to be a threat because it opens up our offense a lot for our pin hitters and middle. Really for me, I was working on watching the block, seeing where the block was moving, and whether to attack or go to my pin."

On the difference between high school and college volleyball…
"The biggest adjustment is definitely the speed of the game and getting adjusted to that. It has definitely helped with two-a-days. We are in the gym a lot and getting a lot of reps and touches, so that is helping, but I am still getting adjusted to it."