Freshman Conner Leads Texas A&M to Tournament Title

Saturday, August 26

College Station

6:30 p.m.

Texas A&M

2-0

VCU

2-1

VCU

Texas A&M

Photo by: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics

Aug 26, 2017 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (A&M 3, VCU 0)Photos

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Freshman setter Camille Conner earned tournament MVP honors after leading the Aggies to their own Texas A&M Invitational title with a 25-12, 25-20, 25-14 victory over Virginia Commonwealth tonight at Reed Arena.

Senior outside hitter Kiara McGee averaged a team-leading 4.17 kills per set while hitting .435 to earn the tournament's best attacker award, and freshman middle blocker Makena Patterson averaged 1.33 blocks per set to deserve best blocker accolades as the Aggies improved to 2-0 and posted their second consecutive sweep.

Texas A&M began the match with three freshmen in the starting lineup, Connor and Patterson as well as opposite hitter Samantha Sanders, who drew the first start of her career. It was another underclassman, sophomore outside hitter Hollann Hans who jumpstarted the Aggies in the opening set, accounting for six of A&M's first eight points, including a stretch in which she had a kill followed by three consecutive aces to put the Aggies ahead, 8-3.

A&M continued to pull away as Conner ran a balanced offense that outhit the Rams, .357 to .160, in the frame. Junior middle blocker Kaitlyn Blake put down a kill to put the Aggies at set point, 24-11. VCU staved off one set point before Blake teamed with McGee for a set-ending block.

Resilient and reliable senior libero Amy Nettles broke an A&M record at the start of the second stanza, as she played in her 285^th consecutive set to break the previous record of 284 consecutive sets played held by Suzy Went since 1994.

There were six ties and three lead changes early in the frame, with Conner registering a kill to put the Aggies up 10-9 and give them a lead. It was a lead A&M would lose as the Aggies outhit VCU, .314 to .286. A&M equaled its largest lead at 21-15 following an off-speed kill by Hans, but the Aggies then committed three consecutive errors to put the Rams within 21-18. The teams then exchanged points with a VCU service error putting A&M at set point. Blake capped the set and gave the Aggies a 2-0 lead in the match, winning a battle at the net and notching her fourth kill in the set.

VCU held a narrow 7-6 lead in the third and final set before A&M went on a 9-1 run to go up 15-8. The Rams, who were held to a -.061 hitting percentage, could get no closer than five points and were trailing 20-14 before Patterson got a kill and Hans followed with her career-high tying fourth ace of the match. A VCU attack error and a solo block by Patterson put the Aggies at match point, and a Ram attack error ended the match.

McGee led all players with 11 kills while hitting .429. Patterson pitched in nine kills along with four blocks, and Hans and Blake had eight and seven kills, respectively.

Conner finished with 34 assists as A&M outhit the Rams, .337 to .116. Junior defensive specialist Amy Houser led the Aggies in digs with nine.

The Rams were led by Alicia Kandler's nine kills. VCU, which swept Sam Houston State earlier in the day, suffered its first loss and falls to 2-1.

The Aggies were originally scheduled to play Texas State earlier in the day, but the Bobcats pulled out of the tournament following their second match on Friday and returned to San Marcos due to potential flooding concerns and hazardous driving conditions associated with Hurricane Harvey.

The Aggies return to Reed Arena next weekend to play host to the two historically best programs in NCAA Division I volleyball history as they welcome defending national champion Stanford and sixth-ranked Penn State to compete in the Aggie Classic. The Cardinal and Nittany Lions, the only two programs to compete in every NCAA Division I Championship tournament since its inception in 1981 and combine for 14 national titles, face off at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, and admission is free. The Aggies take on Penn State on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and conclude the tournament against Stanford on Sunday at 11 a.m.

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.

All-Tournament honors:
MVP: Camille Conner, Texas A&M
Best Libero: Rebekah Strange, VCU
Best Blocker: Makena Patterson, Texas A&M
Best Attacker: Kiara McGee, Texas A&M

Tournament 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 def. SHSU, 3-1 (25-13, 25-27, 25-20, 25-15)
~~1 p.m.        Texas A&M vs. Texas State~~ (canceled)
6:30 p.m.   Texas A&M def. VCU, 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-14)

POSTMATCH QUOTES:

TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH LAURIE CORBELLI

On tonight's win…
"I really enjoyed coaching them tonight. Lots of really confident eye contact with players. Giving instructions and have it happen right away is really, really rewarding as a coach. I needed them to be accurate with what they were doing."

On tonight's game plan…
"We were really trying to slow down their middles. We didn't want them to get hot, so we just let our middles stay with them and went one-on-one on the outside a lot. We haven't done that very often, but the team just made the adjustments necessary. "

On this year's team…
"Every year is a new team. This team has something really special that hasn't even gotten the chance to develop. It's in the beginning stages of it, and it's really exciting."

Going into next weekend against Penn State and Stanford…
"I hope that my team will come ready to strive for an upset with no pressure. We just get a chance to play free, grow, be better, learn as we go and figure things out. I just feel like that's going to be the best part of next weekend. Win or lose, I want to make it a win no matter what."

JUNIOR MIDDLE BLOCKER KAITLYN BLAKE

On the weekend…
"I think we finished really strong, and I was really happy about that. Our passing was amazing which led to great setting and great hitting percentages. It was nice to see everything come together."

On not dropping a set in either match…
"That was fun. It's still early on in the season, but it was really nice to see everything come together. We've been working really hard these past few weeks trying to get ourselves ready for not only this weekend but the weekends and the season to come, so we're excited for that."

FRESHMAN SETTER CAMILLE CONNER

On earning MVP honors on the opening weekend…
"I did not expect that at all. I felt like I played with a lot of confidence this weekend, and my team definitely helped me and lifted me up throughout the weekend."

On the chemistry on the court…
"I think every game and practice I'm getting used to my hitters and getting more comfortable with them. Today our passing was amazing, and that allowed me to connect better with my hitters because I didn't have to move anywhere."