HOUSTON – The Texas A&M volleyball team dropped the first three sets in its spring season opener today at Rice, 25-16, 26-24, 25-18, but the Aggies came back to win the fourth set, 28-26, to close out the match at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston.
"We learned a lot about ourselves tonight," A&M first-year head coach Laura "Bird" Kuhn said. "I appreciate the fight and energy the team showed. Rice is a solid team, and challenged us. It was fun to see our team grind through some points; we just need to finish. Earning points is something we talk about in our gym daily.
"There was a nice crowd, and I loved opening the spring season at Rice. It was awesome to see all the Aggie fans out supporting us!"
Kuhn used a different starting lineup in each set, with the opening set starters consisting of Camille Conner at setter, Samantha Sanders and Hollann Hans on the outside, Maddie Douglas on the right side with Berkley Adams playing back row, London Austin-Roarke and Morgan Davis in the middle and Amy Houser at libero.
Errors plagued the Aggies early, with four consecutive miscues leading to an 8-4 lead for the Owls. Rice continued to pull away and took its largest lead at 17-9. Later, strong serving by Hans spurred a 5-0 run and put the Aggies within six before the Owls pulled away for the 25-16 win.
In the second set, Davis started on the right side with Haley Slocum subbing in the back row. Douglas switched to the outside with Hans, and Austin-Roarke and Makena Patterson headed up the middle, while Conner stayed at setter and Houser was the libero. The Aggies found themselves trailing again early but stayed within striking distance. A solo block by Austin-Roark knotted the score at 19-19, forcing the Owls to call a timeout. A&M committed a costly service error coming out of the timeout, but Austin-Roark once again tied the score with a kill. Rice then reeled off three unanswered points to go up 23-20. The Aggies chipped away at the lead, with an ace by Slocum tying the score at 24-all. Rice then posted back-to-back kills to pull away for the victory.
The third set began with Conner setting, Sanders and Hans on the outside, Davis on the right side with Slocum playing back row and the freshman tandem of Mallory Talbert and Austin-Roark playing in the middle. Houser remained at libero.
A kill by Sanders give A&M its first lead of the day at 8-7, but Rice, coach by former Aggie standout Genny (Wood) Volpe, would later get a block to regain the lead, 15-14. The Owls then outscored the Aggies, 8-2, to build a 23-16 lead. A&M was unable to overcome the deficit, and Rice closed out the set with an ace in which the ball skimmed the top of the net and narrowly went over and fell to the floor on the Aggies' side.
Freshman Kaitlyn Rogers drew her first start in the fourth set, replacing Conner at setter. Davis, Slocum, Hans, Sanders and Houser returned to their respective, positions, and Patterson and Talbert were the starting middles. Other than a kill by Sanders to start the set, the Aggies didn't hold a lead until 21-20, with Patterson putting down the go-ahead kill. A Sanders kill later put the Aggies at set point, but a Rice kill followed by a block knotted the score at 24-24. Rice served into the net to put A&M at set point once again, but a kill by the Owls extended the frame. Hans put A&M at set point for a fifth time, but Rice tied the score with a block. Hans gave A&M a 27-26 lead with a kill, and Patterson finished off the set with a kill.
The Aggies will continue their spring slate with a match at Texas on Wednesday, April 4 and at the F.A.S.T. Collegiate Invitational Texas in Houston on Saturday, April 14. A&M also will take a foreign training tour to Europe in mid-May.
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 learned a lot about ourselves tonight," A&M first-year head coach Laura "Bird" Kuhn said. "I appreciate the fight and energy the team showed. Rice is a solid team, and challenged us. It was fun to see our team grind through some points; we just need to finish. Earning points is something we talk about in our gym daily.
"There was a nice crowd, and I loved opening the spring season at Rice. It was awesome to see all the Aggie fans out supporting us!"
Kuhn used a different starting lineup in each set, with the opening set starters consisting of Camille Conner at setter, Samantha Sanders and Hollann Hans on the outside, Maddie Douglas on the right side with Berkley Adams playing back row, London Austin-Roarke and Morgan Davis in the middle and Amy Houser at libero.
Errors plagued the Aggies early, with four consecutive miscues leading to an 8-4 lead for the Owls. Rice continued to pull away and took its largest lead at 17-9. Later, strong serving by Hans spurred a 5-0 run and put the Aggies within six before the Owls pulled away for the 25-16 win.
In the second set, Davis started on the right side with Haley Slocum subbing in the back row. Douglas switched to the outside with Hans, and Austin-Roarke and Makena Patterson headed up the middle, while Conner stayed at setter and Houser was the libero. The Aggies found themselves trailing again early but stayed within striking distance. A solo block by Austin-Roark knotted the score at 19-19, forcing the Owls to call a timeout. A&M committed a costly service error coming out of the timeout, but Austin-Roark once again tied the score with a kill. Rice then reeled off three unanswered points to go up 23-20. The Aggies chipped away at the lead, with an ace by Slocum tying the score at 24-all. Rice then posted back-to-back kills to pull away for the victory.
The third set began with Conner setting, Sanders and Hans on the outside, Davis on the right side with Slocum playing back row and the freshman tandem of Mallory Talbert and Austin-Roark playing in the middle. Houser remained at libero.
A kill by Sanders give A&M its first lead of the day at 8-7, but Rice, coach by former Aggie standout Genny (Wood) Volpe, would later get a block to regain the lead, 15-14. The Owls then outscored the Aggies, 8-2, to build a 23-16 lead. A&M was unable to overcome the deficit, and Rice closed out the set with an ace in which the ball skimmed the top of the net and narrowly went over and fell to the floor on the Aggies' side.
Freshman Kaitlyn Rogers drew her first start in the fourth set, replacing Conner at setter. Davis, Slocum, Hans, Sanders and Houser returned to their respective, positions, and Patterson and Talbert were the starting middles. Other than a kill by Sanders to start the set, the Aggies didn't hold a lead until 21-20, with Patterson putting down the go-ahead kill. A Sanders kill later put the Aggies at set point, but a Rice kill followed by a block knotted the score at 24-24. Rice served into the net to put A&M at set point once again, but a kill by the Owls extended the frame. Hans put A&M at set point for a fifth time, but Rice tied the score with a block. Hans gave A&M a 27-26 lead with a kill, and Patterson finished off the set with a kill.
The Aggies will continue their spring slate with a match at Texas on Wednesday, April 4 and at the F.A.S.T. Collegiate Invitational Texas in Houston on Saturday, April 14. A&M also will take a foreign training tour to Europe in mid-May.
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.