Loaded Offense Leads Aggies Past Mississippi State, 3-1

Friday, October 18

Starkville, Miss.

6:00 PM

Texas A&M

12-5, 4-3SEC

Mississippi State

11-8, 0-7SEC

Texas A&M

Mississippi St.

Photo by: Craig Bisacre/Texas A&M Athletics

Oct 18, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Marissa Avanzato, Texas A&M Athletics Communications

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Texas A&M used its complete offense to help the Aggies earn a 3-1 (25-22, 25-19, 22-25, 25-15) road victory over Mississippi State Friday night at the Newell-Grissom Building. Tonight's win improves A&M's overall record to 12-5 and 4-3 in conference action. The Bulldogs fall to 11-8 and 0-7 in the SEC.

Junior setter Camille Conner set the tone, after dishing out 50 assists with three Aggies finishing in double figures. The last time A&M accomplished this offensive spread was in its 3-1 win vs. Alabama on Sept. 24. Conner also recorded seven kills, seven digs and three blocks.

Senior outside hitter Hollann Hans registered her 13^th consecutive match in double figures after putting down 21 kills. This marks her 23^rd career match of finishing with 20 or more kills.

Sophomore middle blocker Mallory Talbert recorded a career-high 14 kills, while finishing with a .458 clip. Talbert also tied her career-high seven blocks.

Junior middle blocker Makena Patterson tallied 10 kills on a .368 mark and also finished with seven blocks.

Senior libero Camila Gomez logged 15 digs, the 14^th time she's finished in double digits this season. Sophomore defensive specialist Taylor Voss was also outstanding after collecting 12 digs.

As a team, A&M amassed 14 blocks to hold the Bulldogs to a .142 mark.

Set One
It was a back and forth battle early on, until Mallory Talbert started a 4-0 run with a kill. Hans fired an ace over the net and Lauren Davis and Hans smashed down back-to-back kills, as the Aggies would go ahead 14-11. A trio of kills by Hans and Patterson combined would give the Aggies a 19-15 lead. Talbert was on a roll, putting down two consecutive kills to put the Aggies on top 22-17. The Bulldogs put up a strong fight, using a 5-2 run to come within two of A&M. Talbert would close out the frame, 25-22 with her seventh kill of the evening, while hitting a .667 mark. Conner quickly reached double figures with 12 assists in the first set.

Set Two
Talbert and Hans gave the Aggies some momentum with a 4-0 run to put A&M ahead 9-4 early on. Talbert smashed down two kills, while Hans recorded one and the duo finished the rally with a block. Lauren Davis' kill began a 6-1 run, as Texas A&M extended its lead to 17-8. The Bulldogs were relentless and used a 6-2 run of their own to pull within four. Conner gave the Aggies set point with her fourth kill and Samantha Sanders and Makena Patterson closed out the frame with a block, 25-19. After two sets, Hans led the Aggies with 10 kills. Talbert had nine kills, while leading the team in blocks with five. Patterson also chipped in with eight kills. Conner added to her total of 26 after dishing out 14 assists in set two.

Set Three
Hans started off the frame with her 11^th kill of the night, but Mississippi State would put together a 6-0 run to go ahead 15-10. Hans ended the Bulldogs' run with a kill and Conner smashed down a kill to pull the Aggies within three. A strong offensive spread from Lauren Davis, Patterson, Talbert and Hans would get A&M close. Talbert and Hans came up with a huge block to come within one at 22-21. Mississippi State secured the set with a 3-1 run to win, 25-22. Hans and Talbert would end the third frame with 14 and 11 kills, respectively. Through three sets, Conner delivered 37 assists and Gomez tallied 13 digs.

Set Four
The Aggies took control of the fourth set with Hans and Patterson starting things off with back-to-back kills. A kill by Lauren Davis put A&M ahead 10-5 and the Aggies continued to build on their lead. Talbert and Conner combined for the block, helping A&M take an eight-point lead. Conner dished out kills to Hans for set and match point, as the Aggies closed out the match, 25-15.

Texas A&M Post-Match Quotes
Texas A&M Head Coach Bird Kuhn
Opening Statement…
"It's a solid road win. You know, we always wish we can finish in three, but we'll take that fourth set. They played clean and we got back to our game plan, so it's good to see them execute at a high level. Mallory [Talbert] was awesome tonight on both sides of the ball – blocking and offensively. We need that balance and we talk about that a lot. I love that we finished and that's what we need to do. It's just executing consistently."

Sophomore Middle Blocker Mallory Talbert
On tonight's 3-1 road win
"This week in practice we were really working on forcing on the middles and having the middles work hard in transition. In our scout, there were a lot of one on ones with the middles, so we knew it was going to be big time to get us the ball this game."

On her career-high of 14 kills
"I didn't know I got my career-high tonight, but that's pretty exciting! It was all about Camille though, just working hard and getting her feet to the ball to force it to us and the defense did their job in transitions."

Junior Middle Blocker Makena Patterson
On her performance from tonight's win
"We're really excited to have a road win. Any win in the SEC is a huge deal. We talked about it before the game – coming in strong and showing Mississippi State what we're all about. We wanted to execute the middles against this team. It was part of our game plan, so I had that confidence knowing I was going to get the ball a lot. I just wanted to show them what I can do and Camille kept feeding me, so it was really awesome."

Up Next
Texas A&M takes on Ole Miss Sunday, Oct. 20 at the Gillom Sports Center. First serve is set for 1:30 p.m.

Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Fans can keep up to date with the A&M volleyball team on Facebook and on Twitter by following @AggieVolleyball.

###

Aggies CAN - Texas A&M student-athletes are collecting monetary donations and canned goods to benefit the Brazos Valley Food Bank and the 12th Can. Texas A&M student-athletes will have collections at home athletic events from October 27-November 2. This year there is an option to donate by texting AggiesCAN to the number 313131 and you will be directed to the Brazos Valley Food Bank website. Each donation will receive a coupon for a free Whataburger while supplies last.