Morris’ Career Outing Propels No. 16 Aggies Past South Carolina, 3-0

• 16 Texas A&M secured its first win of the conference slate, sweeping South Carolina.
• Taryn Morris had a career outing, finishing with 15 kills hitting at .682 percent.
• Head Coach Jamie Morrison improved to 3-1 in SEC openers.

COLLEGE STATION – The No. 16 Texas A&M volleyball team secured a dominant sweep versus South Carolina to open conference play Sunday afternoon at Reed Arena, 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-18).

The Aggies’ (8-5, 1-0 SEC) offense came ready to play in its SEC opener versus the Gamecocks (7-5, 0-2 SEC), spearheaded by Taryn Morris’ career night as she finished with 15 kills with zero errors and hitting at .682 percent. She was followed by Megan Fitch and Kyndal Stowers with 10 and nine, respectively. Kirra Musgrove was the conductor of the attack with 36 assists and the team terminated at a .537 percent clip on her sets.

Texas A&M jumped out early in the opening frame taking a 9-5 lead under the attack of Morris who recorded three kills in the respective run. Building on their momentum, the Aggies scored five unanswered points late to push the score to 20-9 and forced a Gamecock timeout. The Maroon & White continued its push, never letting South Carolina get close, taking the set by 11 points, 25-14.

The Aggies carried their rhythm into the second, ripping off the first seven points of the set behind Margot Manning at the service line. Keeping their foot on the gas, the Maroon & White looked to Kyndal Stowers as they hit the red zone and she logged back-to-back kills which forced the visitors to huddle up, 21-12. South Carolina remained unable to respond and two final swings from Morris secured the frame, 25-14.

The third opened with back-and-forth scoring, as the programs leveled out on all three of the opening points before the Aggies pulled away on a 6-1 streak prompting a timeout from the Gamecocks, 9-4. A&M stretched the advantage to as many as eight, 19-11, and despite a late push from the visitors the Aggies took the set, 25-18, and match, 3-0.

Stat Leaders

Kills – Taryn Morris – 15

Hitting Percentage (Min. 10 kills) – Taryn Morris – .682

Assists – Kirra Musgrove – 36

Aces – Djurdja Stanojevic, Margot Manning- 1

Digs – Gabi Rodriguez – 11

Blocks – Lolufe Adedeji – 6

Player Notes

#1 Gabi Rodriguez

• Tallied double-digit digs (11) for the 11^th-consecutive game.

#6 Taryn Morris

• Recorded a pair of career highs with 15 kills hitting and a .682 hitting percent.

#7 Djurdja Stanojevic

• Recorded her first career ace.

#10 Margot Manning

• Recorded an ace in her second-straight game.

#14 Kirra Musgrove

• Logged her sixth game of the season with 30-or-more assists.

#16 Lolufe Adedeji

• Set a new career best six blocks.
• Matched her career high of eight kills hitting a career best .700 percent.

#20 Megan Fitch

• Recorded the 100^th kill of her career with her third of the game.
• Finished in double digits (10), marking her fifth game with 10-or-more this season.

#37 Kyndal Stowers

• Tallied her 500^th career kill since joining the Maroon & White.

Team Notes

• The Aggies recorded a .385 hitting percentage marking a season best for the group.
• Texas A&M holds an 8-1 record when they win the first set.
• The Maroon & White has eclipsed a .300 hitting percentage in four three set matches this season.
• The Aggies are 3-1 in conference openers under Head Coach Jamie Morrison.

Next Up

The Aggies return to Reed Arena Friday night to host Alabama with a first serve set for 6:30 p.m.