The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
7-2
Texas A&M
3-4
No. 6 Volleyball tops Texas A&M in College Station, 3-0
09.13.2017 | Volleyball
Sophomore Micaya White recorded her first double-double of the season.
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – No. 6 Texas Volleyball (7-2) swept Texas A&M (3-4), 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-15) on Wednesday night at Reed Arena..
Sophomore Micaya White posted 13 digs, adding a team-leading 10 kills for her first double-double of the season.
Senior libero Cat McCoy led all players defensively with 18 digs, pacing the two other Longhorns that recorded double-digit digs. Freshman Lexi Sun added 10 digs for the final UT athlete to notch double-figures.
The middle blocker tandem of Morgan Johnson and Chiaka Ogbogu combined for 11 blocks. Senior Ogbogu recorded a team-high six blocks, with seven kills. Junior Johnson added five blocks, with five kills on a team-leading .444 hitting percentage.
As a team, Texas out-blocked Texas A&M with 13 blocks to two while also outhitting the Aggies .307 to .089.
Tentative leads were held by both teams opening the first set, with points being traded through competition. By the first timeout, the Longhorns had earned a one-point lead at 15-14 before widening the gap to three points by the second, 19-16. With White spinning five kills on a .500 hitting percentage to lead the way offensively, Texas secured the set at 25-20. The Longhorns held the defensive edge in the opening frame, out-blocking the Aggies with five blocks to the TAMU two.
Fueled by a .750 hitting percentage to open the second set, the Longhorns jumped out to a 5-2 lead before drawing a Texas A&M timeout at 10-4. Pushing to advantages of seven and eight points, stalwart defense helped Texas weather a spirited hitting barrage from the Aggies and close out the set, 25-18.
The second set's momentum continued into the beginning of the third for Texas A&M, with the Aggies taking a 9-6 lead to open the frame. Texas responded with a .385 attack clip, earning an 8-1 scoring run to move ahead at 13-12. With Texas not looking back, senior Ebony Nwanebu terminated a kill at 24-15 to wrap up a three-set victory for the Longhorns.
Texas will face the second of three consecutive road matches, taking on UTSA on Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. The next match at Gregory Gym takes place on Wednesday, Sept. 27 against Baylor.
Post-Match Quotes
Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott
On the Texas win: A little slow at the start, but I thought that we found our groove a little bit more. Our blocking really caught fire in game three and I thought that we fought hard so it was a good match for us to come back into the win column and keep going. This is a long season and we've got a lot of areas that we can improve on, but I thought that our blocking was really good.
On the challenge presented by Texas A&M: Their setter was really the most accurate setter we've faced all year long and she still hit .300. Their outsides are very capable of being in a good position. They always fight really hard and it's a team that's always in the NCAA tournament, play at a high level.
Senior outside hitter Ebony Nwanebu
On winning the match: It's like redemption, so it's nice to three-out and not to have all this stress that we just put on ourselves. Jerritt (Elliott) said before this game to just win, come out and not let up. It's a great feeling and I feel like for the first time that we've been consistent in our pressure.
