COLLEGE STATION, Texas >> A Texas A&M surge midway through the fifth set powered the host Aggies past the University of Hawaii women’s volleyball team in today’s season opener in the Texas A&M Invitational at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas.
Texas A&M’s Caroline Meuth put away five of her match-high 23 kills in the decisive set and the Aggies went on a 6-0 run on their way to a 18-25, 25-19, 25-23, 17-25, 15-11 win over the Rainbow Wahine.
Texas A&M freshman Logan Lednicky added 20 kills on 46 attempts and the Aggies avenged a loss to UH last year in Manoa.
UH outside hitter Riley Wagoner led five Wahine players in double figures with 21 kills on .364 hitting. Middle blocker Amber Igiede finished with 13 kills, Tiffany Westerberg added a career-high 12 kills and freshman Caylen Alexander and junior Braelyn Akana posted 10 each.
Setter Kate Lang finished with a double-double with 55 assists and 11 digs. Libero Tayli Ikenaga led the UH defense with 17 digs.
The three-day Texas A&M Invitational continues Saturday with UH taking on No. 6 Pittsburgh at 11 a.m.
Westerberg put away the first kill of the season to send the Wahine on a 10-3 run to open the match. Wagoner had six kills in nine attempts in the set as Lang set UH to a .355 hitting percentage in the opening set. Lang distributed the sets throughout the lineup as the Wahine remained in control through Westerberg’s kill in the middle to close out the set.
UH misfired from the service line early in the second set and Texas A&M jumped out to a 7-3 lead to force a UH timeout. The Aggies continued to pull away and opened up a 23-15 lead on their fifth block of the match. UH fought off four set points before Lednicky put away her eighth kill to even the match.
The teams traded sideouts early in the third set and UH took an 11-9 lead on Akana’s solo block on former UH outside hitter Mia Johnson. The Aggies went on a four-point run midway through the set to take a16-14 lead. UH answered with a 3-0 surge and tied it on a block by Westerberg and Lang. The Aggies move back ahead on an ace by Brooke Frazier and led 22-20 on Johnson’s kill off the block. Texas A&M closed out the set with Meuth’s cross-court kill.
Wagoner put away four kills in a 7-1 UH run that gave the Wahine a 16-10 lead in the fourth set. The Wahine opened up a 20-13 lead before Meuth, a transfer from Notre Dame, put away three consecutive kills to force a UH timeout. The Wahine went on a four-point run capped by Alexander’s ace of the net cord and Wagoner sent the match to the fifth set with her 19th kill.
Igiede had three kills early in the fifth, but Texas A&M surged to a 9-6 lead on back-to-back Lednicky kills. The lead swelled to 12-6 on Frazier’s second ace and the Aggies remained in control to Meuth’s final kill.
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