Texas A&M Overwhelms Cats to Win National Title

Vicky Graff Photo

Against Wisconsin in the national semifinals, Kentucky had a terrible start and a great finish to win in five sets to advance to Sunday’s national championship game against SEC rival Texas A&M.

Against the Aggies, Kentucky started great taking a 6-1 lead and then had a horrible finish to lose 3-0 (24-26, 15-25, 20-25) and have its quest for a national championship end in Kansas City.

Kentucky seemed in great shape to close out the first set leading 18-12 after a Kennedy Washington kill but A&M tied the set at 20-20 and then closed the set with a 3-0 run.

“It was just a couple situations and opportunities we had the first set to change that (momentum), pull that out, which would probably make a difference. But after they got on a roll, it was really hard to find a way to break them. So credit to A&M,” Kentucky coach Craig Skinner said.

Kentucky beat host Texas A&M 3-1 in early October but the Aggies knocked off No. 1 seeds Nebraska, Pitt and Kentucky in their last three games.

“They had a heck of a run. I mean, their physicality is obvious. Their attacking options are obvious. When all of their attackers are options because they pass so well, then it’s really impossible to stop them,” Skinner said about the Aggies after they won their first national title.

“The middle attack they have, (setter Maddie) Waak giving them opportunities to swing. Their serve was impressive today. They had a few errors, but several aces. Every single person that went back to serve was putting pressure on us. Combine all those things, there’s not many teams that could beat them today.”

Kentucky certainly could not because the Aggies had an answer for anything Kentucky tried and constantly kept UK out of sync with its serving along with some help by shaky passing from the Cats. Kentucky had nine service errors compared to five for the Aggies and 23 attack errors compared to 13 for Texas A&M. The winners hit .257 for the match and Kentucky only .148.

“They handled our serve really well early. Our serving pressure didn’t allow them to get in sync when we were down at College Station. Today they were in sync. Credit their first contact with their passers of Underwood, Applegate, Hellmuth, and Stowers of really doing a good job of providing Waak opportunities to set their whole offense. It was a difficult thing to try and score points on defense,” Skinner said.

Eva Hudson, a national player of the year finalist, led Kentucky with 13 kills but hit only .200 — well below her normal production. Brooklyn DeLeye, another all-American, had nine kills but hit only .036.

Still, Hudson said the Cats never believed they were out of the match.

“We’ve proved in and out of this season that we can come back from anything. We were kind of waiting for something to flip within the team. We just kind of never got into that rhythm,” Hudson said. “Credit to A&M. They played like there were nine seniors on the court, and it was really, really hard to stop. They deserve all the praise ’cause, I mean, that was some of the best volleyball I’ve played with them.”

Texas A&M’s Logan Lednicky, who had 11 kills and seven digs, called Kentucky an “amazing” team.

“Arguably one of the best outside duos in the country (in DeLeye and Hudson). Knowing you’re not going to get a break there is a little tough. Then they’re firing front row, back row. Kassie (O’Brien) is an amazing setter. We know it’s not easy,” Lednicky said. “I think our staff did a great job of putting together a scouting report of what went not as great the first time around, and ultimately led to our success today.”

Skinner said serving was the biggest factor in the game.

“The combination of them serving in a way that pulls us off the net and we have to set one or two options, the physicality of the block makes it really challenging to find a piece of the court or a piece of hand to kill it,” Skinner said. “They become an extremely good defensive team if you pass the ball 10 or 12 feet off the net. It changes the game.”