Huskers narrowly dig up win against Texas A&M

Just a week removed from its first loss of the season against Colorado, the Nebraska Volleyball team found themselves in another battle Wednesday night against an unranked Texas A&M team. This time, the Huskers narrowly escaped their second consecutive road loss.

The Aggies pushed the No. 3 Huskers to the brink, forcing them into a fifth and decisive set for the first time all season, but a gusty fifth-set performance from Jordan Larson allowed the Huskers to win the match 23-25, 25-17, 25-14, 20-25, 15-13.

Larson collected six of her 17 kills in the fifth set en route to the thrilling road victory in front of a noisy College Station, Texas, crowd.

The Huskers (22-1, 13-1 Big 12) were happy with the win but upset with how they played.

"We didn't come out ready to compete tonight," said sophomore libero Kayla Banwarth. "We figured A&M would roll over and die for us because we're Nebraska. It almost came back to bite us."

After tying the match 2-2, the Aggies had momentum going into the final set, but the Huskers proved to be resilient in front of a hostile Texas A&M crowd that was itching for an upset.

The deciding set was a back and forth battle throughout, as the two teams found themselves knotted at 10-10. The Huskers seized control after running off three consecutive points thanks to two kills from Larson and a Lindsay Licht tip that found the surface.

After a timeout, the Aggies pounded back-to-back kills to cut the deficit to 13-12 forcing Nebraska coach John Cook to call a timeout. Sophomore Tara Mueller then registered a kill to make it 14-12, but A&M answered with a kill of their own.

In a 14-13 game, Larson capped off the thrilling set by pounding home match point, preserving the win for the Huskers.

Cook said playing in five-set matches are always exciting, especially if you win them.

"Game five was a great game, and I thought Jordan Larson took over the match," Cook said. "That's what the great players do."

Texas A&M jumped on the Huskers early in the first set and led 17-11 at one point. Nebraska would fight back and eventually tie the Aggies at 18, but would never take over the lead.

"I didn't feel like we were ready to play in game one tonight, and I don't know why," Cook said. "Maybe because when we played these guys two weeks ago, we beat them so badly. That (first-set) just set the whole tone."

Despite the poor start, Nebraska would bounce back and easily win the next two sets and looked as if they were on their way to an easy victory, but Texas A&M wasn't done.

In the fourth set, the Aggies shocked the Huskers by motoring out to a 14-6 lead. NU would flirt with a comeback by eventually cutting the deficit to 19-17, but that'd be as close as it would get, as the Aggies won 25-20, setting the stage for the thrilling fifth set.

Mueller and Larson led the Huskers in kills with 19 and 17 respectively. Banwarth came up with 27 digs on the night, including some clutch digs in the deciding set.

"We always talk to Kayla about having a major impact with setting, passing, serving and digging," Cook said. "And she was great in all of those tonight."

The stat of the night for NU was 11 service aces, but they also had seven service errors.

Banwarth said that even though they didn't play well Wednesday night, winning a five-set match like this will pay dividends in the long run.

"It was so important for this team," Banwarth said. "We haven't really been pushed like that so far this year. To stick with it and still come through in the fifth game, that was huge for us."

By the Number

27 Digs for Kayla Banwarth

.179 Nebraska's team hitting percentage

11 Service aces for Nebraska

19 Kills for Tara Mueller, a career high

29 Attack errors on the night for Nebraska

lukenichols@dailynebraskan.com