LOVB Austin is building a reputation for themselves in fifth sets and Wednesday night at Cedar Park was more of the same. Atlanta pushed them to the limit across five sets and Austin came out on top anyway, 25–22, 21–25, 25–14, 21–25, 15–13, moving to 5–3 on the season.
It wasn’t clean. Sets two and four belonged to Atlanta entirely and there were stretches where Austin looked like they were still working something out. Head coach Eric Sullivan said as much after the match. “We still have some stuff we have to smooth out and figure out,” he said, “but I like the direction we are going in.” That’s a fair read. This team wins ugly when they have to and figures out the rest later.
The third set was the exception — Austin came out of the break dominant, built a 12–7 lead early and never really let Atlanta back in, closing it out 25–14. That’s the version of this team that’s hard to deal with. Then Atlanta responded in the fourth and forced the fifth and Austin just did it again.
Asjia O’Neal was named Player of the Match after 19 points on 17 kills and two blocks, but the performance was balanced in a way that’s becoming a signature. Madisen Skinner led all scorers with 23 points and 21 kills while adding 13 digs and two blocks — the kind of all-around line that makes it hard to argue with the fifth-set trust. Logan Eggleston contributed 16 points, Madi Banks added 10, and Molly McCage chipped in nine. As a team Austin hit .317 on 72 kills and held things together defensively with 64 digs.
Setter Brie O’Reilly finished with 63 assists and 17 digs and was the connective tissue for all of it. O’Neal credited her directly after the match. “Brie and I have done a really good job at working together and giving each other trust. I know she can fire the ball from anywhere.” That trust is showing up in the numbers and in the fifth sets.
Austin is home but not for long — they head to Houston on Saturday to face LOVB Houston at 7 p.m. Central. That one streams on Victory+.
