COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M became the first team in the Southeastern Conference to force Kentucky to a fifth set this season, but the Aggies were unable to hand the 15th-ranked Wildcats their first conference loss of the season, falling 19-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-20, 15-5, today at Reed Arena.
Texas A&M, playing its third consecutive five-set match and its sixth five-setter in SEC matches this season, falls to 12-9 overall and 5-4 in SEC play.
Kentucky extends its winning streak to 11 and improves to 14-4, including 8-0 in league play to take over sole possession of first place in the SEC after Florida suffered its first conference loss today against Missouri.
Junior outside hitter Hollann Hans led A&M with 21 kills, marking the third consecutive match and the 11th time this season she has reached the 20-kill milestone. She had one ace to move into a tie for the A&M record for most aces in an SEC season with 24, a record she set last season. Hans also had 12 digs to complete her team-leading 10th double-double of the season.
Sophomore middle blocker Makena Patterson had 10 kills while hitting .391 for A&M, and she tied freshman middle blocker London Austin-Roark for the team high in blocks with a career-high six.
Freshman defensive specialist Allison Fields led the Aggies with 16 digs. Junior outside hitter Brookah Palmer added 13, and senior libero Amy Houser pitched in 11 digs.
Junior outside hitter Leah Edmond led Kentucky with 23 kills, and Caitlyn Cooper and Brooke Morgan added 10 kills apiece. Madison Lilley and Gabby Curry had 19 digs apiece, and Kendyl Paris had a match-high seven blocks to lead the Wildcats’ defense.
As a team, the Kentucky outhit A&M, .232 to .163, and led in kills (60-54), assists (59-50), aces (3-2) and digs (74-63). Both teams finished with 12 blocks.
SET-BY-SET SUMMARIES
Set 1 – Texas A&M held a 17-12 lead before Kentucky reeled off five unanswered points to tie the score. Hans put down one of her eight kills in the set and then served an ace, and the Aggies would hold the lead for the remainder of the frame. A&M, which outhit Kentucky, .275 to .129 in the set, was up, 21-19, when the Wildcats’ next attack sailed long. Patterson followed with a kill, and Fields put A&M at set point with an ace. Patterson and setter Camille Conner then combined for a block as the Aggies closed out the set on a 4-0 run.
Set 2 – There were 11 ties, the last coming at 15-all before the Wildcats went on a 5-1 run, forcing A&M to call a timeout. Patterson and Conner teamed for a block coming out of the timeout to put the Aggies within 20-17 but served into the net on the next play. Kentucky outscored A&M, 4-1, to get to set point, 24-18, but a service error extended the set. A&M, however, committed its fifth service error of the set and one of 17 on the day to end the set and even the match, 1-1.
Set 3 –Kentucky jumped out to a 5-2 lead, but A&M reeled off eight unanswered points, getting several incredible saves from the back row defense and coming out on the winning end of numerous long rallies to build a 10-5 lead. Kentucky later used a 3-0 run to get within 17-16, but Patterson put down one of her four kills in the frame to keep the Aggies in the lead. A service error put Kentucky within 18-17, before Patterson came through with another kill, and Austin-Roark connected for a kill on a slide attack to put A&M up, 20-17. A Kentucky attack error gave the Aggies a 21-17 cushion, and the Wildcats were unable get closer than two points before Conner strategically pushed the ball over to an open back corner for the 25-22 set-winning kill.
Set 4 – A&M was unable to carry the momentum into the fourth set as Kentucky jumped out to a 6-2 lead. A&M, which was outhit, .344 to .205, could not get closer than two points, the last coming at 18-16. Kentucky then came out of a timeout and put down three consecutive kills and held off the Aggies down the stretch for a 25-20 win to force a fifth set.
Set 5 – Kentucky came out on fire in the final stanza and jumped out to a 9-1 lead which proved to be insurmountable for the Aggies. Kentucky hit .500 and held A&M to a -.188 hitting efficiency to run away with the 15-5 win to get the win and remain undefeated in SEC play.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Laura “Bird” Kuhn
Opening Statement…
“I am proud of our fight. We are pretty consistent with five-set matches. We are going to figure out how to finish; this team has to figure out how to finish.”
On the fifth set…
“Volleyball is a game of momentum. Those two or three runs in the fifth set, you will feel a lot more. That is execution, passing and fundamentals. Volleyball is a serve-and-pass game no matter what level you are at. Kentucky is a good team, and they are still figuring out consistency, but they got better and definitely got better that fifth set. We just have to execute better.”
Texas A&M Senior Libero Amy Houser
On players’ approach to five-set matches …
“I don’t think fifth sets make us nervous or anything like that; we have experienced so many of them. Today we had a really awesome opportunity in the fourth set, to do it in four and not give Kentucky a chance to come back, and we didn’t execute well enough in the fourth set. They then went off on us in the fifth, and we couldn’t respond. It wasn’t just like we didn’t win the fourth set and it’s over. We went down, and then even when we were down, 4-1, we weren’t able to do anything that gave us point turnover. We weren’t able to just keep getting points.”
UP NEXT
A&M closes out a three-match homestand on Friday, Oct. 26 against Alabama. First serve is at 6:30 at Reed Arena
It will be Teacher Appreciation Night, and all active and retired local school administrators and teachers will receive two free admissions. In addition, teachers can arrive early and enter a drawing at the marketing table for a chance to win a classroom visit from Texas A&M student-athletes.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the team on Facebook and on Twitter and Instagram by following @AggieVolleyball.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics