BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M volleyball team dropped Sunday’s match against No. 16 Kentucky (19-25, 25-16, 25-22, 26-24) at Reed Arena.
Elena Karakasi was at the forefront for the Maroon & White (11-10, 3-7 SEC) as she registered her 30th career double-double with 35 assists and 13 digs. Caroline Meuth led A&M in kills with 13, while adding 13 digs. Logan Lednicky had another strong day as she registered her fifth career double-double of the year with 12 kills and 13 digs. Lauren Hogan and Molly Brown were the defensive standouts for the Aggies as Hogan registered a season-high 24 digs, while Brown had a career-high nine blocks.
A back-and-forth battle in the opening frame led to six ties, and the teams knotted at 12-12. The Aggies picked up momentum, as they pulled away from the Wildcats (12-6, 7-2 SEC), 22-15, which forced a Kentucky timeout. The Maroon & White continued its run, and a block from Madison Bowser and Meuth won the opening set for the Aggies. Brown was dominant at the net in the first frame by tallying four blocks, which was more than the Wildcats combined.
The Wildcats were the aggressors early in the second frame, as they opened an early 8-3 lead, which prompted a timeout from the Aggies. Following the timeout, Texas A&M fought back and brought the UK lead down to 14-11, but the Wildcats found their rhythm to win the second set.
The third set was another battle with five lead changes and seven ties. Back-to-back blocks and a kill by Lednicky pulled the Aggies within two, 21-19 to force a Wildcat timeout, but Kentucky pulled away to win the third set.
A&M logged three blocks in a row to open the frame in the fourth. Kentucky used a 3-0 run to take a 12-9 advantage, but back-to-back setter dumps by Karakasi put the Aggies out in front, 14-13, forcing a Wildcat timeout. Kentucky then went on 4-0 run by a handful of A&M errors to take its lead back, 19-18. Meuth continued to keep the Aggies in it with back-to-back kills to save match point, but however, the Wildcats went on to win the set and match, 26-24.
UP NEXT
The Aggies travel to South Carolina to take on the Gamecocks on Friday, Oct. 28. First serve is set for 6 p.m. on SEC Network+.
BIRD BITS
Head coach Laura “Bird” Kuhn
On Sunday’s matchup…
“Kentucky’s a good team, and we knew it would be another battle. We need to stay true to us and continue to grind and fight, but at the same time be clean when finishing games.”
Graduate transfer Setter Elena Karakasi
On playing offensively…
“I want to play offensive whenever I can, it allows me to open up the court for my hitters so we can be as balanced as possible.”
Story by Sam Thornton, Athletics Communications