The Texas A&M volleyball team was bested by the Alabama Crimson Tide in another five-set SEC contest at Reed Arena on Friday evening. With a third consecutive loss, the Aggies fall right behind the Crimson Tide to seventh in SEC standings.
The Aggies (12-10, 5-5) were able to lead out with a 12-7 start in the first set of the match. After the Crimson Tide (18-6, 5-5) was able to pull within two points, junior outside hitters Hollann Hans and Brookah Palmer contributed with back-to-back kills to push the Aggies out to a 20-16 lead. With effective passing and an offensive show between multiple players, A&M claimed a 25-19 win in the first set.
Through the second set, the Aggies were unable to manage defensive consistency, which allowed the Tide to take advantage offensively. After Alabama took control of a 21-11 lead, freshman middle blocker London Austin-Roark led a three point run with two blocks and a kill for what would also be the last points for the Aggies in the set. With A&M allowing three straight errors, Alabama was able to capture the 25-14 set win.
The Crimson Tide went into the third set the same way they finished the second, with an early 7-0 advantage over the Aggies. A&M was still unable to generate effective passing and Alabama was able to control offensively to earn the 25-16 set win.
In the fourth set, the Aggies quickly found offensive momentum while establishing a 4-0 upswing, forcing the Tide to call a timeout. With a 10-2 run led by back-to-back service aces from Hans, A&M was able to rush out to 15-5.
After splitting six points, the Aggies further buried Alabama with kills from Palmer and sophomore middle blocker Makena Patterson. A service ace from junior setter and defensive specialist Haley Slocum soon followed, and an Alabama attack error closed out the 25-14 set win for the Aggies, forcing a deciding fifth set.
A&M responded to Alabama’s early 7-2 stretch with a four-point run led by back-to-back kills from Austin-Roark and Hans to reach within one point. A kill from Patterson halted the Tide’s offensive streak, but the Aggies would fall back down to a 14-8 match-point after allowing errors and defensive faults to get in their way
Despite kills from both Patterson and Austin-Roark, the Aggies were ultimately unable to fight off the match point as an Alabama kill sealed the win for the Tide.
The Aggies set out to face the Missouri Tigers for the first of three consecutive road games on Oct. 28 at 1:30 p.m. in Columbia, Missouri.