Coming off of a sweep to Mississippi State last Sunday, Texas A&M volleyball attempted to bounce back as it traveled to Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky to take on the No. 13 Kentucky Wildcats on Friday.
The Aggies got a strong effort from junior opposite hitter Logan Lednicky’s 10 kills and junior setter Maddie Waak’s 22 assists, but they were ultimately taken down by the SEC-leading Wildcats in straight sets, 3-0.
In the first set, A&M started strong as junior middle blocker Morgan Perkins, junior MB Ifenna Cos-Okpalla and Lednicky contributed quick kills to put it up 4-2. However, Kentucky sophomore OH Brooklyn DeLeye scored back-to-back kills to even the score at 4.
The set went back and forth with no team gaining any real momentum. Later in the set, the Aggies’ junior Pepperdine transfer OH Emily Hellmuth received a great set from junior libero/defensive specialist Ava Underwood and smashed a kill to give them a 17-14 lead.
This lead would be short-lived as kills by the Wildcats’ freshman OH Asia Thigpen and DeLeye gave them all the momentum and a 24-21 lead. Back-to-back Aggie errors sealed the set for the first-set win for Kentucky, 25-22.
The second set began with both teams again going back and forth as the score was tied eight separate times. Early on, Cos-Okpalla came up huge as she recorded a kill and then a block to even the score at 9.
After the Wildcats’ senior OH Megan Wilson and sophomore L/DS Molly Tuozzo recorded back-to-back errors to give the Aggies the lead, they began to develop a lead of their own. Kills by Kentucky redshirt freshman MB Brooke Bultema and DeLeye combined with a service ace from Underwood gave it a 16-13 lead.
The Maroon and White attempted to respond with back-to-back points of their own but were unsuccessful as a kill from DeLeye and two Aggie errors gave the Wildcats a 22-16 lead and control of the set.
Late in the set, a kill from Cos-Okpalla and a Kentucky error gave A&M hopes of a comeback, but it was shut down after a kill from the Wildcats’ redshirt freshman MB Jordyn Dailey sealed the deal, 25-20.
Early in the third set, Lednicky tried to light a spark for the Aggies as she recorded a kill and a service ace to even the set at 4. However, the momentum from the first two sets was too much for the Aggies to overcome as the Wildcats went on an 11-0 run after seven Aggie errors and senior S Emma Grome and DeLeye recorded kills.
Both teams split the last 20 points of the match as the Wildcats ran away with a straight-sets victory, 25-14.
The Aggies will be back in action as they will travel to Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee to take on the Tennessee Volunteers on Sunday at 12 p.m.
