The Texas A&M volleyball team’s 3-1 home loss to No. 7 Florida dropped its record to 9-9 to end the regular season, increasing its current losing streak to five games.
A&M coach Laura “Bird” Kuhn said the loss is a lesson in consistency for the Aggies.
“We had glimpses and had that fight, but we were learning and growing like everyone has this year,” Kuhn said. “It is frustrating when you know you have it and you are so close, but you can’t be consistent. We have to really focus on growing as a group along with that competitive chemistry to be consistent.”
The beginning of the first set of the match was close with both teams trading the lead, but Florida used a late 8-2 run to take the set 25-19. In the set, A&M’s London Austin-Roark, Ciera Hecht and Treyaunna Rush led the way with three kills each.
Florida used a 7-0 run to take an early 10-5 lead in the second set. A&M used a 7-2 to get back into the set. The run was buoyed by kills from Mallory Talbert, Lauren Davis and Rush. Camryn Ennis also added in a service. The Aggies used another 7-2 run and strong defense to eventually take the set 27-25. At this point the match was tied at a set apiece.
The third set of the match was also close as there were six ties and two lead changes. However, Florida used a late 5-0 run to take the set 25-17. For the Aggies, Davis led the way in the set with five kills and Erica Lowery had six digs.
After the fourth set started off with both teams being tied at 5, Florida used a 7-1 run to increase its lead to 12-6. A&M was unable to make a comeback and ended up dropping the decisive set 25-13. A&M is now 1-19 all-time against Florida.
Statistically, Rush led the way with 13 kills in the match. This was the fourth time she had double-digit kills this season. Kuhn said she thought Rush was A&M’s spark in the match.
“I think Treyaunna [Rush] figured it out after the first half of set one,” Kuhn said. “She was our spark, and she trusted her arm. Her consistency has been up and down for us this year and her getting a glimpse of feeling that spark again was huge for her and our team.”