The Texas A&M volleyball team hung toug,h but fell short in the fifth set to Arkansas Sunday at Barnhill Arena 3-2 (16-25, 25-20, 25-23, 22-25, 15-10).
It all weighed in on a final fifth match in which the Razorbacks took a definite lead and never looked back. The set shifted along with the momentum when Arkansas was leading 9-5, and Razorback freshman Elizabeth Pamphile sent an attack that looked long. Arkansas challenged the play and it ended out turning in their favor as they were awarded the point deferring the score 10-5 in their favor.
Then, A&M senior outside hitter Kiara McGee tried with a valiant effort to get a comeback going with getting A&M within 10-6, but the Razorbacks sealed it with their senior outside-hitter Pilar Victoria notching her 24th kill on the year.
With the win, the Razorbacks completed a season ending sweep against A&M and it was the first ever win against A&M all time at Barnhill arena.
For A&M, its third-straight defeat mathematically eliminated the Aggies from making an NCAA Tournament appearance, which snaps their streak of consecutive appearances. It was the third time this season A&M played in a match that went five sets and the second time the Aggies came up on the short end.
A&M’s sophomore outside-hitter Hollann Hans had 15 kills and also had 12 digs to record her fourth double-double on the year. The Aggies racked up their all-time high in blocks with 16.5 thanks to Hans who had six (career high) and senior Ashlie Reasor who also had six blocks. Freshman Camille Conner setter had 46 assists and had 13 digs, along with her three aces. McGee recorded personal highs with 20 kills and 21.5 points.
A&M led Arkansas in total points, 83.5 to 77.5, but the Razorbacks outhit the Aggies, .193 to .139, and led in kills (58-54), assists (58-53) and digs (70-67).
In the opening set, the Aggies made a statement by starting out on a 7-1 run that had them lead 10-5. They eventually ran away with the lead and the set 25-16, with help from McGee who had five kills. A&M junior middle-blocker Kaitlyn Blake also had back to back kills which snagged the opening set.
The Razorbacks did not make it easy going into the second set as they had a 17-10 lead. A&M then took charge and scraped back six-unanswered points to get within 17-16. Then Arkansas would score five consultative points and would then even the match at 1-1 coming from behind a 24-20 Aggie lead.
The third set did not disappoint as there were 11 ties and seven lead changes. The Aggies had a 15-10 lead but was then defended by a Razorback 7-1 run to lead 17-16. Then thanks to McGee, who knocked A&M’s three of the five aces in the set, gave them a 3-0 run and a 23-22 lead. The Aggies ended up losing the set because of an error that sent the ball out of bounds to give the Razorbacks a 2-1 lead in the match.
A&M came back in full force as they went up 15-10 on the set. The Razorbacks defended the deficit and eventually led 20-19, but that changed on a mistake by Arkansas and a block from McGee, giving the Aggies the lead back. A&M won the set thanks to Blake who got the kill to even the match at 2-2.
The Aggies will remain on the road for three more as they head to Oxford, Mississippi to take on Ole Miss Sunday, Nov. 12. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. at the Gillom Athletics Performance Center, and the match will be televised on SEC Network.