Texas A&M Volleyball traveled to Florida State territory in attempt to pull off their second consecutive win against a ranked team. While the Aggies gave Florida State their best, they came up short.
No. 18 Florida State (7-3) clinched their 31st straight home game with the win over A&M (7-4). The Seminoles won 3-1 in four sets, (25-20, 25-12, 21-25, 25-16).
A&M had to adjust to Stephanie Aiple’s foot injury by starting Junior Kaysie Shebeneck. Aiple left Reed Arena in a boot after defeating the 15th ranked Colorado State Rams last week. During Friday’s game, the Aggies also lost senior captain Angela Lowak to a knee injury during the first set against the Seminoles.
As Lowak attempted to make up the 13-10 deficit in the first set, she recorded her third kill but came down and injured her knee. She was carried off the court while Kiara McGee entered the game in her place.
At that moment, the Seminoles began a 4-0 run as A&M struggled to overcome the loss of their captain. The Seminoles would soon build a 20-13 lead before the Aggies would battle back. A kill from Shelby Sullivan, consecutive unforced errors by the seminoles, and a kill by Jazzmin Babers allowed A&M to make it 20-17. However it was not enough overcome the deficit. Both teams traded points until FSU’s Mercedes Vaughn ended set with her fifth kill.
The Seminoles started the second set by scoring 10 unanswered points to lead 10-1. They impressively hit .500 and held A&M to just .080 hitting percentage. Florida State recorded 4 of 7 aces in the second set against A&M while taking it 25-12.
FSU jumped to a 7-4 lead but the Texas Aggies rallied to trail by one point. Later, the Aggies took advantage of a Florida State error and Babers kill to lead 15-14. A&M improved their hitting percentage to .500 and held the Noles to .361. The Aggies and Seminoles exchanged points to tie it at 17 apiece until the Maroon and White scored five consecutive points. FSU fought to stay alive while recording two straight kills before Texas A&M’s Ashlie Reasor won the set 25-21 with a kill.
In the fourth set, both teams clashed while tying eight different times and exchanging the lead five times. FSU decided to make a mid-game lead by going on a 8-1 run making it 17-11. Another kill and block by Babers allowed A&M to get within four points. Then the Noles made a 5-0 off of 3 A&M errors that put up FSU 23-14 Hardesty and Black both had two kills for A&M to make it 23-16. Soon after, Kurbura closed out the game and match for Florida State.
For Texas A&M, Hardesty recorded 12 kills and 12 digs. It was Nettles who led all players with 16 digs. On the the Noles side, Walch led with 18 kills and Keil with 8 blocks over the 3-1 win over A&M.
The following day, Texas A&M won their last non-conference game with a 3-0 win over Florida A&M.
The Florida A&M Rattlers who entered the match looking for their first win, lead the Aggies 4-2 in the first set before A&M rallied back. Later, the Aggies edged the Rattlers to a 13-12 advantage before surging for a 10-point run. Reasor ended the set with a kill.
In the second set, the Texas Aggies broke away from a 6-6 tie with the Rattlers by manufacturing a 9-0 scoring run. Texas A&M hit .579 to secure a 23-14 lead in which Hardesty and Sullivan had two consecutive kills. A&M won the set and lead the match 2-0.
Texas A&M led Florida A&M by more than seven points during the entire third set. They pulled away with a 5-0 run to make the score 12-4. The Rattlers were struggling to get in sync as Texas A&M won the third.
Junior Kaysie Shebeneck made her second start in place of injured Stephanie Aiple. She recorded 37 assists while posting a .500 hitting percentage. Emily Hardesty led the Aggies with nine kills while hitting .412, Amy Nettles led the Aggies with 8 digs, and Katelyn Labhart tallied up five aces.
The Aggies next game will be against their conference opponent, Arkansas, on September 27th at Reed Arena.
