The No. 19 Texas A&M volleyball team defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville, Ark., Wednesday in four sets, 25-17, 25-19, 19-25, 25-20. The win moves the Aggies to 18-8 overall and 10-5 in conference play, and avenges a four-set home loss to Arkansas earlier in the season.
Sophomore Jazzmin Babers led the team in both kills and blocks, posting 13 and eight, respectively. Babers, the SEC leader in hitting percentage, posted a .765 percentage against the Razorbacks. Junior captain Shelby Sullivan was second on the team in kills with 11 and also tallied three blocks.
Freshman Ashlie Reasor recorded double digit kills for the second straight match. Freshman setter Stephanie Aiple returned from her brief one-game injury hiatus to lead all players in assists with 41, adding nine digs and five kills.
A&M jumped out to an early two-set lead. The Aggies continued their recent first-set dominance, seizing the opening set for the seventh match in a row. A&M never trailed en route to a 25-19 victory in the second set. Arkansas avoided the sweep by winning the third set by the same margin, but A&M ended the match with a 25-20 fourth set.
A&M connected on its kill attempts at a much higher clip than its opponent, finishing with a .331 hitting percentage compared to the Razorbacks .189. The Aggies produced nearly twice as many blocks as the Razorbacks (11 to 5.5). Arkansas also had 27 attacking errors.
The Aggies next match is at 3 p.m. Sunday when they host defending SEC champion Missouri. Sunday will also be the Aggies’ last home match of the season. Sydney Wilhelm, the team’s lone senior, will be honored prior to tip off as part of Senior Day festivities. The match will be televised on the SEC Network.