The Texas A&M volleyball team fell to Florida in three sets Sunday in Gainesville, Fla. The Gators (12-3, 6-0 SEC) captured the opening point and refused to allow A&M to generate any momentum en route to a 25-12, 25-23, 25-17 victory.
A&M (11-5, 3-2 SEC) committed four service errors in a lopsided opening set. The Aggies fell behind early by a score of 11-3 and were never able to recover. The discrepancies between the two teams in the first set were most apparent in the kill column, where the Gators held a 17-6 advantage.
The Aggies tried to turn things around in the second set, jumping out to a 2-0 lead. However, that lead proved to be short-lived as Florida pushed back with a 5-point run of its own to make the score 5-2. A&M managed to pull within a single point on six different occasions only to see the Gators pull away time and again. Florida sophomore Alex Holden ended the set 25-23 with one of her match-high 13 kills.
The third set held more of the same for the Aggies, who clawed their way from behind to tie the Gators three separate times only to fall short and drop the set and the match by a final score of 25-17.
Florida bested the young Aggie team in kills (43-29), aces (5-0) and blocks (10-6). A&M contributed to their own undoing with 19 attack errors and 13 serving errors. Those mistakes contributed to the wide gap in hitting percentage between the two teams (.119 -.395).
Friday, the Aggies overcame a 2-1 deficit to beat Alabama inside Reed Arena. Freshman Ashlie Reasor had a career-high 18.5 points and totaled 14 kills as A&M improved to 2-0 at home in SEC play this season.
Texas A&M next faces Arkansas at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Reed Arena. The game will broadcast on the SEC Network.