Texas A&M volleyball fell to No. 22 Arizona State on Thursday in the opening round of the NCAA tournament in Austin, ending the Aggies’ season.
Three time All-Pac 12 honoree Macey Garner led the Sun Devils (19-13, 9-11 Pac-12) with 24 kills as Texas A&M (21-8, 13-5 SEC) ended its six-game winning streak in a 22-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-22 loss.
The first two kills of the match were placed by ASU’s Garner going crosscourt, then line. Bouncing back and forth for the remainder of the set, the teams tied nine times, but A&M was able to keep the Devils from advancing beyond a tie until the last five points when A&M trailed 21-20. Freshman outside hitter Kiara McGee brought the Aggies back, giving them their 23rd and 24th points in the first set as A&M went on to take the opening frame.
The Aggies utilized the right side of the court with right side freshman Ashlie Reasor and middles Shelby Sullivan and Jazzmin Babers, who had a combined 11 kills in the first set.
In the second set ASU took the lead early at 10-4. The Aggies substituted all-freshman conference player Stephanie Aiple with sophomore setter Kaysie Shebeneck, but the change did not stop the Devils from further extending the lead. A&M had a four-point kill streak by Babers, Reasor and McGee plus another four-point streak, but it wasn’t enough as the Sun Devils evened the match at 1-1.
In the third frame, the Aggies started with the lead, but it was soon lost to the Sun Devils with a kill by Garner. ASU’s McCready aided her team in their second win against the Aggies, getting 11 out of 49 total digs for her team.
The final set began close with seven ties before either team hit double digits. A&M came back at 10-9 with a kill by Reasor and block by Babers to lead 12-10, but ASU soon tied the set with a kill by Garner and hitting error by A&M.
After a controversial call against A&M, Sullivan took the Aggies on a five-point run starting with a kill and ending with a service ace. This run put A&M up by a point with only five more points to go before the end of the set. Garner tied the score back up on the next play with a kill and ended the set with two more kills as the Aggies NCAA bid came to a swift end.
Arizona State moves on to play No. 2 Texas at 8 p.m. Friday.