Aggies fall to Bulldogs, 3-0, in annual 'Dig Pink' match at Reed Arena
Texas A&M (3-2) fell in three sets (25-21, 25-20, 25-17) in the series opener against the Georgia Bulldogs (1-3) at Reed Arena Thursday night, their first SEC loss of the season.
Morgan Christon led the team in points, slamming 10 kills, while middle blocker London Austin-Roark put up six kills and libero Macy Carrabine scooped a match-high 16 digs. Ciera Hecht and Mallory Talbert rounded out the Aggies’ score with four blocks each.
“You have to show up every night. They (Georgia) outworked us up and down,” said Texas A&M head coach Bird Kuhn postgame. “We have to respond, and we always talk about our response. There isn’t an opponent where you can just go through the motions.”
A litany of errors brought the Aggies down in the first set as the Bulldogs maintained a solid lead, pulling ahead at the beginning and capitalizing on A&M’s mistakes. Christon managed five kills in an attempt to bring the Aggies ahead, but the Aggies ultimately fell 25-21.
The second set began with a fight for a lead as both the Aggies and the Bulldogs attempted to pull ahead. The Aggies fell behind after a Bulldog ace brought the score to 12-10, and despite a comeback led by Christon and Talbert kills near the end of the set, could not catch up as Georgia finished the frame 25-20.
Despite strong efforts from the Aggies and impressive bouts of momentum, Texas A&M could not catch up with the Bulldogs for the majority of the set. An early Georgia lead put the Aggies in a deficit, but a 3-0 run late saw the Aggies catching up. A Bulldog timeout shut down the run, leading the Aggies to a 25-17 set loss.
The match marked the annual “Dig Pink” match, supporting breast cancer awareness, and had an impressive attendance of 1,605. The game was a meaningful experience for both the coaches and the team members, all of whom sported pink to highlight their support.
“Dig Pink is always a special night for us. My friend Shayna (Fabrizio) is a breast cancer survivor, and she did our honorary first serve tonight,” said Kuhn about the event. “It means a lot to our families and our fans, the 12th Man, to host this event. It’s always cool to see that support and it’s something that is really special to us.”
Texas A&M will conclude its series against Georgia on Friday night at Reed Arena, with first serve scheduled for 7 p.m.