A&M volleyball's hot streak spoiled by four-set loss to No. 17 Florida

After a thrilling upset victory over the Gators in September, Texas A&M volleyball couldn’t repeat history on their home floor as they dropped a Friday night contest against No. 17 Florida in four sets (25-23, 23-25, 21-25, 12-25).

With the loss, the Aggies’ four-game win streak comes to an end.

A season-high 3,076 fans packed Reed Arena, excited to watch Jamie Morrison’s outstanding team as they continue to power through conference play. 

“Thank you. I hope we are putting an entertaining product out that people enjoy,” Morrison said of the 12th Man crowd. 

The first set was promising as the Maroon & White maintained control throughout.

Although the offense started off slow, the Aggies were able to gain momentum quickly due to several service errors and defensive mistakes by the Gators. Middle blockers Morgan Perkins and Ifenna Cos-Okpalla were put to work early and played a huge part in A&M’s early success. 

The home team was able to jump ahead quickly in the set with a four-point scoring run that was later matched by Florida’s AC Fitzpatrick on her three-point scoring run behind the service line. 

The Aggies were able to carry their momentum through the first set and top the Gators, 25-23. 

Though, that momentum quickly shifted in the second set and belonged to Florida for the remainder of the match. 

The second set was evenly matched between the conference foes, but the Aggies struggled significantly on defense, which in turn made the offense shut down. 

A handful of service errors from A&M helped the Gators continue to roll. After two back-to-back timeouts and a dominant block from Florida’s Kennedy Martin, the visitors closed the set, 25-23. 

The third and fourth sets were completely controlled by the Gators as the Aggies failed to force their way back in.

The third set saw an early lead for the Gators that was largely due to dominant blocking efforts. The Aggies were seemingly unable to get a ball through the wall that Florida had built atop the net. 

Eventually closing in, the Aggies tied the game at 19 with kills from Caroline Meuth and Brooke Jeffery. Still, the Gators held firm and quickly finished the set off, 25-21. 

Once again, it was more of the same in the fourth set as the Gators shut the Aggies down offensively.

Due to the opposing block, the Aggies' defense proved ineffective, which allowed Florida to continue to power along and steamroll A&M in the final set, 25-12. 

“We’re capable of beating anybody,” Morrison said. “We need to do what we are able to do more consistently to beat everybody.” 

The Aggies return to Reed Arena on Sunday to take on the Georgia Bulldogs at 1 p.m. CT.