It had to happen sometime, right?
While most of College Station had their eyes on Kyle Field, Texas A&M Volleyball was on the road, taking on the seventh-ranked Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday night.
The Aggies suffered their first loss of the season in a 3-0 sweep (25-18, 30-28, 25-19). In the losing effort, A&M’s record now sits at 8-1.
"Wisconsin is a great volleyball team, and it's a great environment for us to play in,” head coach Jamie Morrison said. “I'm excited about how we played for stretches. Obviously, you're never happy with a loss, but I'm happy with the path we're on.”
The first set of Saturday’s match was one that A&M was playing behind for the majority of the period. The Aggies held a 4-2 lead after a kill from junior outside hitter Taylor Humphrey, but the Badgers turned it up a notch. The Aggies wouldn’t see the lead again, and the Badgers had a 17-10 lead late.
A&M continued to fight through the set, but it was futile, as Wisconsin continued their hot streak by winning the set 25-18.
It was a very blow-for-blow battle in the second, with plenty of ties and one-score deficits. After the Aggies took a 13-10 lead, the Badgers once again regrouped and took a 20-16 advantage.
The set would eventually play beyond the 25-point requirement, and A&M had set point multiple times. Down 28-27, Wisconsin scored three straight points to claim a 30-28 victory.
"I think good volleyball teams are able to play for long stretches of time. I thought that second set might have been some of the best volleyball we've played all year,” Morrison said. “We played big in a big moment when the score was tight in a hostile environment and I'm proud of that."
Set three was much like the first set, where the Aggies had an early lead but could never seem to find their footing.
Junior middle blocker Morgan Perkins had a pair of kills to make it 7-3, but Wisconsin continued to show fight and eventually took a 15-14 lead.
After that, the Badgers never relinquished that lead, and they would win the game’s final set 25-19.
Not only is this A&M’s first loss of the year, but the Aggies lost in a sweep to the initial ranked opponent they’ve faced so far this season.
Still, the stat sheet doesn’t look like it reflects the final. The Aggies had 44 kills to the Badgers’ 46, and they both had the same amount of service aces.
What seemingly made the difference was defense, as Wisconsin had eight total blocks to A&M’s three. Additionally, the Aggies had a mediocre .225 hitting percentage, not on par with the Badgers’ .350.
The Aggies will look to rebound tomorrow as they finish out the road trip in Madison against Troy. The first serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.
