Streak snapped as Texas A&M falls in five-set final in Baton Rouge
Almost, but not quite.
Texas A&M volleyball wrapped up their three-game road trip with a hard-fought, five-set loss to the LSU Tigers, 3-2 (25-18, 14-25, 20-25, 25-14, 10-15). The loss snaps the Aggies’ three-game winning streak, and it’s their second conference loss this year.
The Aggies had a firm grip on the first set for the majority of the period, and despite the Tigers keeping it close early at 10-9, A&M scored six straight to take a solid 16-9 advantage. A staggering five attack errors from LSU were the difference maker when A&M went on this run, as well as a kill from junior outside hitter Emily Hellmuth.
With the Ags in the driver's seat, they continued to apply pressure, and they never had a lead in the set smaller than four from that point onwards. With A&M up 20-13, back-to-back kills from junior opposite Logan Lednicky upped the score to 22-13, and yet another error from LSU sealed the set with the Aggies winning 25-18.
It was not as good of a time for the Maroon & White in the second, however, and it was perhaps one of the ugliest sets the team had played all year. LSU ran out to a 4-1 lead, partly due to A&M committing attack errors.
The Ags were able to tie it at 6-6, but the Tigers went on a run to make it 12-7, as A&M continued to commit costly attack errors. LSU’s defense was also top-notch in this set, as the Ags went on to score just seven more points. After it was 20-13 in favor of the Tigers, kills from freshman middle blocker Jessica Jones and sophomore outside hitter Jurnee Robinson sealed the set victory for LSU, 25-14.
The third set wasn’t much better for A&M as the Ags were constantly playing catch-up and could never really find their footing. The Aggies only held the lead once at 2-1, and while they were able to tie the score a few times at 10-10 and 13-13, the Tigers grabbed the lead and never gave it back.
With LSU eventually leading 20-16, A&M was once again in a hole. Despite kills from Lednicky and junior outside hitter Taylor Humphrey, Robinson responded with two kills of her own. A service ace gave the Tigers the 25-20 win.
Down 2-1, the Aggies responded soundly in the fourth set.
While it was close in the early portions at 6-5, the Maroon & White expanded their lead to 13-6. A few Tiger attack errors and kills from Humphrey and junior middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla gave A&M this lead, and the team put the pedal to the medal as a result.
The Aggies found themselves up with a massive 20-10 lead and kills from Cos-Okpalla and Hellmuth saw them up 24-12. Lednicky ended the set at 25-14 with another kill.
The final set of this one saw an even score at 4-4 to begin, but LSU went on a 5-0 run to make it 9-4.
Robinson continued to give the Aggies issues as she added on three more kills for the Tigers.
With the lead, LSU was able to gain momentum and finish A&M off. Despite the Aggies’ continuous fight, the Tigers gained a 13-6 lead and won the set 15-10. A couple of errors by A&M proved to be the dagger, and another kill from Jones was the match point for LSU.
Despite the loss, the Aggies had an overall successful road trip. The team went 2-1, with wins against No. 24 Auburn and an Ole Miss team that was 5-0 at home. The Aggies now sit at a record of 12-3 and a 3-2 conference record with this defeat.
The team will look to get back on track in their return to College Station on Friday, Oct. 18, against 19th-ranked Florida. The first serve is set for 8 p.m. CT.