Skid reaches three as Texas A&M drops 3-1 contest at Tennessee
The slide continues for the Aggies.
Texas A&M volleyball was matched up against Tennessee in Knoxville on Sunday, in what was the second game of the team’s three-game road trip. The Aggies were looking to get back on track, as they were on a two-game losing streak heading into the game.
But unfortunately for the Maroon & White, that streak was extended to three. A&M fell to Tennessee, 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 15-25, 25-27). This is now the Aggies’ longest losing streak of 2024, and they’re 15-7 with a 6-6 conference record with the loss.
Unlike some of their previous affairs, A&M got off to a hot start. The Aggies ran out to a 5-2 lead, with junior opposite Logan Lednicky and junior outside hitter Emily Hellmuth responsible for some early kills.
The Volunteers, however, did not waver. They tied it again at 6-6, and even after another Aggie run that had them up 13-8, the Volunteers evened it at 15. The teams kept going point for point, and it was knotted 21-all late.
Clearly frustrated, the Ags finally let it rip, and they closed out the set on a 4-0 run. The Maroon & White tallied two service aces from Hellmuth, and her second one was the final point of the period to reward A&M with a 25-21 win.
Tennessee, looking to answer back, did so in the second stanza. It was once again tied at 6-6, but it was the Volunteers this time getting a leg up with three straight points for a 9-6 lead. The Aggies never held a lead in the set once that occurred, even though they tied it at 15.
Tennessee scored six unanswered points, and the Vols had a commanding 21-15 advantage. It proved to be too steep of a climb for A&M to make, and Tennessee finished off the second set with their own 25-21 victory. Graduate outside hitter Nina Cajic and freshman outside hitter Paityn Chapman had multiple kills in this period, and A&M had an abysmal six service errors to Tennessee’s zero.
The Lady Vols cranked up the heat in the third set on the Aggies, and they led out of the gate, 4-0. Tennessee showed no signs of cooling down in this part of the match either, and that lead eventually became an 11-3 one for the Volunteers. Tennessee was up at least seven points the rest of the set, and it was one the Vols won 25-15 as a result.
The mistakes continued to pile up for A&M with 10 attack errors in the set. The Aggies also had a -.021 hitting percentage as well.
The Maroon & White played a hard-fought fourth period, and they had their own fast start to the set with a 9-4 lead.
Junior middle blockers Morgan Perkins and Ifenna Cos-Okpalla got in on the scoring with some kills to give the Aggies the lead, and they held that lead for a good while. Down 17-13, the Volunteers once again brought it all the way back and tied it at 19.
The teams traded scoring at match point. Another kill from Cajic gave Tennessee point 26, and yet another attack error from Hellmuth clinched the match for the Vols at 27-25 for a 3-1 triumph.
The ugly play from the Aggies continued in this game. Even though A&M had 13 more kills in this game than Tennessee, the Aggies committed a combined 40 attack and service errors, and they were blocked a total of 16 times by the Volunteers.
Now in a slump with only four games remaining in the regular season, A&M needs a win, and they’ll try to get that win in their next game at Oklahoma on November 13. The first serve is set for 7 p.m. CT.
