Texas A&M
11-6, 3-3SEC
Arkansas
11-8, 5-1SEC
Arkansas Upends No. 20 Texas A&M, 3-1
Oct 15, 2014 | Volleyball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Arkansas took advantage of Texas A&M's offensive woes, defeating the 20th-ranked Aggies, 20-25, 25-12, 25-21, 27-25, tonight at Reed Arena.
Arkansas improved to 11-8 overall and 5-1 SEC play as the Razorbacks won their first away match of the season and also notched their first victory against Texas A&M in the four-match all-time series.
A&M, which entered the match 9-0 when winning the first set, was outhit .265 to .178 in the match and dropped to 11-6 overall and 3-3 in league play.
The Aggies held an 8-6 lead in the opening set when Arkansas reeled off six unanswered points to take its largest lead at 12-8. A&M then began to chip away at the lead and eventually used a 5-0 spurt to retake the lead, 18-15. An attack error ended the run, but Jazzmin Babers came back with back-to-back kills, and Arkansas hit out of bounds on consecutive plays to put the Aggies up, 22-16. Arkansas then got a kill and a block to get within 22-18 before the teams sided out for the remainder of the frame, with Shelby Sullivan and Sydney Wilhelm teaming for a block to clinch the winning point for the Aggies.
Neither team was impressive offensively in the opening set as A&M hit .067 while the Razorbacks hit .000. Arkansas then hit .333 in the second set while A&M hit -.054. The teams were tied at 6-all when A&M committed four consecutive errors. The Razorbacks continued to pull away and were ahead, 19-12, before mounting a 6-0 run to close out the set and even the match at a set apiece.
A&M held a 7-6 edge in the third set when Arkansas scored six consecutive points. The Aggies eventually got back within a point at 21-20 following back-to-back kills by Babers and Ashley Reasor and an Arkansas attack error, but A&M was unable to tie the score. An A&M service error and an Arkansas kill put the Razorbacks up, 23-20. Arkansas hit wide on the next play, but A&M followed with its third service error of the set to put the Razorbacks at set point. A&M, which was outhit .250 to .231, then hit wide on the ensuing play to give Arkansas the win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
The teams opened the fourth set trading point-for-point until consecutive kills by Reasor and Babers put A&M up 6-5. A&M went on to build its largest lead at 11-8 as Sullivan and Angela Lowak connected on back-to-back kills. The Aggies maintained their three-point advantage at 16-13 before the momentum began to swing Arkansas' way.
The Razorbacks clawed their way back, eventually tying the score at 19-19 on a dump kill by setter Bailee Hankenson. Babers put A&M up 20-19 with a nicely executed tip kill to the open sideline, but a kill by Arkansas' Chanell Clark-Bibbs and an A&M attack error gave the Razorbacks the lead. A&M tied the score at 21 and 22 before kills by Meredith Hays and Breana Jones put Arkansas at match point. A&M fought off two match points and tied the score at 24-all as Reasor put down a kill, and Amy Nettles followed with an ace. Hays then put Arkansas at match point for the third time, ending a long rally by blasting a kill through the block. Sydney Wilhelm kept A&M alive with a kill, but A&M was whistled for being in the net on the next play. Jones then capped the 27-25 win for the Razorbacks with a kill.
Babers led A&M with 12 kills, and Sullivan added 11. Wilhelm took match-high honors in digs with a career high 17, and Emily Hardesty also posted double-figure digs with 12. Aggie setter Stephanie Aiple, who dished out 38 assists, tied Babers and Sullivan for the team lead in blocks with three.
Hays, who leads the SEC in kills and points per set, led all players with 23 kills and 23.5 points as Arkansas bettered A&M in kills, 62-48.
The Aggies hit the road on Sunday to play at South Carolina. First serve is at 12:30 p.m. CT, and the match will be on SEC Network +.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M volleyball team on Facebook and on Twitter by following @AggieVolleyball.
Texas A&M post-match quotes:
Head coach Laurie Corbelli:
Thoughts on the match and what changed between the first two sets…
The score showed a win in the first set, but I personally didn't think we had a very strong start. I sensed hesitation. I sensed individual play. I did think we did some better executing of the block in the first set. I kind of sensed some hesitation early in the first set, and it all came crashing down and really manifested. We probably shouldn't have won the first set. I think it worked with our minds a little bit. We thought, 'We can be like this and still win.' They made a change and came back and just rolled over us and just continued to roll. The bottom line: we backed off. We put them in a system with really weak serving, and they just ran a clinic on us. They ran their offense, and we were constantly trying to defend some really good attackers. We ran our offense from 12 feet or midcourt almost every play. It's really hard to counter-attack when you can't pass the ball to your setter to run an offense. In most regards, this was one of our worst performances, and that's not to take away from Arkansas. They did some really phenomenal things. Defensively, they had us pretty tagged. They did some really nice things and had a great match. Obviously hitting 17 percent, we did not attack them very smart. We didn't attack them aggressively. We just didn't attack them.
If getting back on the road right away and not having a lot of time to think about this will be good…
"I really don't know. I don't understand my team right now. I don't understand how tonight really happened, being at home and feeling like we were doing some awesome things. They had me fooled. We've got number one and two [Shelby Sullivan and Jazzmin Babers] in the conference in attacking [percentage], and yet we struggled to even put a complete team out there. I'll work hard to prepare them the best I know how for South Carolina, but I'm going to leave it up to them to decide what they want to do. Someone has to make a change on our team. Three of the last four matches we lost, and that is not okay. The players have to decide what they want to do. How hard are they willing to fight? How much do they really want to compete as opposed to just putting on the Texas A&M jersey?
Angela Lowak, junior outside hitter:
On what to focus on to get back on track…
"Today was a tough loss. Arkansas played well, and we didn't show up. There's a part of us that needs to remember how this feels and just remember how to not come out for a match. But at the same time we have to get back in the gym. And I know that we all will make a change because it has to happen. It ultimately comes down to us just believing in ourselves and in our team."
On what the team needs to work on…
"Our team has the talent, we just have to produce. I'm sure the coaches will give some drills that make us do that."
