A&M Falls to No. 18 Florida State, 3-1

Friday, September 18

Tallahassee, Fla.

6:00 PM

Texas A&M

6-4

Florida State

7-3

Texas A&M

Florida State

Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics

Sep 18, 2015 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Texas A&M was unable to pull off its second consecutive win against a top-20 opponent, falling to No. 18 Florida State, 25-20, 25-12, 21-25, 25-16, tonight at Tully Gym.
Already injury riddled with setter Stephanie Aiple unable to start for the first time this season after suffering a foot injury in the 3-2 victory against No. 15 Colorado State on Tuesday, the Aggies lost senior captain and season kill leader Angela Lowak with an apparent knee injury suffered in the opening set against the Seminoles.

Junior Kaysie Shebeneck drew her first start of the season in place of Aiple and had the Aggies within 13-10 in the first set. Lowak, an outside hitter, then put A&M within 13-11 with her third kill, but she would go down with the injury during the ensuing play and was carried off the court.

The Seminoles then reeled off four consecutive points as A&M struggled to get back in sync. FSU, which outhit A&M, .231 to .184 in the frame, later used a 3-0 run to build its largest lead at 20-13, before A&M rallied. The Aggies got within 20-17 on a Shelby Sullivan kill, consecutive FSU unforced errors and a kill by Jazzmin Babers but were unable to overcome the deficit. The teams traded points, with a kill by Emily Hardesty keeping the Aggies within 22-19. The Noles then got a kill and an ace to be serving for the set. A&M posted a block on the next play before Mercedes Vaughn put down her fifth kill of the stanza to close out the set for FSU.

FSU used a 10-1 run to jump out to an 11-3 lead in the second set. The Noles, who would hit .500 in the frame while holding A&M to a .080 hitting percentage, posted four of their seven aces in the match in the second set alone, including back-to-back aces to end the set.

The Seminoles scored four unanswered points to jump out to a 7-4 advantage in the third set, but A&M continued to battle and chip away at the lead. The Aggies twice got within a point and were trailing 14-11 before a kill by Babers, a FSU ball handling error and a kill and a block by Shelby Sullivan gave A&M a 15-14 lead. The Noles, who were outhit, .500 to .361 in the set, tied the score three times, the last coming at 17-17 before A&M reeled off five consecutive points, including a well-placed dump kill to the back line by Shebeneck, a Babers kill courtesy of an FSU overpass, and a block by Babers and Hardesty. With A&M up, 22-17, the teams began to exchange kills before a block by Babers and Ashlie Reasor put the Aggies at set point. FSU posted back-to-back kills to stay alive before Reasor put down the set-winning kill.

The fourth set started out as a back-and-fourth affair with eight ties and five lead changes until FSU used an 8-1 surge to go up, 17-11. A&M, which had held its largest lead of the stanza at 4-1 following a kill and a block by Babers, got back within four points at 18-14 following a kill by Reasor, but A&M then committed three errors during an FSU 5-0 run that put the Seminoles ahead, 23-14. Hardesty ended the rally with a kill, and freshman Kaitlyn Black followed with a kill to put the Aggies within 23-16. A&M, however, committed its eighth service error of the night, putting FSU at match point. Milicia Kurbura then secured the victory for the Seminoles with a kill.

It was the fourth consecutive victory for the Seminoles, who improve to 7-3. Nicole Walch led FSU with 18 kills, and Vaughn and Katie Horton added 14 and 11 kills, respectively, helping propel the Seminoles to a 61-47 advantage in kills. Melanie Keil had eight blocks as FSU lead A&M in team blocks, 12-7.

A&M (6-4) was led by Hardesty, who recorded 12 kills and also pitched in 12 digs to post her second double-double of the season. Sophomore Kiara McGee, who replaced Lowak in the lineup, finished with 10 kills, while Shebeneck dished out a season-high 38 assists.

Aggies sophomore libero Amy Nettles led all players with 16 digs, and Babers posted six blocks, including four block assists to give her 291 for her career and move her into sole possession of ninth place in the A&M all-time career records for block assists.

Others who saw action in two or more sets were Gabby Litwin, who finished with a season high six digs, as well as Katelyn Labhart, Paige Panter, Amy Houser and Kaitlyn Blake.

A&M concludes its non-conference slate Sunday at Florida A&M in Tallahassee. First serve is at 11 a.m. (CT) at Al Lawson Center.

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 and Instagram by following @AggieVolleyball.

Texas A&M quotes:
Head Coach Laurie Corbelli:

"Against a team like that, super-experienced and at home, you really have to be at full strength. I was so proud of the valiant fight my team put up, No. 1 with (Kaysie) Shebeneck leading the way and just battling every point with her team as our new setter. After losing (Angela) Lowak, it made everyone pretty sick to their stomachs and absolutely took all of us a while to gather ourselves.

"I loved game 3. We had some of the greatest swings we've had. We did some really beautiful things. We do need to clean up some stuff. It is very clear to us and to the girls. What we are doing is moving on because we have a big match tomorrow at noon and we want it badly. I know the team will be ready. We are just hoping for the best for Angela, and I'm proud of the people who are stepping up for our injured players and playing some great volleyball."