Aggies Fall to No. 9 Florida, 3-1

Sunday, October 16

College Station

4:00 PM

Texas A&M

11-7, 5-2SEC

Florida

16-2, 6-1SEC

Florida

Texas A&M

Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics

Oct 16, 2016 | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery Box Score (UF 3, A&M 1)

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Four Texas A&M players recorded double-figure kills, but ninth-ranked Florida pulled away for a 27-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-16 victory today in front of 2,624 at Reed Arena.
The loss snapped the Aggies' five-match win streak, as they fall to 11-7 overall and 5-2 in Southeastern Conference matches. Florida improves to 16-2 overall and 6-1 in SEC play after picking up its fourth consecutive straight victory.

Texas A&M got off to slow starts in several sets, including the opening frame as the Aggies spotted the Gators the first five points of the match. Florida went on to take its largest lead at 12-6 before the Aggies began to chip away at the lead, managing to get within 22-21 following back-to-back kills by junior opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor and senior middle blocker Jazzmin Babers. After trading sideouts, Carli Snyder put the Gators at set point, 24-22, with her sixth kill. Babers countered with a kill, and sophomore middle blocker Kaitlyn Blake and junior setter Stephanie Aiple teamed for a block to tie the score for the first time. A&M was whistled for a ball handling error on the next play to put Florida at set point for the second time, but the Gators hit wide to tie the score, 25-25. Florida, which outhit A&M .250 to .226 in the stanza, then got a kill and a block to pull out the win.

The roles were reversed in the second set, with Texas A&M using a 5-0 run to build a 7-3 lead. Florida cut the deficit to 8-6 before A&M outscored the Gators, 4-1, including back-to-back kills by Blake to give the Aggies their largest lead, 12-7. Florida mounted a comeback, getting within 15-14 before a kill by freshman outside hitter Hollann Hans began a 4-1 rally by the Aggies. Florida was within 22-19 when Reasor put down a kill and Babers and junior outside hitter Kiara McGee got a block to put the Aggies at set point. The Gators, who were outhit, .385 to .302, staved off two set points with consecutive kills before Aiple and Babers blocked Snyder to close out the set and even the match at a set apiece.

Florida jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the third set before Hans and Blake led the Aggies on a 4-0 charge to get within 8-7. A&M, however, was unable to take the lead, and Florida later used a 4-0 surge to build a 15-9 cushion. The Gators maintained the 6-point advantage at 22-16 when the Maroon and White made another late charge, scoring five unanswered points to get within 22-21. An attack error ended the run, but Florida hit long on the ensuing play and McGee and Babers stuff blocked Rhamat Alhassan to tie the set for the first time since 1-1. A&M, though, hit wide to put the Gators at set point, and Florida, which outhit A&M, .149 to .089, ended the stanza as Shainah Joseph's attack fell to the open center court for a kill.
There were seven ties in the fourth set, the last coming at 15-all before the Gators quickly separated from the Aggies. Florida, which hit .281 while holding A&M to a .027 hitting percentage in the set, got three consecutive kills to go up, 18-15, forcing A&M to call a timeout. Blake got a kill coming out of the timeout, but it would be the Aggies' final point as Florida reeled off seven unanswered points, three points courtesy of consecutive Aggie attack errors to close out the match.

Hans tied McGee for team-high honors in kills with a career-high 14 and also finished with career highs in points (16) and blocks (4). Reasor finished with 12 kills and Blake pitched in 11 kills, with Aiple dishing out 50 assists.

Blake also had a team-high six blocks to head-up the front row defense, and libero Amy Nettles had a season-high 21 digs while captaining the back row defense. Defensive specialists Victoria Arenas and Amy Houser contributed 13 and 10 digs, respectively, as Texas A&M finished with a season-high 71 digs as a team.

Alhassan had a match-high 22 kills while hitting at a .528 clip to lead the Gators to a .241 to .184 hitting percentage advantage. The 6-4 middle blocker completed a double-double with 10 blocks as Florida outblocked A&M, 14-10. Libero Caroline Knop led all players with 24 digs.

The loss prevented Texas A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli from notching the 600^th victory of her head coaching career as well as her 500^th at A&M in front of the home crowd. Her next chance for the milestone victory will be Friday as Texas A&M returns to the road Friday to take on Georgia (13-7, 1-6 SEC). First serve is at 6 p.m. (CT), at the Ramsey Center in Athens, Georgia, and the match will be streamed on SEC Network +, available on WatchESPN and the ESPN app. Texas A&M is 5-0 against the Bulldogs since joining the SEC.

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.

POSTMATCH QUOTES:

TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH LAURIE CORBELLI

On Rhamat Alhassan and Florida's defense…
"She's a nice player. They're all really nice players. We are all really nice players. They only out blocked us by four, and those four happened at the end of the match. We were pretty even with them, so I felt like we shot ourselves in the foot by backing off. I don't think we did it intentionally, but we just got blocked. Once our offense got stopped once or twice, we backed off. We just prevented ourselves from having a chance at the end, but we were playing great volleyball for three sets. I'm just so proud of how good this team and how balanced we are. One serving error, that is just some awesome stuff going on on the court. It was hard to not be able to finish, but we feel like we backed off."

On starting sets...
"A lot of times it is just getting our offense going. I guess it is various things actually. Sometimes our passing has been the culprit. In general, when we lost [sets] one and three, we were down a lot in the first 10 points. We had to fight back. If we can learn how to have stronger starts against teams like this, then we get our wheels turning faster and we might see more success."

On Rhamat Alhassan and Alex Holston ...
"That's a lot of pressure to put on a team. [Rhamat] Alhassan and [Alex] Holston in the same rotation, you have to honor both of them. I thought their libero [Caroline Knop] did a great job. Their [defensive specialists] did a beautiful job of making it where the setter could legitimately get great sets to both of them. It does put a ton of pressure on your block and on your defense. That was definitely tough."

On improving as a team...
"I love this team. I don't think they realize how good they are and how much talent they have. I think we are going to be better in a week and that we have gotten better every week. I think that's the way it is supposed to be. We aren't supposed to be peaking right now. However, this was a match that could have been really important. At the same time, we have 11 matches ahead of us. We are just trying to get better each week and make it noticeable for the players, so that they can gain confidence and momentum and have a great end to October. That's what we are shooting for. It's a long season. It's a grind, but I think we are handling the middle of it beautifully. I'm really proud of this team. They bust their tails on the floor for this team, and I couldn't be prouder."

On Texas A&M's errors…
"Honestly, it's hard to really know what caused it. I can just see the result of what was going on. We really can't put our finger on it completely. We were aggressively going at their block early. We were passing more aggressively early. It seemed like our game was just a lot more aggressive in the first hour and a half. That last half hour, I can't really answer what it was. I think that the players will probably meet and talk about their experience and what they want to change when they are out on the floor. I expect that we will see a different result the next time we are in that kind of situation."

TEXAS A&M SENIOR MIDDLE BLOCKER JAZZMIN BABERS

On comparing Florida to Texas A&M's pre-season ranked opponents...
"Every ranked team that we have played so far has been amazing; that's probably why they are ranked. I think they vary in the difference of preseason. I feel like it was one person kind of hurting us consistently, and Florida, clearly, by their numbers had multiple people coming at us. They are a great team all around, back row and front row."

On earning points...
"It was a fight the whole match. The points, I think, just brought a lot of energy. Stephanie [Aiple] is a great setter, so a lot of those points are from her just saving amazing balls that are right on the tape. It makes it easy for me when she jumps and takes two blockers with her."

On post-game notes from the team…
"I feel like we will get a lot of good feedback from the people on the bench and what they saw. Then just compare it with how people felt on the court. I feel like in the fourth set we did kind of let down a little bit with our energy, so we'll probably just talk about why that happened and then just other ways in which we can improve."