Sunday, October 29
College Station
1:30 p.m.
Texas A&M
7-11, 4-7SEC
0
vs
3
Kentucky
19-2, 10-0SEC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| Texas A&M | 19 | 18 | 17 | 0 |
Photo by: Glen Johnson/Texas A&M Athletics
Texas A&M Falls to No. 6 Kentucky, 3-0
Oct 29, 2017 | Volleyball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – No. 6 Kentucky won its 14th consecutive match and remained undefeated in league play to stay atop the Southeastern Conference standings with a 25-19, 25-18, 25-17 victory over Texas A&M today at Reed Arena.
The match wrapped up a five-match homestand for the Aggies who fall to 7-11, including 4-7 in SEC matches. Kentucky, which faces a rematch against defending SEC champion and fourth-ranked Florida on Wednesday, improves to 19-2 overall and 10-0 in SEC matches.
There were nine ties and four lead changes early in the opening set and Texas A&M managed a 15-13 advantage at the first set media timeout. But when the Wildcats returned to the court, they went on a 9-1 run. A Kentucky service error and a kill by Aggie freshman setter Camille Conner put A&M within 22-18 before the Wildcats posted back-to-back kills to be serving for the set. Kentucky, which outhit A&M .452 to .219 in the frame, was called for an illegal back-row attack before an Avery Skinner kill closed out the set for the Wildcats.
There were six ties early in the second set, but A&M was unable to take the lead. The teams were tied for the final time at 9-9 when Kentucky went on a 10-2 run to surge to a 19-11 lead. A&M then produced its longest rally of the match, scoring five consecutive points, with middle blocker Kaitlyn Blake crushing a Kentucky overpass to put the Aggies within 19-16. It would be the closest A&M could get.
A&M was within 22-18 following a kill down the line by sophomore outside hitter Hollann Hans, but Kentucky, which hit .214 while holding the Aggies to a -.029 hitting percentage, scored the final three points. The last two points of the set were courtesy of A&M attack errors, and Kentucky took a 2-0 lead in the match.
Kentucky led the entire third set and outhit A&M, .520 to .172, in the stanza. Back-to-back kills by Hans and Conner put the Aggies within 17-13, but the Wildcats countered with a 7-2 run and were serving for the match, 24-15. Texas A&M senior outside hitter Kiara McGee put down her team-leading 11th kill and then teamed with freshman middle blocker Morgan Davis for a block to put A&M within 24-17 before an A&M attack error ended the match.
Skinner had 12 kills to lead Kentucky, which outhit A&M, .393 to .116 for the match. Kaz Brown had six block assists for the Wildcats to lead them to a 7-4 lead in team blocks.
McGee finished with a team-high 12 points while hitting .304 for A&M. Conner had 20 assists, libero Amy Nettles had a team-high seven digs, and Davis led the team in blocks with three.
The Aggies begin a three-match road swing on Friday, as they take on Missouri in Columbia. First serve is at 6:30 p.m. at the Hearnes 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 POSTMATCH QUOTES:
HEAD COACH LAURIE CORBELLI
On the strong first set...
"I thought we were competing to be right there neck-and-neck the whole time. For the first two sets we were competing. The talk has been let's get ready to put a whole match together, and something clicked when they made a run of three or a run of four. I felt like my team just decided to lose their fight. I'm very disappointed."
On Kentucky's runs...
"It's demoralizing when you can't even execute the game plan. We were going to serve [aggressive] and we've been serving so well and so tough, and we let up on our serving. You can't do that against anyone, much less a top-10 team. We make unforced errors. Not only do they score their points, but we score lots of points for them. That's really hard to overcome. It puts you in an almost impossible situation. I recognize that we are still really learning. We are still figuring out how to win. My team started off with a tough schedule, and we didn't get a lot of breaks. The times that we figured out how to win, it feels like we've figured it out and that we had it going. But then we make so many unforced errors on attack, missing assignments on defense, some blocking things. The truth is we are really young. I've had three of my starters for nine weeks of college volleyball, coming straight out of high school. On one hand, you get frustrated and humiliated like this, but on the other hand I believe in my players. They are really good volleyball players. This is the type of year where you have to have a lot of patience and you have to focus on growth and taking it a game at a time."
On strong night from Kiara McGee...
"If we could all do that on the same nights. Some nights we have good days from some players but not a glimpse from other players. They don't intend for this to be happening. They are struggling with their confidence, and they are struggling with their job and with their load. They over analyze what their job is, and we can't function as a team like that. We have lots and lots of learning to do."
SENIOR OUTSIDE HITTER KIARA MCGEE
On what was working for her…
"What we talked about before we went out there was trust our swing; it's better to be decisive than be right. So every swing I went up I knew what I wanted to do with the ball, and I knew my body. I was just going up with confidence knowing what to do."
On the first set…
"We came out there pretty determined and confident, and then we just slacked off at the end, which can't happen. We have to fight the whole time. Even though they're No. 6 in the country, we have to go all out, all energy, confident on every play."
The match wrapped up a five-match homestand for the Aggies who fall to 7-11, including 4-7 in SEC matches. Kentucky, which faces a rematch against defending SEC champion and fourth-ranked Florida on Wednesday, improves to 19-2 overall and 10-0 in SEC matches.
There were nine ties and four lead changes early in the opening set and Texas A&M managed a 15-13 advantage at the first set media timeout. But when the Wildcats returned to the court, they went on a 9-1 run. A Kentucky service error and a kill by Aggie freshman setter Camille Conner put A&M within 22-18 before the Wildcats posted back-to-back kills to be serving for the set. Kentucky, which outhit A&M .452 to .219 in the frame, was called for an illegal back-row attack before an Avery Skinner kill closed out the set for the Wildcats.
There were six ties early in the second set, but A&M was unable to take the lead. The teams were tied for the final time at 9-9 when Kentucky went on a 10-2 run to surge to a 19-11 lead. A&M then produced its longest rally of the match, scoring five consecutive points, with middle blocker Kaitlyn Blake crushing a Kentucky overpass to put the Aggies within 19-16. It would be the closest A&M could get.
A&M was within 22-18 following a kill down the line by sophomore outside hitter Hollann Hans, but Kentucky, which hit .214 while holding the Aggies to a -.029 hitting percentage, scored the final three points. The last two points of the set were courtesy of A&M attack errors, and Kentucky took a 2-0 lead in the match.
Kentucky led the entire third set and outhit A&M, .520 to .172, in the stanza. Back-to-back kills by Hans and Conner put the Aggies within 17-13, but the Wildcats countered with a 7-2 run and were serving for the match, 24-15. Texas A&M senior outside hitter Kiara McGee put down her team-leading 11th kill and then teamed with freshman middle blocker Morgan Davis for a block to put A&M within 24-17 before an A&M attack error ended the match.
Skinner had 12 kills to lead Kentucky, which outhit A&M, .393 to .116 for the match. Kaz Brown had six block assists for the Wildcats to lead them to a 7-4 lead in team blocks.
McGee finished with a team-high 12 points while hitting .304 for A&M. Conner had 20 assists, libero Amy Nettles had a team-high seven digs, and Davis led the team in blocks with three.
The Aggies begin a three-match road swing on Friday, as they take on Missouri in Columbia. First serve is at 6:30 p.m. at the Hearnes 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 POSTMATCH QUOTES:
HEAD COACH LAURIE CORBELLI
On the strong first set...
"I thought we were competing to be right there neck-and-neck the whole time. For the first two sets we were competing. The talk has been let's get ready to put a whole match together, and something clicked when they made a run of three or a run of four. I felt like my team just decided to lose their fight. I'm very disappointed."
On Kentucky's runs...
"It's demoralizing when you can't even execute the game plan. We were going to serve [aggressive] and we've been serving so well and so tough, and we let up on our serving. You can't do that against anyone, much less a top-10 team. We make unforced errors. Not only do they score their points, but we score lots of points for them. That's really hard to overcome. It puts you in an almost impossible situation. I recognize that we are still really learning. We are still figuring out how to win. My team started off with a tough schedule, and we didn't get a lot of breaks. The times that we figured out how to win, it feels like we've figured it out and that we had it going. But then we make so many unforced errors on attack, missing assignments on defense, some blocking things. The truth is we are really young. I've had three of my starters for nine weeks of college volleyball, coming straight out of high school. On one hand, you get frustrated and humiliated like this, but on the other hand I believe in my players. They are really good volleyball players. This is the type of year where you have to have a lot of patience and you have to focus on growth and taking it a game at a time."
On strong night from Kiara McGee...
"If we could all do that on the same nights. Some nights we have good days from some players but not a glimpse from other players. They don't intend for this to be happening. They are struggling with their confidence, and they are struggling with their job and with their load. They over analyze what their job is, and we can't function as a team like that. We have lots and lots of learning to do."
SENIOR OUTSIDE HITTER KIARA MCGEE
On what was working for her…
"What we talked about before we went out there was trust our swing; it's better to be decisive than be right. So every swing I went up I knew what I wanted to do with the ball, and I knew my body. I was just going up with confidence knowing what to do."
On the first set…
"We came out there pretty determined and confident, and then we just slacked off at the end, which can't happen. We have to fight the whole time. Even though they're No. 6 in the country, we have to go all out, all energy, confident on every play."
Team Stats
UK
TAMU
Kills
44
34
Errors
11
23
Attempts
84
95
Hitting %
.393
.116
Points
53.0
39.0
Assists
40
31
Aces
2
1
Blocks
7.0
4.0
Game Leaders
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
6
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
MB
/ VolleyballS
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
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