Texas A&M Sweeps Alabama in Season Finale

Saturday, November 25

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

12 p.m.

Texas A&M

10-15, 7-11SEC

Alabama

18-14, 6-12SEC

Texas A&M

Alabama

Photo by: Glen Johnson/Texas A&M Athletics

Nov 25, 2017 | Volleyball

Box Score Highlights Box Score (PDF)

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Texas A&M celebrated its final match of the season with a convincing 25-23, 25-11, 25-15 victory over Alabama today at Foster Auditorium.

It was the final match for A&M's four seniors, defensive specialist Gabby Litwin, outside hitter Kiara McGee, libero Amy Nettles and opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor.

The Aggies (10-15, 7-11 SEC), winless in their previous three trips to Tuscaloosa, end the season on a three-match win streak and finish ninth in the Southeastern Conference. Alabama ends its season 18-14 overall and 6-12 in the SEC to finish 10^th in the league standings.

Freshman setter Camille Conner directed the Aggie offense to a .319 hitting percentage, dishing out 28 assists. She also had a team-high 11 digs to complete her team-leading sixth double-double of the season. Sophomore outside hitter Hollann Hans took match-high honors in kills with 15 while hitting .414. Reasor, who had a personal season-high eight kills, led all players with six blocks as A&M outblocked the Crimson Tide, 11-4, and held Alabama to a .010 hitting efficiency, a season low by an A&M opponent.

A&M jumped out to an 11-3 lead and never trailed in the opening set. Alabama, however, would make a comeback and twice tied the score late in the set before A&M closed out the win.

The Aggies, who outhit the Tide, .194 to .053, in the frame, kept their eight-point cushion at 15-7 before Alabama went on a 7-1 run to get within 16-14. The Tide later got within a point at 19-18 following back-to-back A&M miscues. Hans then got a kill off the block, and McGee followed with a powerful kill to put A&M up, 21-18. Alabama got a kill, and A&M committed back-to-back attack errors to tie the set for the first time. The teams traded points before a kill by McGee and an Alabama attack into the net put the Aggies at set point, 24-22. Alabama staved off one set point with a kill down the line before McGee teamed with junior middle blocker Kaitlyn Blake for a set-ending block.

A&M also got out to a fast start in the second set, but this time the Aggies continued to pull away as they committed only one attack error and outhit Alabama, .591 to -.034. A&M held a 7-3 lead before the Aggies went on an 8-0 run to go up 15-3. Alabama ended the run with a kill and a block, but it would be the only time the Tide managed to score back-to-back points in the set.

A&M was ahead, 21-10, when Alabama hit wide. Blake set up Hans for a kill on the ensuing play, and a block by freshman middle blocker Makena Patterson and Reasor put the Aggies at set point. Alabama got a kill to fight off one set point before Reasor put down her fifth kill in five attempts in the stanza to close out the set.

Alabama took its one and only lead of the match at the start of the third set, with Hayley McSparin starting out the frame with a kill. The lead didn't last long as Conner tied the score with a kill, and Blake gave the Aggies the lead for good with a solo block.

Alabama chipped away at an 8-3 deficit and got within 11-9 before a kill by Conner sent Nettles to the serving line and marked the start of a 6-0 run. Alabama, which hit .000 in the set, could only get within 19-13 before Hans put down one of her five kills in the frame to begin a 4-0 run that gave A&M its largest lead, 23-13. The teams traded points, with an Alabama attack error putting A&M at match point, 24-14. A&M hit into the net on the next play, but Alabama followed with a ball handling error to end the match.

Mahalia Swink led the Tide with 10 kills, and Alabama libero Quincey Gary led all players with 13 digs.

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 fun the team was having during the match…
"Our main goal was to have the seniors go out on a great memory and a great last match. We have had some disappointing last-second losses in this place in the past couple years, and so we just wanted to really make it a great memory here at Alabama and finish our season the way sports should be played, with a lot of joy and a lot of teamwork. The group has put in so much blood, sweat and tears together that it was really nice to just be able to see them have such a great time."

On what was going well for the team…

"I thought it started off with our passing and our first contact. We really struggled with that in our first set at Mississippi State on Wednesday, so we really made a commitment that night after that match that our match at Alabama was going to be much different in that regard. We have been scoring (the passing), and we have been challenging it with little fun challenges with the team. When that's going well for us, our team is really hard to stop, and it was really going well for us today. I thought our serving also was really good. It was consistent. We missed a few, but we were consistently hitting our target and keeping them out of the things they wanted to do."

On preparing for the next season…
"We will take some time to assess. I know the girls are ready for a break. This Wednesday-Sunday or Friday-Sunday schedule doesn't allow for a day without volleyball or class, so except for Thanksgiving, it had been a long time since they had a day, or even two days in a row to just have their own time. They are going to have some time to themselves now, with holidays and family, and then we will get going again in January."