- No. 17 Texas A&M fell on the road to No. 21 Vanderbilt Friday evening, 3-1.
- Gabi Rodriguez became the fastest freshman in program history to reach 300 career digs, doing so in her 24th game.
- Natalie Ring paced the Aggies offensively for the second-straight game with 16 kills.
NASHVILLE – The No. 17 Texas A&M volleyball team fell in a four-set battle with No. 21 Vanderbilt Friday evening at Memorial Gym, 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 20-25, 21-25).
The Aggies (14-10, 7-5 SEC) came up short in a back-and-forth contest with the Commodores (18-3, 9-3 SEC). Gabi Rodriguez’s historic freshman campaign continued, as she became the fastest A&M rookie in program history to recorded 300 career digs, doing so in her 24th game. Natalie Ring paced the offense for the second-consecutive contest with 16 kills hitting at .441 percent.
The opening frame saw back-and-forth scoring, with each team trading runs before the Aggies forged a two-point gap at the media timeout, 15-13. Vanderbilt responded out of the break to take the opener, 25-21.
Needing to answer in the second, the Maroon & White did just that racing out to a four-point advantage at the midway points, 15-11. Another flurry of offense, capped by Kyndal Stowers’ 10th kill of the contest had the Commodores calling timeout down six, 19-13. The Aggies never let it get close, closing taking the second, 25-18.
Vanderbilt took control of set three early and didn’t look back, recapturing its lead in the match, 25-20. Again, looking to flip the momentum A&M was first to double digits in the fourth, 10-8. The Commodores strung together a streak to be up by three, 17-14. The Maroon & White battled back to knot the set at 20, but Vanderbilt closed the set and match on a 5-1 run, 25-21.
Stat Leaders
Kills – Natalie Ring – 16
Hitting % (Min. 10 kills) – Natalie Ring – .441
Assists – Margot Manning – 47
Aces – Kyndal Stowers – 1
Digs – Gabi Rodriguez – 14
Blocks – Eliza Sharp – 6
Player Notes
- Tallied 14 digs on the match eclipsing the 300th of her career, becoming this fastest freshman in program history to hit the milestone.
#10 Margot Manning
- Recorded 40-or-more assists for the second game this season (47).
#17 Natalie Ring
- Recorded double-digit kills for her sixth consecutive game (16).
- Eclipsed double-figure kills for the 15th time this season (16)
#25 Eliza Sharp
- Tallied five-or-more blocks for the eighth match this season, finishing with six.
#37 Kyndal Stowers
- Recorded double-digit kills for the 15th match this season (15).
Next Up
The Aggies stay on the road and head to Columbia, Missouri, to face the Tigers Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. on SECN+.