Following one of the biggest wins in the program's history, the Texas A&M volleyball team suffered a 3-2 loss at Missouri Saturday.
Texas A&M (9-2, 2-1) stayed even with the Tigers throughout a match that featured 29 tie scores and 16 lead changes.
"It is tough on the road in the Big 12 to play these great teams," said A&M Head Coach Laurie Corbelli. "We almost had it. Hats off to Missouri; they played a great match."
The Aggies' offense struggled all night, recording a season high 36 errors and attacking for season low .111 hitting percentage. A&M became one dimensional with senior Sarah Ammerman racking up 70 attacks, 25 more than any other player.
"Their gym is very tough to pass in," Corbelli said. "It pulled our setter off the net a lot, and we had one attacker to go to the majority of the time. We weren't able to spread out our offense."
Senior Mary Batis led the Aggies in kills with 19. Defensively, Batis finished with 22 digs and a career-high six blocks.
Missouri (10-4, 2-1) used a deep bench to outlast A&M in the five-set match. Eleven different players played in at least four sets against the Aggies. The Tigers picked up the win behind Julianna Klein and Paola Ampudia. The juniors led Missouri in kills with 19 each.
The Tigers displayed a tough defense that shutdown A&M's attack all night. Sophomore Priscilla Armendariz collected 21 digs while junior Caitlyn Vann led the team with 29.
In the opening set, both teams traded points until the Aggies suffered three consecutive attacking errors to fall behind 12-9. A&M however, responded with eight straight points and eventually took the first set 25-21.
What began as a tight second set quickly turned in favor of the Aggies. Missouri fell behind 21-14 before finally succumbing to A&M, 25-22.
After the half, the Tigers refocused their attention and found themselves up with a 10-5 lead following two consecutive service aces by Klein. A&M fought back to tie the Tigers at 22, but fell victim to another three straight attacking errors that gave Missouri their first set of the match.
Missouri again jumped out to a head start in the fourth set, taking an early 7-3 lead. The Aggies rebounded and pulled within one point before the Tigers finished the set with a 11-6 run to force a fifth set.
The deciding fifth set started off well for A&M, which took the first three points. Trailing 7-4, Missouri found its composure and fought back to take a 12-10 lead. Following an Aggie timeout, A&M senior Jennifer Banse put down a kill that tied the set, 12-12. Klein would score two of the Tigers' last three points, clinching the match with a 15-13 victory in the final set.
Next up for the A&M volleyball team is a trip to Austin against their biggest rivals. The Aggies will take on No. 2 Texas Wednesday in the first match of this season's Lone Star Showdown.
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