Volleyball Loses to Texas A&M, 3-1

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina volleyball dropped a four-set decision to Texas A&M Wednesday night, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 25-16. The Gamecocks are now 18-11 overall and 10-7 in SEC play heading into the regular season finale against Arkansas on Friday night. The Aggies are now 21-6 overall and 13-4 in conference play. Claire Edwards (12 kills) and Mikayla Shields (15 kills, 10 digs) led the team for the night.

SET ONE: The Gamecocks hurt themselves with errors in the opening set’s 25-22 margin. South Carolina committed six errors on serve and were aced twice by the Aggies, negating its advantage on offense that was powered by six kills from Edwards. The senior middle converted on kills in her first six swings of the set, but the rest of the offense combined to hit just .125, and the visitors pushed ahead late to break away from a 21-20 score to get the set win.

SET TWO: South Carolina’s offense rallied back with its cleanest set of the night to even the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 win. Shields carried the load offensively, notching six kills without an error on eight swings. In fact, the Gamecocks as a team committed just two errors in the entire set, out-hitting Texas A&M .462 to .281. With the set tied at 11, the Gamecocks scored a 6-3 burst that gave them some breathing room, and while the Aggies were able to pull within one point at 22-21 and 24-23, a service error gave Carolina the set win.

SET THREE: The home side took an early lead in the third, but A&M would use an 8-2 run to turn an 8-6 lead for Carolina into a 14-10 advantage that the Aggies would not relinquish. Shields again would post strong numbers, adding six more kills and a team-high five digs in the set, but Texas A&M were able to side-out at 77 percent in the set, keeping the Gamecocks from mounting any sizeable comeback efforts. South Carolina was able to cut the deficit to one point late 22-21, but a service error followed by an A&M block put the Aggies on set point, and they would close out the 25-22 win for a 2-1 lead.

SET FOUR: The Gamecock offense went cold at an inopportune time, hitting just .047 with 10 kills as the Aggies rolled to a 25-16 win to close out the match. Addie Bryant shined in the back row of the defense, recording 10 digs in the fourth set alone, but big blocks from A&M put Carolina behind big early. All four of the visitor’s blocks in the set came in their first 14 points, helping to turn an early 4-2 advantage for Carolina into a 14-9 deficit that the Aggies would expand out to nine points before the final margin.

UP NEXT: The 2019 regular season ends on Friday, as the team hosts Arkansas at 7 p.m. in the Carolina Volleyball Center. It will also be senior night for six Gamecocks: Addie Bryant, Claire Edwards, Courtney Koehler, Brittany McLean, Alicia Starr and Mikayla Shields, with the ceremony scheduled to begin at 6:45 p.m. Admission is free for fans.