COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina volleyball team led 20th-ranked Texas A&M late in the fifth set on Sunday but was unable to hold on, as the Aggies won the match by the scores of 25-21, 23-25, 19-25, 25-12 and 15-13 at the Carolina Volleyball Center.

With the loss, the Gamecocks drop to 13-6 on the season and 3-4 in SEC play. The Aggies improve to 12-6 overall and 4-3 in the conference.

With the fifth set tied at 8-8, Carolina scored the next two points on a Texas A&M service error and an ace by Kellie McNeil to build a 10-8 lead. However, the Aggies answered with a 3-0 run to take an 11-10 lead. The teams then played to three more ties with the last being at 13-13 before Texas A&M’s Shelby Sullivan delivered back-to-back kills to give the Aggies the win.

The Gamecocks out-blocked the Aggies 12-9 and had the advantage in digs (54-52), but Texas A&M outhit Carolina .253-.106, including three sets with a hitting percentage above .300.

Freshman outside hitter Taylr McNeil tallied 13 kills, six digs and two blocks to lead the Gamecocks, while junior middle blocker Darian Dozier finished with nine kills and four blocks and sophomore KoKo Atoa-Williams had eight kills and six digs. Sophomore middle Jacqy Angermiller added seven kills and seven blocks, and junior right side Sarah Blomgren had seven kills. Junior setter Kellie McNeil finished with 24 assists, while freshman Allie Monserez added 15. Senior libero Mikaela Christiaansen produced a match-high 17 digs.

Junior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan paced the Aggies with 16 kills and six blocks, while Angela Lowak and Jazzmin Babers pitched in 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Freshman setter Stephanie Aiple distributed 45 assists and had seven kills, while Emily Hardesty had nine kills and 12 digs for the Aggies.

Match Changer
Sullivan recorded 16 kills while hitting .480 for the match and had six blocks for Texas A&M.

Key Stat
The Aggies outhit the Gamecocks .348-.053 in the fifth set.

Notable
• McNeil led the Gamecocks in kills for the 13th time in 19 matches with 13 kills on Sunday.
• Christiaansen has reached double digits in digs all 19 matches this season, including a match-high 17 on Sunday.
• South Carolina has out-blocked its opponents in 14 of 19 matches this season, including a 12-9 advantage on Sunday.
• With a crowd of 1,009 on Sunday, the Gamecocks have played in front of 1,000 or more fans in nine home matches this season.

Up Next
The Gamecocks have a short turnaround and will travel to Coastal Carolina on Tuesday for a non-conference matchup. First serve is set for 6 p.m. at the HTC Center.