Gamecocks Fall to No. 16 Texas A&M
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The South Carolina volleyball team (7-5, 0-2 SEC) fell 3-0 to defending National Champion No. 16 Texas A&M (8-5, 1-0 SEC) in its first ranked match of the season.
1st SET: The Gamecocks opened the set with an early 2-1 lead, before Texas A&M jumped to 8-4 advantage. The Aggies then pushed to 12-5 lead after 4-0 run, prompting a South Carolina timeout. The run was broken up by an Aggie service error, but Texas A&M continued to apply pressure, grabbing three of the next four points to lead 15-7 going into media. Ava Leahy and Elise Marchal snuck in kills but the Aggies continued to push, leading 20-9. The Gamecocks added kills from Leahy and Ceci Vance as well as an ace from Kiana Dinn, but Texas A&M ultimately won the first set 25-14, taking the 1-0 advantage.
2nd SET: The Aggies opened up the set 4-0 behind back-to-back Gamecock attack errors, a kill and a block, forcing a South Carolina timeout. Texas A&M then pushed the run to 7-0 before a Marchal and Sydney Davis block cut the run to get the Gamecocks their first point of the set. Two errors from the Aggies had the Gamecocks trailing 9-4, but back-to-back kills Vance and a dominant Olivia Borgman kill sparked some momentum and kept them within four, A&M leading 13-9. Borgman added another kill, directly followed by a solo block from Vance, but the Aggies immediately went on a 4-0 run to push their edge to 21-12 and force a Gamecock timeout. South Carolina continued to fight but Texas A&M grabbed the set two win by the same margin as the first, 25-14, extending its lead to 2-0 in the match.
3rd SET: Texas A&M pulled away early in the third set, building a 9-4 advantage before South Carolina responded with a kill from Vance and block from Davis and Marchal to stay within striking distance. The Aggies maintained control throughout the middle portion of the set, extending their lead to 15-9 before an A&M service error slowed the momentum. The Gamecocks continued to battle late, using three consecutive blocks from Davis with Marchal and Borgman to cut the deficit to 21-16, but A&M closed out the set 25-18 and match 3-0.
Notables
- Ava Leahy led the team with seven kills followed by Ceci Vance and Olivia Borgman with six apiece
- Sydney Davis and Elise Marchal had four blocks apiece
- Lilly Gillespie, Madisyn Crnjac and Kiana Dinn each had five digs
- Dinn also led the team in assists with 12
Up Next: The Gamecocks host Oklahoma on Friday, Oct. 2 at 7:00 p.m. for their SEC home opener before welcoming Arkansas to the CVC on Sunday, Oct. 4 at 1:00 p.m.
