SEC Night One Wrapup: Texas A&M, Missouri Pick Up Home Sweeps

  0 Wendy Mayer | September 19th, 2018 | College - Women's Indoor, News, SEC

SEC play opened with a pair of Wednesday contests with Alabama travelling to Missouri and Arkansas taking on Texas A&M.

The Aggies won via sweep behind Makena Patterson, while Missouri picked up its fifth straight win over the Aggies with help from three double-digit kill efforts.

The remainder of the conference will take the court beginning on Friday.

Texas A&M def. Arkansas 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-23)

Key Stats

  • Arkansas hit at a match-high .235 clip in Set 3 and outblocked Texas A&M 9.5 to 7.
  • The Aggies boasted a .168 to .118 advantage in hitting percentage, a 41-32 lead in kills and a 7-6 edge in aces.
  • The victory snaps a two-match win streak for the Razorbacks.

Stat Leaders

  • Makena Patterson dropped a match-high 13 kills on a .478 hitting effort (13-2-23) to go with four blocks to pace Texas A&M.
  • Brookah Palmer chipped in eight kills, four aces and three blocks, while three others managed five or more kills.
  • Hailey Dirrigl put down seven kills, while five others notched four or more putaways for Arkansas.
  • Ellease Crumpton went 5-for-7 for a team-best .714 clip, while adding five blocks.
  • Kelly O’Brien registered five kills and five stuffs.

How It Happened

  • The Razorbacks led 13-8 midway through Set 1 with help from six Aggie miscues. Texas A&M worked its way into a tie at 17 with kills by four players and aces by Brookah Palmer and Hollann Hans. Trailing 20-19, the Aggies scored five of the next six to earn a set-point try at 24-21. A kill by Camille Conner sealed the comeback at 25-23.
  • Arkansas led by as many as 10 in Set 2, jumping ahead 11-4 with four A&M errors and three blocks. An ace by Okiana Valle made it 16-6. The Aggies began chipping away with a 6-1 run, but the Razorbacks answered with four in a row to go up 21-12. Texas A&M scored 10 straight, including four Patterson putaways and a Palmer ace to make it 22-21. The Aggies followed back-to-back points by Arkansas with three of their own to claim the 25-23 win.
  • Texas A&M carried the momentum into Set 3, racing out to a 10-2 lead including three errors and three blocks and a kill by Patterson. Arkansas narrowed the gap to four six times, last 17-13, before Conner served up two aces to push the margin to eight again at 21-13. The Razorbacks nearly forced a fourth set with nine of the next 11 to make it 23-22, but Patterson and Palmer ended the night three points later.

Next Up

  • Arkansas plays host to Missouri at 2 p.m. ET Sunday.
  • Texas A&M is set for a 3 p.m. ET Sunday meeting with Georgia in College Station, Texas.

Missouri def. (RV) Alabama 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 28-26)

Mizzou extended its series win streak to five straight against the Crimson Tide and won their sixth SEC opener in seven tries with Wednesday’s sweep.

Key Stats

  • Alabama could not get out of its own way in the match, committing 20 errors, while managing just 26 kills for an .056 hitting effort. The team hit -.025 in Set 3 (7-8-40).
  • Missouri hit better than .250 in the first two sets (.262, .278) before notching just a .170 effort in Set 3.
  • The Tigers nearly doubled the offensive output of the Crimson Tide (50-26), while also leading in blocks (11-9).
  • Alabama outserved Missouri 3-1 in aces.

Stat Leaders

  • Three Missouri players managed double-digit kill tallies: Leketo Member-Meneh (15), Darian Hollingsworth (14) and Kylie Deberg (10). Hollingsworth finished out a double-double with 12 digs and a team-high five blocks, while hitting at a team-best.429 clip.
  • Tyanna Omazic managed five blocks, while Deberg and Alyssa Munlyn added four stuffs apiece.
  • Ginger Perinar was tops among the Crimson Tide with seven kills, but hit .000 for the match (7-7-42). Five other players added three or more putaways.
  • Mahalia Swink chimed in with four kills on a team-best .273 hitting performance to go with eight digs and three blocks. Hayley McSparin tallied four kills and a team-best five blocks.

How It Happened

  • Alabama scored three straight points, two on Tiger miscues, to go up 12-8 in Set 1, but Missouri answered with a 7-0 run of its own, including two blocks and a kill by Hollingsworth. The Crimson Tide went up by one three times, last at 20-19, before the Tigers stole away the set with a final 6-2 rally, including three more Hollingsworth putdowns.
  • Neither team led by more than two for the first half of Set 2. After a tie at 15-all, Missouri took control, scoring 10 of the final 13. Deberg issued the final point in a 3-0 run to cap the 25-18 win.
  • The Tigers cruised to a 9-4 lead in Set 3 and pushed ahead by six at 15-9 on a block by Hollingsworth and Alyssa Munlyn. A 6-0 Alabama run sliced the gap to one at 19-18. Later, facing match point at 24-22, the Tide scored three in a row on a block and two Tiger miscues, to earn a set point try of its own. A Haley McSparin putaway gave Alabama another shot, but Missouri scored three in a row to close out the sweep at 28-26. A solo stuff by Omazic ended the night.

Next Up

  • Alabama returns to action at 2 p.m. Sunday against Auburn in Tuscaloosa.
  • Missouri is set for a 2 p.m. Sunday meeting with Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark.

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About Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer has worked in athletics media relations for the last 20 years. The Northwest Missouri State alumna is currently senior writer for Volleymob.com after spending the last 15 years with Purdue athletics.

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