Texas A&M Takes Down Tennessee In Four

Match Stats

• Texas A&M def. Tennessee 3-1, (25-19, 25-20, 16-25, 27-25)
• A&M moves to 19-7, 13-2 SEC, while Tennessee falls to 15-13, 5-10 SEC
• Hosted by Tennessee

Press Release

Courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Texas A&M used a school SEC-record 19 blocks to defeat Tennessee 25-19, 25-20, 16-25, 27-25 tonight at Thompson-Boling Arena.

It was the eighth consecutive victory and the 13^th win in the last 14 matches for the Aggies, who improve to 19-7, including 13-2 in Southeastern Conference matches. Tennessee drops to 15-13 overall and 5-10 in SEC matches. It was the seventh consecutive loss for the Vols in the series against the Aggies, but they end a streak of six consecutive sweeps.

Senior middle blocker Jazzmin Babers led the Aggies with 18 points as she recorded her second double-double of the season and the fifth of her career with 11 blocks—including a career-high-tying three solo blocks—and 11 kills while hitting .556. Sophomore middle blocker Kaitlyn Blake added 16 points with eight blocks and 12 kills while hitting at a .500 clip. Blake also climbed from ninth to seventh in the A&M season records for block assists in a season, as she raised her total to 129.

A&M outside hitters Hollann Hans and Kiara McGee, who pitched in a career-high six blocks, also had double-figure kills with 13 and 10, respectively, but they were held to a combined .139 hitting efficiency.

Aggie junior setter Stephanie Aiple dished out 44 assists and also added seven kills, one shy of her career high. She also had eight digs. Libero Amy Nettles led the team in digs with 12, and defensive specialists Amy Houser and Victoria Arenas added 10 digs apiece.

As a team, A&M outhit Tennessee, .205 to .162, and led in kills (58-51) and blocks (19-13), while the Vols led in aces (4-0) and digs (67-60)

The opening set was tied at 4-4 when Babers tooled the Tennessee block for a kill, marking the start of a 4-0 run by the Aggies. Texas A&M led the remainder of the set, outhitting the Vols, .341 to .305, although the Aggies never held more than a four-point cushion until the last run to close out the frame. The Vols were within 22-19 following a kill by Tessa Grubbs, but Aiple countered with a kill and then set up Blake for a kill to put the Aggies at set point. Aiple closed out the frame on the next play, posting her fourth kill of the set.

The Aggies led the entire second set and jumped out to a 10-3 lead, including four points that were the result of a block. Tennessee, which was outhit, .229 to .054, later trailed 18-12 following a kill by Hans, forcing the Vols to call a timeout. Tennessee came out of the timeout and blocked A&M on three consecutive plays to get within 18-15 before Hans found the floor for a kill. Tennessee would get within 19-17 before Hans had a kill and McGee and Blake teamed for a block to put A&M up 21-17. The Vols were unable to get closer than three points for the remainder of the set as the teams began to exchange points. The Aggies were ahead, 23-20, when Babers had back-to-back kills to close out the win, giving A&M a 2-0 lead in the match.

Tennessee used a 4-0 run to take a 4-1 lead in the third set, and never looked back. The Vols, who outhit A&M, .407 to .138 in the stanza, went on to build their largest lead of the match at 24-13 after reeling off three unanswered points. A&M fought off three set points before the Aggies hit into the net to end the set.

There were 10 ties and six lead changes in the fourth set. A&M, which outhit Tennessee, .113 to .067, equaled its largest lead at 17-13 when the Vols began a comeback. Tennessee eventually tied the score at 20-20 on an A&M attack error and also managed to tie the score at 21- and 22-all before another A&M attack error gave the Vols a 23-22 lead. Babers and McGee teamed for a block to tie the score at 23-23 before Tennessee got to set point following a block error on A&M. The Vols’ next attack sailed long to tie the score once again, and A&M regained the lead on a block by Babers and Aiple. A Tennessee kill tied the score for the final time as Babers and Hans then closed out the match with back-to-back kills.

Erica Treiber led Tennessee with 10 kills, and freshman setter Sedona Hansen had 43 assists and a match-high 20 digs.

Texas A&M returns to the road for a crucial showdown at No. 23 Kentucky on Sunday. The match against the Wildcats starts at 1 p.m. (CT) at Memorial Coliseum, and the contest will be televised on SEC Network.

A&M has only one home match remaining, as the Aggies play host to LSU on Wednesday, Nov. 23 (Thanksgiving Eve) at 6:30 p.m. at Reed Arena. It will be Senior Night, and A&M seniors Victoria Arenas, Jazzmin Babers, Emily Hardesty, Katelyn Labhart and Kaysie Shebeneck will be honored in a postmatch ceremony.

Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M volleyball team on Facebook and on Twitter and Instagram by following @AggieVolleyball.

Press Release

Courtesy of Tennessee Athletics

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Volunteers took momentum midway through the match but could not close out the fourth set Wednesday in a 3-1 (25-19, 25-20, 16-25, 27-25) loss to Texas A&M Thompson-Boling Arena.

Freshman setter Sedona Hansen recorded her 15th double-double of the season with 43 assists and a career-best 20 digs. Junior Kanisha Jimenez had the best match of her season with nine kills and 10 digs, one kill shy of a double-double.

Sophomore Erica Treiber led the Vols with 10 kills, seven blocks and two aces.

The Vols (15-13, 5-9 SEC) conclude the week at home with a Sunday match against LSU at 4 p.m. Eastern.

In the first set, Texas A&M (19-7, 13-2) won four unanswered points to go up 8-4 on a kill by Kaitlyn Blake. The Vols cut the lead to two points on multiple occasions, but the Aggies retained the lead and closed out the set 25-19 on a 3-0 run.

Texas A&M opened the second set with a 10-3 lead and stayed in front. The Vols won five of six points at a stretch to cut the lead to 19-17 on a kill by Kendra Turner. Texas A&M eventually took the set 25-20.

The Vols surged midway through the third set, scoring five unanswered points to take a 13-7 lead off back-to-back aces by Erica Treiber. Tennessee eventually extended the lead to 11 points at 24-13 with a block. The Aggies saved three set points but the Vols won the set 25-16.

The fourth set came down to the wire. The Vols had a set point chance when Grubbs put Tennessee up 24-23, but Texas A&M won the next two points to have a match point. Treiber recorded a kill to foil the Aggies’ first match point to tie the set 25-25.

Jazzmin Babers and Hollann Hans came up with kills for the Aggies in the final two points as Texas A&M sealed the match 27-25.

Defensively, Tennessee out-dug Texas A&M 67-60, but the Aggies had 19 team blocks, compared to 13 for Tennessee.

Babers had a double-double for the Aggies with 11 kills and 11 blocks. Hollann Hans led the Aggies with 13 kills.

NOTES

• Tennessee starters: Sedona Hansen, Erica Treiber, Raina Hembry, Alyssa Andreno, Claudia Coco, Bri Holmes and Brooke Schumacher at libero.
• With 43 assists Wednesday, Sedona Hansen passed the 1,000-assist season marker and now has 1,010. It is fourth-most in a season by a Tennessee setter in the 25-point rally scoring era (since 2009).
• With 20 digs, Hansen is the third player to record at least 20 digs in a match this season, joining Brooke Schumacher and Bridgette Villano. Schumacher had 18 digs Wednesday.
• Kanisha Jimenez was a kill shy of recording her first double-double of the season. She has 12 in her career.