AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn volleyball team fell to Texas A&M, 3-1 (25-17, 17-25, 25-15, 25-15), Wednesday night in Auburn Arena. The Tigers moved to 10-12 overall and 3-9 in the Southeastern Conference.
"We couldn't hold momentum after the second set and let the match get away from us," head coach Rick Nold said. "Texas A&M is an aggressive team and played a balanced game today, getting big points from their tough serves."
Freshman Tatum Shipes picked up another double-digit performance, having 11 kills to lead the Tigers. Senior Brenna McIlroy added eight kills and sophomore Chesney McClellan finished with seven. Freshman setter Mica Allison totaled 35 assists in the match.
Defensively, sophomore Anna Stevenson had four blocks, while junior Gwyn Jones chipped in three. McClellan, McIlroy and Shipes had two apiece. McIlroy led the squad with eight digs and junior Karis Beasley added seven.
Texas A&M (13-11, 6-6) was led by Hollann Hans with 24 kills and 11 digs. Setter Camille Conner had 50 assists and libero Amy Houser had a match-high 17 digs.
The Tigers and Aggies opened the match alternating points until a block by Shipes gave Auburn the first lead of the match at 5-4. Both teams kept battling back and forth, resulting in 13-ties through 15 points. A three-point push lifted the Aggies to an 18-15 lead, forcing an Auburn timeout. Strong serving from the visitors at the end gave TAMU a 25-17 set victory.
Auburn bounced back in the second set as a Jones kill pushed the Tigers to a 5-2 lead. The Tigers continued to widen their lead as kills by Allison and McIlroy moved the score to 14-6. The Aggies began to inch back, but another McIlroy strike stopped their momentum as Auburn maintained the lead, 20-14. Kills by Stevenson and Shipes propelled Auburn to a 25-17 win.
The third set opened with the teams trading points until Texas A&M scored three straight to get out to a 7-3 lead. The Tigers battled back with blocks by Shipes and McIlroy to come within one, 7-6. Both teams swapped points until the Aggies built a 15-10 advantage into the media timeout. TAMU scored five unanswered points late to increase the lead to 20-11 and held to take the set, 25-15.
Texas A&M got off to a fast start in the fourth set, jumping out to a 5-2 advantage. A block by Jones and McClellan pulled the Tigers within two, 9-7, but the Aggies scored nine unanswered points to go up 18-7. The Tigers tried to mount a comeback with kills from Stevenson and McClellan, but it fell short as Texas A&M won the fourth set, 25-15, to take the match.
Auburn heads back to the road and takes on South Carolina Sunday, Nov. 4, in Columbia. The two teams will face off at 12:30 p.m. CT.
