Aggies Fall in Five-Set Battle to No. 24 Auburn, 3-2 – Texas A&M Athletics

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M volleyball team fell to No. 24 Auburn in a five-set battle Sunday afternoon in Reed Arena, 3-2 (21-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-22, 15-12).
 
The first frame opened with back-and-forth play, as the teams were knotted at 10. The Aggies (15-8, 7-6 SEC) found a slight advantage at the media timeout through Logan Lednicky’s five early kills (15-14). Continuing her hot start, Lednicky led the A&M offense with another pair of kills to force an Auburn (18-5, 8-4 SEC) timeout, as the Maroon & White led by three (22-19). Not taking their foot off the gas, the Aggies won the opener, 25-21.
 
The Tigers flipped the momentum at the start of the second, as they pulled away with an early lead prompting a timeout from head coach Jamie Morrison (9-5). Auburn maintained its advantage and tied the match, as it stole the second, 25-19.
 
Nothing separated the squads in the third, as they were tied at 15. The Tigers created a two-point advantage, but that was instantly nullified through Alayna Pearson at the service line, as the Aggies scored six-straight points (23-19). Auburn rallied late; however, it wasn’t enough as A&M claimed the third set (25-23) and regained the lead in the match, 2-1.
 

Entering the fourth set, Auburn found a slight advantage at the midway point, 15-13. The Tigers held their five-point lead as coach Morrison called a timeout to regroup his squad (23-18). A&M survived three set points but came up just short (25-22), as the match headed to a fifth and final set, 2-2.
 

Auburn came out as the aggressors in the decider, as it took a three-point lead at the halfway point (8-5). The Maroon & White responded on a 3-1 run, forcing a Tiger timeout (9-8). Despite surviving a pair of match points, Auburn closed out the set (15-12) and match, 3-2.
 
UP NEXT
The Aggies head back on the road to face Missouri Friday evening with first serve set for 6 p.m.
 
COACH’S QUOTES
Head coach Jamie Morrison on today’s match …
“Disappointed but proud. We faced some adversity, but we kept trying to find ways to score points. When Nisa [Buzlutepe] went out, we had girls step up and kick us into a different gear. Unfortunately, we couldn’t maintain all the way through, but I’m proud of how hard they battled.”
 
Morrison…