COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS – Gamecock volleyball dropped a three-set match at Texas A&M (14-4, 6-2 SEC) on Sunday afternoon. South Carolina’s offense was slowed by the conference’s top blocking defenses, which racked up 15 denials and held the Gamecocks (7-9, 1-6 SEC) to a .102 hitting percentage.
1st SET: The opening game was all about making runs, with Texas A&M getting its key stretch late in a 25-21 win. The Aggies opened with a 7-3 lead, but Riley Whitesides served up an 8-0 run behind the service line to put the Gamecocks back on top. Lauren McCutcheon had all of her team-leading three kills in the run, but the home side answered back. After a kill from Ellie Ruprich made it a 16-15 lead for Carolina, A&M scored nine of the next 11 to set up set point at 24-18. A pair of blocks for Oby Anadi extended the set, but it would not be enough.
2nd SET: The teams switched stories early in the second, as South Carolina would open well and A&M got even with a big run. The Gamecocks pushed out to a 7-3 lead, capped by a service ace for Ruprich, but the Aggies answered with six unanswered points. Out a 10-all tie, the home side again made a run, scoring four straight, and held that lead into the 20s. South Carolina made one final push late, scoring three points in row to make it a 22-22 score, but A&M scored the final three points to take the 2-0 set lead.
3rd SET: The Gamecocks opened the third set strong, scoring five of the first six points in the game with a pair of kills and service ace from Riley Whitesides spurring the run. South Carolina pushed away again with a 4-0 run to take a 15-9 advantage into the first timeout of the set. Out of the break, though, the blocking advantage for Texas A&M keyed a big run to steal the momentum. Out of a 18-12 lead for the Gamecocks, the Aggies scored 10 points in a row – three off blocks and two off Carolina blocking errors – to shut down the comeback effort in a 25-20 win. The Aggie defense finished with seven total blocks in the set to push its total for the match to 15, the second-highest by a Gamecock opponent this season.
NOTABLE
- South Carolina has now lost seven in a row to Texas A&M and is 1-8 on the road in the all-time series.
- One game removed from combining for 31 kills and a hitting percentage over .400 as a duo, Kiune Fletcher and Paris Campbell were limited by the Aggie defense. For the three sets, the two attackers had nine kills and 14 errors.
- The offense was led by the middles, Oby Anadi…