No. 25 Texas A&M Outlasts Kansas

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Sophomore Allison Mayfield collected a career-high 20 kills, while senior Melissa Grieb registered her first 20-dig outing of the season with a team-high 20 digs, but it was not enough as the University of Kansas volleyball team fell 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-15) to No. 25 Texas A&M on Halloween night.

Kansas suffered its second-straight Big 12 Conference loss as it dropped to 4-8 in the conference and 12-10 overall. Texas A&M improved its record to 14-6 overall and 7-5 in the Big 12.

The Jayhawks came out strong winning the first set 25-23 behind a match-high .277 attack. After a tied score at 4-4, KU held a lead for a majority of the set until the Aggies chipped away at a six-point deficit to knot the scoreboard at 21-21, 22-22 and 23-23. Fortunately, junior Karina Garlington quickly ended the set with back-to-back kills. She led KU with five kills in the first set and finished the match with 11 total to join Mayfield as the only other Jayhawk with double-digit kills.

Sophomore setter Nicole Tate wrapped up the evening just shy of triple-double with 45 assists, 10 digs and a career-best eight kills. It was her third-straight contest with a double-double. Tate also tallied her eight kills behind a team-high .727 attack percentage recording no errors on 11 swings.

KU was unable to carry over its momentum from the first set as Texas A&M took a lead in the second set at 4-3 and held the advantage until finally edging out Kansas, 25-22.

Set three was a lot of point trading as the teams tied 11 times and changed leads on six occasions. Mayfield and two Aggie hitting errors help put KU back on top at 16-14 but TAMU scored five of the next six points to lead Kansas, 19-17. Although they kept the score close, the Jayhawks could not find the answer it needed as they fell 25-22.

Despite tallying 14 kills compared to just 12 for Texas A&M in the fourth set, the Jayhawks committed six attack errors, while the Aggies used a match-high .379 attack, committing just one offensive error, in a 25-15 KU loss. TAMU also has a solid defensive showing digging up 18 balls to help keep KU off the scoreboard.

Kansas will next be in action Wednesday, Nov. 4 when it travels to Colorado. Match time with the Buffaloes is scheduled for 8 p.m. CST and will be aired on FSN Rocky Mountain.