Jags Battle but Fall to Texas A&M in Home Opener - University of South Alabama Athletics (2024)

• Box Score

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | 8/30/2024 8:12:00 PM

MOBILE, Ala. | South Alabama fought hard the first two sets, but Texas A&M pulled away in the third to take a 3-0 (25-22, 28-26, 25-11) victory Friday night at Jag Gym on the opening day of the Jaguar Invitational presented by Hilton at Providence Park.

South Alabama (0-1) was led offensively by Maradith O'Gorman's seven kills. Abryanna Cannon had four total blocks – three solo – in the loss and Anna Loberg posted three of South's five aces.

Texas A&M (1-0) was paced by Megan Lednicky who had 15 kills on 23 attacks and posted a .565 hitting percentage, while Emily Hellmuth added 13 kills and a .408 hitting percentage.

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On his thoughts about tonight's match: "Texas A&M was very physical and I thought they served the ball really well; I thought both teams got after it in the serving game. I thought they received a little better than us, and the physicality was a little more for our young team. We have to work to get better, we have to keep growing and get more consistent. I liked a lot of what I saw out of my group tonight, but we have a ways to go and that's not a bad thing."

How It Happened
Set 1 – TEXAS A&M 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 22
• After trailing early, South Alabama tied up the opening set (7-7) after an ace by Cannon and Evie Taylor and a solo block byO'Gorman
• Texas A&M quickly regained control and rattled off seven of the next eight points to go up 14-8 after a kill by Ifenna Cos-Okpalla
• Trailing 21-17, the Jaguars pushed across four unanswered points to tie the set back up at 21-21
• Lednicky gave the Aggies the lead for good with one of her six kills in the first set and Hellmuth then followed with back-to-back kills to put the visitors a point away from taking the set
• Lednicky later gave TAMU the match lead and the 25-22 win with another put away
• The Aggies posted a .324 hitting percentage in the opening frame and held the Jags to a .032 percentage

Set 2 – TEXAS A&M 28, SOUTH ALABAMA 26
• South jumped out to an early 4-1 lead after a solo block by Cannon and another TAMU attack error, and held the lead for the first half of the set
• With USA leading 10-7 after an ace by Loberg, the Aggies answered with three-straight points to tie the set back up
• Over the remainder of the frame, neither team was able to gain much momentum as the two clubs went back and forth
• South pushed the set to extra points and fought of three set points before Texas A&M took the win (28-26) after two more kills by Lednicky

Set 3 – TEXAS A&M 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 11
• The Aggies took the lead outset in the third and final set, and holding a 4-3 advantage, grabbed control as they reeled off five of the next six points
• Lednicky began the run with a kill and Hellmuth added three more
• Texas A&M eventually went on to lead by double digits before taking the set (25-11) to complete the sweep
• TAMU posted its best offensive performance in the third set with 18 kills on 23 attacks and just two errors for a .696 hitting percentage

Post-Match Notes
• The meeting marked the just the second in the all-time series between the two programs and the first since the 1982 season
• The home-court loss was just the fourth in four seasons for the Jags under head coach Jesse Ortiz
• Five newcomers saw their first time on the court for South Alabama in the match

Up Next
• South Alabama will close out play at the Jaguar Invitational when it takes on McNeese State on Sunday at 11 a.m.

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