SAVANNAH, Ga. — Fifteen-seed Vanderbilt volleyball battled until the end, at one point fighting off five match points, but fell 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 27-25) to second-seeded Texas A&M in the quarterfinals at the 2025 Allstate SEC Volleyball Tournament at Enmarket Arena on Sunday.
Isabella Bareford and Taryn DeWese led yet another balanced attack for the Commodores (9-18, 3-12 SEC). Mia Soerensen earned a team-high nine kills, hitting .286, while Reese Animashaun and Jackie Moore added eight kills each. Vandy also saw defensive contributions from several different Dores. Moore and Soerensen posted four and three blocks, respectively. Elli Kinney had a team-leading nine digs, while Bareford, DeWese and Hailee Mack earned seven digs a piece.
The Aggies (23-3, 14-1 SEC) hit .345 as a team, with 40 assists coming from Maddie Waak. Texas A&M was led offensively by Logan Lednicky with 14 kills. Two more Aggies had double-digit kills; Ifenna Cos-Okpalla and Kyndal Stowers each registered 11 kills. Ava Underwood paced the Aggies’ defensive efforts with 12 digs. Lednicky added 10 digs to her stat line to earn a double-double. As a team, Texas A&M posted seven blocks, with Cos-Okpalla being credited with four.
Set 1 started off back and forth, but Texas A&M pulled away after the media timeout to earn a 22-16 lead. A kill from Soerensen ended the Aggies’ late six-point run and allowed Vandy to cut the set to a 23-20 Texas A&M lead. A pair of Aggie kills closed out the set, 25-21, Texas A&M.
The second set continued to be close throughout as eight serving errors offset Texas A&M’s 21 kills. Vanderbilt hit .320 in set 2, its highest hitting efficiency of the match but was unable to secure the set win. The set 2 score was 25-21, Texas A&M.
Set 3 looked to be easily won by the Aggies as they had match point with a 24-18 lead. Vanderbilt, however, continued to fight, stringing together six unanswered points to tie the set at 24 all. Bareford set Animashaun for a kill that gave the Commodores set point and seven points in a row. Despite Vanderbilt’s comeback attempt, Texas A&M recorded three points in a row to win the set, 27-25.
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