COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M volleyball prepares to open its 10th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference this week, as the Maroon & White (7-3) travel to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide (8-4) in a 6 p.m. matchup Wednesday at Foster Auditorium. Streaming for the match is available via SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.
A&M’s most recent outing resulted in a hard-fought four-set loss to the No. 1 Texas Longhorns last week at Reed Arena. Multiple Aggies stood out in the box score, including double-double performances from both Camille Conner (41 assists and 10 digs) and Morgan Christon (16 kills and 11 digs). Additionally, London Austin-Roark registered a season-high 13 kills on .455 hitting over the middle.
Friday night’s match also proved to be a record-setting event in program annals, as 6,822 members of the 12th Man cheered on the Aggies. The total demolished the previous program-high attendance by over 2,200 and proved to be the third-largest crowd to view an Aggie volleyball match, irrespective of location. The gathering of fans last week also marked the highest-attended volleyball match on a college campus in the state of Texas, surpassing the Longhorn’s crowd of 6,385 at the Frank Erwin Center in 1996.
As a squad, the Aggies have one of the strongest defensive back lines in the SEC, pacing the conference with 17.11 digs per set and 616 team digs. Fifth-year transfer libero Macy Carrabine leads the team with 4.33 digs per set, while Mallory Talbert works as the defensive presence in the middle with 1.11 blocks per frame. A&M is led offensively on the outside by the tandem of Christon and Lauren Davis, who rank first (3.93) and second (3.88) on the team in points per set, respectively. Christon leads the way with 122 kills on the season, while Davis sits just behind her teammate at 107 this year.
The Crimson Tide enters Wednesday’s contest riding a three-match win streak, going 3-0 in the Bama Bash tournament played last weekend. Alabama has lost just one match at home, dropping a four-setter to Troy on September 2. On the offensive end, the Crimson Tide are headed by Abby Marjama, who averages 2.73 kills per set, while Dru Kuck manages the defensive effort with 5.00 digs per set. As a team, Alabama ranks in the top-five in the SEC in opponent hitting percentage (.180), service aces per set (1.66) and digs per set (15.73).
This will be the 17th meeting between Texas A&M and Alabama in volleyball, with the Aggies maintaining a 12-4 edge in the all-time series and splitting the six matches played in Tuscaloosa. A&M is 5-4 in their SEC-opening matches dating back to the program’s first season in the league in 2012. Under the direction of Bird Kuhn, the Maroon & White are an unblemished 3-0 in conference openers and hold a 32-22 overall record in league action in her time at the helm.
