For 25th-ranked Texas A&M to spook No. 2 Texas, two things had to happen.
Neither did and the end result was an easy 3-0 sweep for the undefeated Longhorns (17-0, 12-0) in front of 3,856 at Reed Arena on Wednesday.
With the Longhorns' distinct size advantage, the Aggies (13-6, 6-5) had to outplay Texas below the net and start each game well. Instead, Texas passed the ball better and enjoyed quicker starts en route to a 25-18, 25-14, 25-20 victory.
"The scores speak for themselves," A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli said. "I thought in Games 1 and 2 we struggled with our serve receive and we were wimpy with our serving, which put [Texas] in system 99 percent of the time and us going 1-on-6 99 percent of the time. That doesn't work. It's not what we practice, and it's not what we train."
It's what happened, though, for nearly the entire night as the Aggies were unable to make a match of it as they had a month ago in Austin, when the overall margin of defeat was the name as Game 2 on Wednesday -- 11 points.
"The key was our serve and pass game switched from the last time," Texas coach Jerritt Elliott said. "They did well, and we struggled last time at Austin. I also think we did a great job of containing [Jennifer] Banse, a nice player having a great senior season."
It wasn't just Banse whom the Longhorns held down as the Aggies hit for a season low .092 percentage. A&M finished with 35 kills, 10 below its three-game average.
Meanwhile, the Longhorns didn't have a single player hit for a lower percentage than A&M's team mark. The Longhorns also posted 10 blocks including five in Game 2.
"We did make some errors we typically don't make," Corbelli said. "We didn't dig as many balls. We made 24 hitting errors. I know that Sarah [Ammerman] and [Kristen Schevikhoven] weren't connecting like they typically do, and Jenny wasn't on."
Mary Batis led A&M with 11 kills while freshman Lindsey Miller had five along with three block assists.
Texas was never in danger with 6-foot-4 Destinee Hooker hitting on the left side and flying from the back row for 13 kills in just 25 attacks. The 6-2 Rachel Adams added 10 kills while hitting .538.
Five different Longhorns also had at least two block assists.
"This is really a tough, tough team to play," Corbelli said. "They constantly are on the attack, and it can really wear you down. If you can't find a way to put the ball on the floor, they just swing right back at you."
The Aggies only had two leads, 5-4 and 6-5 in Game 2. They trailed 3-0 in Game 1 and 7-0 in Game 3.
The loss dropped A&M into fifth place in the Big 12 standings.
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