October 11, 2000
The 22nd-ranked Texas A&M volleyball team remained perfect at home on the season, dominating Texas Tech at the net to post a 15-6, 15-12, 15-11 victory over the Red Raiders before a season-high 1,761 fans at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
A&M took control of the match at the net, outblocking the Red Raiders 17 to four on the evening. Senior middle blocker Heather Marshall led the Aggies with nine blocks, while sophomore outside hitter A.D. Achilefu set a career high with six. Junior outside hitter Brandi Mount added six blocks as well. The Aggies' 17 blocks set a school record for blocks in a three-game Big 12 match.
"Obviously, our blocking was outstanding," A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli said. "It was the best blocking night I've seen as coach in years. I think the team worked really hard tonight together. This was the kind of win that will continue to build our confidence."
Not only did the win improve the Aggies' school-record home winning streak to 26 games, but it gave Corbelli another milestone in her already stellar career. The victory was Corbelli's 180th in Aggieland and ties her for the most victories by an A&M coach in school history. Terry Condon, who coached Texas A&M from 1980-85, also coached the Aggies to 180 wins.
The Red Raiders jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead to start the match before the Aggies rattled off eight consecutive points to go up by six. Marshall posted a big block and put down a big kill to make the score 11-3. After the teams traded points on the next few serves, the Aggies served for the game at 14-6. A strong net presence for A&M saw the Aggies stuff the Red Raiders on three attack attempts, the final block by Marshall and Jenna Moscovic hitting the floor for a 15-6 win.
Game two stayed close throughout and saw six ties and two lead changes before the Aggies prevailed, 15-12. Texas Tech took an early 5-3 lead on an A&M attack error and an Ann Romjue kill before the Aggies scored the next four points and forced a Red Raider timeout. A&M held leads at 8-7 and 12-10 before Tech rallied back to knot the game at 12-12. The teams traded six sideouts before the Aggies took the lead when Texas Tech was called for being in the net. A Michelle Cole kill put A&M up by two, and Erin Gibson posted a big block of a Melissa McGehee kill to end the game.
Tech erased an early 3-1 Aggie lead in game three, scoring four straight points to force an A&M timeout. The Aggies tied the game, however, and went up 9-5 on the strength of four more blocks. The Red Raiders fought back again with four kills-three by Colleen Smith-and tacked on a service ace to take a 10-9 lead. Gibson stepped up, putting down three of her 16 kills on the night to give A&M match point. Smith's attack off the serve reception hit the antenna to close out game three at 15-11 and give the Aggies the sweep.
Gibson's 16 kills led the team, as did her 18-dig performance. Cole posted 12 kills while Marshall added 10. Achilefu, who hit .545 on the evening, tied a career mark with six kills.
Smith led the Red Raider attack with 18 kills but was held to a .186 hitting percentage. For the match, the Aggies out-hit Tech .279 to .103.
With the win, the Aggies improve to 11-4 on the year and 6-2 in Big 12 play. Texas Tech suffers just their third loss of the year, dropping to 16-3 and 5-3.
Texas A&M embarks on a two-match road trip beginning Saturday when the Aggies travel to Manhattan to face the Kansas State Wildcats, 3-0 winners over Colorado on Wednesday. First serve at Ahearn Field House on the KSU campus is set for 7 p.m. The Aggies have never won in Manhattan in four tries.
"I think we're ready to go into Kansas State and make a change," Corbelli said. "We made a change at Baylor, and we came here and then beat a good Texas Tech team 3-0. We are playing with increased confidence and momentum, and I think we're ready."