September 26, 2001
The 16th-ranked Texas A&M volleyball team remained perfect in Big 12 play with a 30-19, 30-25, 30-23 victory over the Baylor Bears Wednesday before 1,172 fans at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
A&M, now 9-1 and 2-0 in the league, ran its win streak to three and remained perfect in Big 12 home openers at 6-0. The Bears dropped their third straight match to fall to 8-3 and 0-3 in conference action.
The Aggies cruised to a 30-19 victory in game one, outhitting the Bears .364 to .050 in the frame. Back-to-back kills by A.D. Achilefu forced Baylor to call its first timeout down 8-1. A&M would extend its lead to as much as 13 points at 24-11, and the Bears would get no closer than nine at 28-19 before a Brandi Mount kill and a Baylor attack error ended the game.
The two teams battled back and forth in an entertaining second game which saw 16 ties and five lead changes before Texas A&M pulled away late for a 30-25 victory. Baylor grabbed an early 7-4 lead -- its largest of the game -- before the Aggies fought back and tied the game at 8-8 on a Michelle Cole kill. A&M took its first lead of the match at 11-10 on a Melissa Munsch kill and extended it to as many as three. The Bears regained the lead at 19-18 on a kill by Stevie Nicholas, but the Aggies took the lead for good on a kill by Cole and a service ace by Mount.
With A&M clinging to a one-point advantage at 26-25, Munsch and Jenna Moscovic teamed for a big block of a Nicholas attack, forcing a Baylor timeout. Nicholas' next swing went wide, giving the Aggies a three-point lead, and consecutive kills by Moscovic and Munsch closed out the scoring.
Opening up the third game with the momentum, A&M jumped out to a 13-7 lead to force a Bear timeout. Baylor would get no closer than four points at 18-14 on an Aggie attack error before A&M went on a 9-4 run to put the game away. Beth Skypala's service ace ended the match and gave the Aggies a 30-23 win.
Cole and Munsch tied for the team lead in kills with 11 each. Munsch hit .438 on the night with five blocks, while Cole hit .429 with eight digs.
For Baylor, Stevie Nicholas had a match-high 14 kills while hitting .132 in the match. Tatiana Kenon was also in double-figure kills with 11. A&M out-dug Baylor 44 to 40 as both teams posted seven blocks.
"Our attack was much sharper tonight than it has been," A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli said. "We've been working on our offensive timing and rhythm, and I thought tonight that was something we did better than we had been doing. I also felt a lot better about our blocking. The team has really been working on discipline on the block. When the blocking is good, it is a big help to our defense."
Texas A&M returns to action on Sunday when the Aggies travel to Ames to face the Iowa State Cyclones. First serve at Hilton Coliseum is set for 2 p.m. (CDT).