October 14, 2001
No. 17 Texas A&M snapped No. 2 Nebraska's run of 12 consecutive matches without dropping a game, but the Cornhuskers prevailed in the end with a 25-30, 30-24, 31-29, 30-24 victory over the Aggies in front of 2,127 at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
"We played great defense, and our passing was excellent," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "We also served tough, but they blocked more and attacked more effectively. When you face a big block, you are going to miss a few. But when you miss too many, it catches up to you, especially in rally scoring."
Nebraska's stingy net play forced A&M into a season-high 44 attack errors as the Aggies hit into a season-high 19 blocks. The Cornhuskers finished the match with a .256 hitting percentage while holding A&M to a .128 hitting efficiency.
The Aggies broke Nebraska's streak of 36 consecutive games won in the opening stanza, immediately jumping out to a 5-0 lead. A&M equaled its biggest lead of the game at 19-11 before the Huskers rallied for five unanswered points to get within three. Nebraska was unable to close the gap, and with A&M leading 29-25, freshman middle blocker Melissa Munsch put down one of her 15 kills of the match to give the Aggies the win.
Although A&M hit only .130 in the game, the Aggies held Nebraska to a .103 hitting efficiency.
"We played a great first game and caught a great team off guard," Corbelli said. "We were forcing them to make adjustments, but it was tough to sustain that and we had a major letdown in Game 2."
Nebraska got on track in the second game and outhit the Aggies .366 to .213 in the 30-24 win. The Aggies held a 4-3 advantage before Nebraska's Nancy Metcalf and Jenny Kropp combined for three consecutive kills to give the Cornhuskers a lead they would not relinquish. Nebraska eventually built a game-high 10-point lead at 27-17, but two kills by A&M's Erin Lechler and two attack errors by Metcalf put the Aggies within six. A&M was unable to get any closer than five points before Anna Schrad's tip resulted in a game-winning kill for the Huskers.
A&M held an 8-4 lead in Game 3 when jump server A.D. Achilfeu stepped to the line and sparked the Aggies with three consecutive aces. The seven-point advantage didn't last long as Nebraska reeled off four consecutive points, three courtesy of A&M attack errors.
Nebraska eventually tied the score at 14 on a kill by Laura Pilakowski and also knotted the score at 16,17 and 18. A&M then rallied for three points, one of the points the result of Achilefu's fourth ace of the game. A&M led 22-19 when Nebraska registered three kills and a block to take its first lead since a 2-1 advantage at the start of the game.
There were four more ties and four lead changes throughout the remainder of the game. The Aggies took a 29-28 lead on an Achilefu kill, but a Metcalf kill, an A&M attack error and a kill by Nebraska's Amber Holmquist gave the Huskers the come-from-behind victory and a 2-1 game advantage.
A&M held a 4-3 edge in Game 4 but two Kropp kills and five A&M attack errors quickly gave the Huskers a game-high six-point lead. The Aggies twice got within two points at 20-18 and 21-19 but were unable to overcome the deficit as Nebraska closed out the match with back-to-back kills for the 30-24 win.
Metcalf and Pilakowski led the Huskers with 16 kills apiece in the match. Holmquist added 12 kills and 10 blocks, and Kropp also contributed 12 kills and eight blocks as Nebraska outblocked A&M, 19-6.
Lechler recorded a match-high 20 kills for the Aggies but was held to a .096 hitting percentage. Mount tied her season high with 19 kills. Michelle Cole registered a match-high 19 digs to move into ninth place in the A&M career records.
With the win, Nebraska improves to 15-1 overall and increases its lead in the Big 12 standings with a perfect 8-0 mark. The Aggies fall to 12-3 and 5-2.
A&M returns to action Wednesday at Kansas and then returns home to host Missouri on Saturday. Both matches begin at 7 p.m.