November 10, 2001
All 15 players on the 15th-ranked Texas A&M volleyball team contributed as the Aggies defeated Iowa State, 30-20, 30-21, 30-26, Saturday in front of 1,008 at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
"It was fun to be able to see everyone get out on the court," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "It felt like the team was really ready for the younger players to get in. Even those who haven't had a lot of actual game experience went in and were aggressive and confident and performed better than in practice."
Senior rightside hitter Brandi Mount led the Aggies in kills for the sixth consecutive match with 11, and senior outside hitter Erin Lechler also reached double figures with 10. Sophomore middle blocker Carol Price came off the bench and pitched in a career-high nine kills as the Aggies improve to 19-4 overall and 12-3 in the Big 12.
Brittany Dalager led the Cyclones with a match-high 12 kills and 10 digs as ISU lost its seventh consecutive match and fell to 4-18, 1-16.
As a team, A&M posted 56 kills and hit .271 while holding ISU to 33 kills and a .089 hitting efficiency, the lowest by an A&M Big 12 opponent this season.
The Aggies went on an 8-1 scoring outburst to break a 3-3 tie in Game 1. A&M never trailed the remainder of the game. Leading 27-20, the Aggies scored three consecutive points with Lechler serving an ace for the game-winner.
A&M never trailed in Game 2 although the Cyclones were only behind by two points at 17-15 before the Aggies rallied for seven unanswered points to take a 24-15 lead. ISU could not get closer than seven points, and with A&M leading 28-21, Beth Weynand and A.D. Achilefu each put down a kill to end the game.
ISU held a 12-7 lead in the final game, but the Aggies outscored the Cyclones, 8-1, to take their first lead of the game. A&M matched its biggest lead of the game at 29-24, but the Cyclones got within three on a kill by Julie Mitchell and an A&M attack error. Rebecca Wynalda ended the run by registering the game-winning kill.
"It was important that we stayed focused on our execution," Corbelli said, "and I thought the team did that well. It was evident that they were striving to accomplish the things we have been stressing in practice, such as coverage, the quality of our first pass to the setter and our blocking. I sensed that they are feeling the importance of each performance as we near the end of the season."
The Aggies return to action as they take on the Oklahoma Sooners in a rescheduled match Monday in Norman. The match, slated for 7 p.m. at the OU Field House, was originally scheduled to be both teams' Big 12 season opener on September 12, but the competition was postponed following the terrorist attacks on the U.S.