November 14, 2001
Erin Lechler and Melissa Munsch posted double-doubles to lead the 13th-ranked Texas A&M volleyball team to a 30-18, 30-20, 25-30, 30-19 victory over the Kansas Jayhawks Wednesday before 1,110 fans at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Lechler, a senior outside hitter from Houston, posted 16 kills and equaled that total in digs while hitting .316. Munsch, a freshman middle blocker, put down 15 kills to go along with a match-high 10 blocks.
With the win, A&M improved to 21-4 and 14-3 in Big 12 play and remained perfect in 13 tries against KU. The Jayhawks fell to 15-14 and 5-13 in league action.
Munsch notched eight kills without an error in the first game and added three blocks to pace A&M to a 30-18 win. With the score tied at 12, A&M regained serve and took a one-point lead on a Tara Pulaski kill. Beth Weynand stepped behind the line and served the Aggies to seven consecutive points and a 21-12 lead before a kill by Sarah Rome gave Kansas possession. The Aggies then extended their run to 13-2, forcing the Jayhawks to take their final timeout of the game trailing 25-14. The teams would trade points before Erin Lechler ended the game with a kill down the line. A&M hit .357 for the game while holding Kansas to an .038 clip.
The Aggies leaped out to a 6-2 lead in the second game before Kansas battled back and cut the lead to two at 9-7 on another kill by Rome. A&M then took control of the game by going on an 11-3 run to grab a 20-10 advantage. After earning their largest lead of the game at 29-18 on a KU attack error, the Aggies saw Kansas score twice before Lechler again ended the game with a kill, her ninth of the match, to give A&M a 30-20 win.
Kansas came out of the locker room and took a 7-3 lead to start the third game. A.D. Achilefu and Michelle Cole rallied the Aggies for five straight points and an 8-7 lead before KU went on a 5-0 run of its own to lead by four at 12-8. The Jayhawks would extend that lead to as much as seven (19-12) before A&M crept back into the game, cutting the KU lead to five at 23-18 on an Achilefu kill. Kansas would not relinquish the lead, though, as the Jayhawks held off a late Aggie rally to win 30-25. Both teams struggled offensively in the third game, as KU outhit A&M .196 to .125.
A&M never trailed in game four en route to winning the match with a 30-19 victory. The Aggies scored the first five points of game four on four KU attack errors and one ball handling error. The lead grew to as much as eight at 12-4 before Kansas would pull back within five at 15-10 on an attack error by Munsch. A&M responded with three straight points--two by Munsch--to go up by eight and essentially put the game out of reach. Tara Pulaski's fourth block of the evening closed out the scoring.
Senior outside hitter Michelle Cole posted a match-high 24 digs on the night, moving her into fourth place on Texas A&M's all-time career digs list. Cole's four-year total of 1,275 puts her ahead of former All-Americans Suzy Wente (1,262) and Kristie Smedsrud (1,261) on the school charts.
Lechler's match-high 16 kills led the way offensively, while Munsch (15) was the only other A&M attacker in double-figure kills. Lechler and Moscovic each posted 16 digs on the night. Molly Scavuzzo led the Kansas attack with 14 kills, while Rome added 10. Molly LaMere posted a team-high 18 digs on the evening.
For the match, A&M out-blocked Kansas 15-7.5 and out-hit the Jayhawks .254 to .106. The Aggies also out-dug KU 84 to 72 on the night.
Texas A&M plays its final road match of the regular season on Saturday when the Aggies travel to Manhattan to battle the 22nd-ranked Kansas State Wildcats. First serve at Ahearn Field House is set for 7 p.m.