Texas A&M
(#6) Wisconsin
Aggies Roll into Elite Eight, Sweep No. 6 Wisconsin
Dec 07, 2001 | Volleyball
December 07, 2001
The 15th-ranked Texas A&M volleyball team rolled into the Elite Eight for only the second time in school history, sweeping the 6th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers, 30-28, 30-24, 30-23, in NCAA regional semifinal action Friday at Stanford's Maples Pavilion.
The Aggies (26-5) will meet No. 3 Stanford (30-2) in the regional final match on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. (CST). The match will be televised live by CNN-SI (DirecTV Channel 205, DishNetwork Channel 148). Check local listings for the station nearest you. The Badgers, Big Ten Conference Champions and last season's national runners-up, end their year with a 27-4 mark.
"We had a game plan both on and off the court," A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli said. "I don't know if my team has matched a game plan better than they did tonight. I thought our passing was maybe at its best. I couldn't be happier because of the performance and for the team."
The teams were tied at 12 in the first game when the Aggies scored five unanswered points to take a 17-12 lead. Erin Lechler broke the 12-12 tie and gave A&M a lead it would never lose en route to a 30-28 win. The Aggies held their biggest lead of the game at 20-14 following a Brandi Mount kill, but the Badgers battled back to within two at 21-19.
Wisconsin committed one of its six service errors in the game and followed that with a kill error before a Jenna Moscovic kill gave the Aggies a 24-19 lead. The Badgers pulled within two again at 28-26, but a service error put A&M at game point. UW posted back-to-back kills to cut the lead to one, but Michelle Cole tooled a kill off the block for the game winner.
With the score tied at 11 in game two, Texas A&M took the lead for good when Moscovic and Tara Pulaski teamed to stuff a Jill Odenthal attack. Up by four at 21-17, the Aggies benefitted from three straight Badger attack errors and a Melissa Munsch service ace to take their biggest lead of the game at 25-17. UW couldn't get any closer than three as A&M won the second game, 30-24, with the last point coming on a Mount kill.
A&M completed the sweep with a 30-23 win in game three. There were nine ties and five lead changes before the halfway mark, the last tie occurring at 14. Tara Pulaski collected one of her 13 kills on the night to give the Aggies a lead they would not relinquish. The Aggies took their biggest lead at 27-19 on a Cole service ace. Wisconsin scored two straight to pull within six, but kills by Munsch and Moscovic had A&M serving for the match. Following back-to-back kills by UW, Pulaski slammed the ball to the floor near the sideline to push the Aggies into the Elite Eight.
"However much pressure was on us tonight was how much we were putting on ourselves, and we had total control of that," Corbelli said. "The team expects a lot from themselves but when there is an error they don't stress on it or worry about it. I think once they saw things were moving and we were clicking it made it a lot easier to relax and play."
For the match, Texas A&M out-hit Wisconsin .255 to .167 and out-dug the Badgers 69 to 66. UW won the battle at the net, posting eight blocks to the Aggies' four.
Pulaski led the way with a team-high 13 kills and a match-high .545 attack percentage to go along with a team-high three blocks. Cole tallied 12 kills and a match-high 18 digs. Lechler's nine digs on the night pushed her career total to 1,003.
For Wisconsin, All-American middle blocker Sherisa Livingston posted a match-high 14 kills, but was held to a .200 hitting percentage. Jill Odenthal had 12 kills on the night, while Lori Rittenhouse led the Badger defense with 16 digs. University of Texas transfer Amy Hultgren had a match-high four blocks, but was held to a -.059 attack percentage.
"I think tonight it was very obvious that we were loving this match," Corbelli said. "We couldn't wait to get out here and it fueled what we needed to do on the floor."
The three-game win marks the first time since 1997 that A&M has swept a top-10 opponent. Prior to Friday's win over UW, the Aggies' last top-10 sweep was on Nov. 12, 1997 over No. 8 Texas in College Station.
Stanford advanced to the Elite Eight with a 30-17, 30-17, 28-30, 30-19 win over No. 13 Utah Friday.
