August 30, 2002
The 17th-ranked Texas A&M volleyball team improved its record to 2-0 with a 30-8, 30-24, 30-22 victory against Texas-San Antonio tonight at the McDonald's/Texas A&M Invitational I at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
"We got what we hoped for today," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "We got to look at a lot of different lineups in the two matches and saw that we were very physical at the net and relied upon that a lot while we work on getting our back court play more consistent."
After outhitting Alcorn State .398 to .092 in the opener, A&M maintained its dominance at the net by outhitting UTSA .315 to -.011, inclding .375 to -.370 in the first game.
A&M held a 7-4 lead in the opening frame when the Aggies reeled off seven consecutive points with Melissa Munsch at the service line. A&M increased its lead to 14-5 before stringing together nine consecutive points with Tara Pulaski at the service line. A&M held a 29-8 lead when Munsch finished of the game with a kill.
A.D. Achilefu served the Aggies to an 8-0 lead to begin the second game. Three times the Aggies built a game-high 10-point lead, the last occurring at 26-16. The Roadrunners twice cut the lead to four points at 26-22 and 27-23, but a UTSA kill error and a service error put A&M serving for the game. Achilefu then finished it off with her fourth kill of the game to give the Aggies a 2-0 lead.
UTSA took its first lead of the match in the third game at 4-3 and held a 5-4 edge when A&M scored four unanswered points. The Roadrunners were unable to regain the lead as A&M took its biggest lead of the game at 17-9 and 24-16. UTSA cut the lead to five points four times, the last coming at 25-20. With A&M ahead 27-21, Carol Price put down back-to-back kills to put A&M at match point. UTSA scored a point, but then a service error gave the Aggies the victory.
Achilefu led the Aggies with nine kills and five blocks. Munsch posted a match-high 12 digs for A&M. Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year Laura Jones remained had four kills and no errors in seven attempts to improve her two-match total to 18 kills with no errors in 31 attempts for a .581 hitting percentage on the day.
"I was particularly impressed with how Laura Jones handled herself and made no errors," Corbelli said. "She competed well and was consistent.
"Lexy Beers was incredible tonight with her setting. She was able to take difficult passes and turn them into great sets. She did a wonderful job leading the team."
The Roadrunners, who finish the tournament at 1-2, were led by Charlsie Heifrin, who posted nine kills.
The Aggies conclude the tournament against LSU Sunday at 2 p.m.
McDonald's/Texas A&M Invitational I Results:
UTSA def. ASU, 25-30, 26-30, 30-20, 30-21, 15-9
LSU def. LSU, 30-26, 30-17, 30-25
A&M def. ASU, 30-16, 30-15, 30-19
A&M def. UTSA, 30-8, 30-24, 30-22
LSU def. ASU, 30-22, 30-16, 30-16
Sunday, Sept. 1
A&M vs. LSU, 2 p.m.