September 14, 2002
Melissa Munsch recorded a career-high 24 Kills and tournament MVP Laura Jones added 16 as No. 16 Texas A&M defeated BYU, 31-29, 30-21, 36-38, 30-22, to capture the championship trophy of the McDonald's Texas A&M Invitational II in front of 1,213 in attendance at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
The Aggies, who extended their home winning streak to 15, finished the tournament with a 3-0 mark and improve to 8-1 overall. BYU finished runner-up with a 2-1 record and is now 5-6 on the season.
Aggie setter Lexy Beers, who joined Munsch and Jones on the all-tournament team, tied a career high with 56 assists, directing an offense that had four A&M players reach double figures in kills as the Aggies outhit BYU, .291 to .267. Beers also set a career record in aces with four as A&M posted 11 aces to BYU's two.
The opening game was a hard-fought affair that saw16 ties. Neither team built more than a two-point lead until BYU built a three-point advantage at 19-16, The Cougars built their biggest lead of the game at 22-17 when A&M rallied for five unanswered points to knot the score at 22. The teams exchanged points before A.D. Achilefu put down a kill to put A&M up 24-23 and give the Aggies their first lead since holding a 7-6 edge early in the game. BYU regained the lead at 26-25 following a kill by Allison Larson, but a back row kill by Munsch and consecutive aces by Jones gave A&M its biggest lead of the game at 28-26. BYU came back to tie the score at 29, but Munsch posted back-to-back kills to seal the win.
Munsch gave A&M its first lead of the second game at 11-10 by posting two consecutive kills. The Aggies built a 15-11 advantage but then committed three straight errors to allow the Cougars to get within one at 15-14. A&M held a 16-15 edge when the Aggies erupted for eight unanswered points to take their biggest lead of the game. BYU could get no closer than six points for the remainder of the game, and with A&M up 27-21, Munsch sandwiched a BYU attack error with two kills to close out the game.
BYU overcame 17 ties to escape with a 38-36 marathon win in the third game. The Aggies, who had trailed by as many as five points, fought off four game points and took a 33-32 lead on a Beers ace. The teams exchanged kills before BYU regained the lead at 35-34 on an A&M ball handling error. A Cougar service error tied the score, and the game also was knotted at 36 as the teams exchanged kills. Lindsey Metcalf and April Varner then put down back-to-back kills to give the Cougars the win.
Game four was tied at 12 when A&M when on a 11-3 run. BYU cut the lead to four points at 25-21, but two kills by Pulaski followed by a kill by Jones gave the Aggies a comfortable 28-21 advantage. BYU registered a kill, but Jones and Achilefu responded with a kill apiece to put away the match for the Aggies.
Achilefu finished with 15 kills and a season-high and team-high 19 digs. Pulaski also reached double digits in kills with 12. Libero Rebecca Wynalda registered a career-high 16 digs as six A&M players reached double figures in digs.
Larson led the Cougars with 15 kills. All-tournament selection Carrie Bowers contributed 14, and Varner and all-tournament setter Karina Puikkonen added 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Puikkonen also posted a match-high five blocks as the Cougars outblocked A&M 8.5-3.
The Aggies resume action Wednesday, Sept., 18 as they begin Big 12 Conference play against the Kansas Jayhawks. First serve is at 7 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
McDonald's Texas A&M Invitational II All-Tournament Team:
Carrie Sartain, Sam Houston State
Priscilla Lima, Louisiana-Lafayette
Karina Puikkonen, BYU
Carrie Bowers, BYU
Melissa Munsch, Texas A&M
Lexy Beers, Texas A&M
Most Valuable Player: Laura Jones, Texas A&M
Tournament Results:
BYU def. UL Lafayette, 3-0 (30-28, 30-22, 30-17)
Texas A&M def. SHSU, 3-1 (30-24, 27-30, 30-21, 30-25)
BYU def. SHSU, 3-0 (31-29, 30-17, 30-20)
A&M def. UL Lafayette, 3-2 (29-31, 30-26, 30-13, 27-30, 15-9)
UL Lafayette def. SHSU, 3-1 (30-24, 30-26, 28-30, 30-17)
A&M def. BYU, 3-1 (31-29, 30-21, 36-38, 30-22)