October 09, 2002
The 25th-ranked Texas A&M volleyball team dropped its first match to Texas since 1999 Wednesday, as the Longhorns defeated the Aggies, 33-31, 24-30, 30-19, 23-30, 15-11 before 3,171 fans at Gregory Gym.
The loss drops A&M to 11-5 overall and 3-4 in the Big 12. Texas extends its win streak to five matches and improves to 13-3 and 5-2.
The Aggies had an 11-9 lead in the decisive fifth game before the Longhorns once again established the block, rattling off six straight points to win the game and the match, 15-11. Texas tallied 15 blocks on the night, a season high by an A&M opponent. Nine of the blocks came in crucial stretches of the third and fifth games, and four of the Horns' final five points came courtesy of the block.
Texas won a back-and-forth first game, 33-31. The Aggies came out early and opened up a quick 6-1 lead, forcing the Longhorns to burn an early timeout. With the score knotted at 15, Texas middle blocker Kathy Hahn put down one of her game-high eight kills to give the Longhorns their first lead of the match.
The Aggies would regain the advantage at 22-21 thanks to a UT attack error, only to lose the lead for good when Hahn capped a three-point rally with a service ace to make the score 28-27.
A&M fought off three deciding points in the first game, tying the score at 31 when Julia Rex dropped a ball over the block to regain possession for the Aggies. Kathy Hahn would do the same for the Longhorns on the ensuing point, however, and followed that with a kill into the middle of the court for the game winner.
With the score tied at nine in game two, A.D. Achilefu and Lexy Beers teamed to block the attack of Bethany Howden, giving Texas A&M a lead it would not relinquish en route to a 30-24 victory.
A pair of back-to-back kills by Munsch, who tallied seven in the frame, along with a block by Carol Price, gave the Aggies their largest lead of the game at 26-20. The Longhorns would climb back within three before Achilefu put down three kills down the stretch to close out the game, including the game winner off an overpass.
Texas took control of game three with a decisive 8-0 run to break an early tie and open up an 18-10 advantage. During the stretch the Longhorns dominated play at the net, as five of the eight points came courtesy of a-block. UT, which hit .471 in the game, would extend its lead to as many as 13 en route to the 30-19 win.
Trailing 15-10 in the fourth game, the Aggies scored seven of the next nine points to tie the score at 17, the final two coming on a pair of blocks by Munsch. A&M would take its first lead since early in the game at 21-20 when, after a very long and exciting rally, Kendra Felder slapped the ball off the Longhorn block and down for the winner.
With the score tied yet again at 22, A&M closed out the game on an 8-1 run, winning 30-23 and forcing the decisive fifth game. The Aggies took advantage of five Longhorn errors during the stretch.
The Aggies were out-hit by the Longhorns, .227 to .195, but led their opponent in kills in a losing effort for the second straight match, 78 to 69. Texas out-blocked A&M 15 to 9 and out-dug the Aggies, 65 to 63.
Pulaski tied a career high with 20 kills, hitting .484 on the night to go along with four blocks. Three other Aggies-Jones, Munsch and Achilefu-also posted double-figure kills.
Hahn led a foursome of Texas attackers in double figures with 19 kills. The sophomore also posted a match-high seven blocks. Topic, Howden and LaTonya Coates were also in double-digit kills. Stacy Millichap led all defenders with a match-high 17 digs.
Texas A&M returns to action next Wednesday, Oct. 16, as the Aggies play host to Texas Tech at G. Rollie White Coliseum. First serve is set for 7 p.m.