November 13, 2002
Texas A&M extended it winning streak to five and improved to 15-0 all-time against Kansas by coming back to defeat a stingy Jayhawk squad, 30-26, 27-30, 26-30, 30-16, 15-12, in front of 750 at the Horejsi Family Athletic Center.
A&M trailed in the decisive fifth game, 11-9, when the Aggies came back from a timeout to score five consecutive points, three on consecutive blocks by Carol Price and Tara Pulaski, who finished with 10 blocks, including a career-high four solo blocks. Andi Rozum ended the run with a kill for the Jayhawks, before Price put down her 10th kill of the game to give the Aggies the win.
The Aggies improve to 18-7 overall and 10-6 in the Big 12 while Kansas falls to 17-7 and 8-7.
A&M hit .387 and overcame a five-point deficit to win the first game, 30-26. The Jayhawks built their biggest lead at 13-8, but A&M got back within 17-15 and then scored four unanswered points to take a lead they would not lose. KU cut the lead to one at 22-21 when the Aggies once again went on a 4-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game. KU, who committed six service errors in the game, got back within two points on back-to-back kills before A&M's Laura Jones put down her sixth kill of the game, and Pulaski and Lexy Beers blocked a KU attack attempt to give the Aggies the win.
A&M came from three points down to take a 10-9 lead in Game 2, but the Jayhawks took their second lead of the game as Josiane Lima posted consecutive kills to begin a four-point KU run. The Aggies managed to tie the score at 15 and 16 on kills by Jones and A.D. Achilefu but were unable to regain a lead as the Jayhawks scored three consecutive points. KU took its biggest lead of the game at 21-17 to force an A&M timeout. A&M came out of the timeout and scored three straight points to cut the lead to 21-20. The Aggies were also within one point at 25-24 and 28-27 when the Jayhawks posted a block and Lima put down the game-winning kill to even the match at one game apiece.
A&M trailed 8-4 early in the third game before scoring seven unanswered points to take its first lead since a 1-0 advantage. The Aggies maintained a 13-10 lead when the Jayhawks rallied for six points - four on A&M errors - to take the lead. They built their biggest lead at 23-17 after scoring four unanswered points. A&M was able to cut the lead to 24-21 following a kill by Achilefu but could not get any closer. KU was at 29-24 when A&M scored two points. The Jayhawks' Sarah Rome ended the rally and the game with a kill off the block.
The Aggies dominated the fourth game, outhitting KU, .400 to .071. A&M built an 8-4 advantage when the Aggies went on an 8-0 run. A&M built its biggest lead at 21-7 following a block by Price and Pulaski. The Jayhawks could get no closer than 12 points, and with A&M up 29-26, Melissa Munsch put down the game-winning kill.
Jones posted her second consecutive 22-kill performance to lead a group of four Aggies to reach double figures in kills in the match. Munsch added 16, and Achilefu and Price contributed 14 and 10, respectively.
Libero Rebecca Wynalda led the Aggies in digs with 15, while Munsch and Beers added 13 apiece.
Lima led the Jayhawks with 20 kills, and Lindsey Morris added 16. Jennifer Kraft posted a match-high 19 digs for KU.
As a team, A&M hit .269 and recorded 70 kills, 74 digs and 15 blocks, equaling their second-best blocking performance of the season. KU hit .234 with 76 kills, 69 digs and 6 blocks, but also committed 15 costly service errors.
The Aggies return home Sunday for a critical match against No. 20 Kansas State. First serve is at 3 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum. Fans presenting a ticket stub from the Missouri-A&M football game will be admitted for $2. In addition, the Aggies will hold an autograph session following the match.
The Wildcats, who easily swept A&M in Manhattan earlier this season but are 0-6 all-time at G. Rollie, are in second place in the Big 12 race with a 13-2 mark and enter the contest riding an 11-match winning streak.