November 17, 2002
No. 20 Kansas State won for the first time in seven visits to G. Rollie White Coliseum, and Texas A&M was swept at home for the first time since 1996 as the Wildcats defeated the Aggies, 30-21, 30-23, 30-26, in front of 1,238 this afternoon.
"Kansas State played smart volleyball, and it was a great example of how volleyball is such a team sport," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "They don't rely on one player, and it was total team volleyball."
The Wildcats, who held A&M to a season-low .087 earlier this season in Manhattan, hit .252 and held A&M to a .117 hitting percentage today, marking the Aggies' second lowest hitting percentage of the year. K-State also outblocked A&M, 11.5 to 6.
"The quality of our passing was not where it should have been," Corbelli said. "We never got into a rhythm, and our middles only had seven kills. Our opponent had a lot to do with that.
"We tried extra hard to beat them, and it took us out of our rhythm. That can happen to a young team when facing a solid team."
K-State never trailed in the first game and was held a narrow 17-16 advantage when the Wildcats went on a 4-0 run. A&M responded with three unanswered points, but then the Wildcats had three three-point rallies while holding A&M to two points to close out the game.
There were four lead changes and six ties in the second game, the last tie occurring at 7-7 before the Wildcats took the lead for good on a kill by Jennifer Pollard. K-State, which outhit A&M, .372 to .178 in the frame, took its biggest lead of the game at 20-12. The Aggies were able to cut the lead to four points three times but could not get any closer before Pollard ended the game with a kill.
The Aggies came back from the break and raced out to a 12-5 lead in the third game before K-State rallied for eight consecutive points to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game since scoring the first point of the game. A&M tied the score at 13 and at 18 when K-State once again rallied for six straight points. The Wildcats maintained a 28-22 lead when A&M cut the lead to 28-26 on a block and three K-State errors. An A&M service error put the Wildcats at game point, and Cari Jensen finished off the match with a kill.
The Aggies were led by Laura Jones, who posted 15 kills in the match to give her 341 kills this season and break the A&M season record for kills by a freshman set by Kristie Smedsrud in 1994. Melissa Munsch also added 15 kills and led A&M with 16 digs.
Jensen and Lauren Goehring led the Wildcats with 11 kills apiece. Libero Laura Downey-Wallace posted a match-high 22 digs, and Lisa Martin recorded a match-high six blocks.
K-State, who posted their first ever season series sweep against the Aggies, extended its winning streak to 12 matches and improved to 18-6 overall and 14-2 in the Big 12. A&M had its season-long winning streak snapped at five as the Aggies fall to 18-8, 10-7.
The Aggies do not play again until Saturday when they travel to Lubbock to face the Texas Tech Red Raiders. First serve is at 7 p.m. at the United Spirit Arena.