December 07, 2002
Texas A&M's season came to an end as the Aggies fell to No. 1-seed Southern California, 30-18, 30-21, 30-23, in the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Championship.
"We were outmatched at every position in size, skill level and experience, and it showed," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "There were times in the match where if we would have passed the way we did the last half of the season, we would have had a lot more opportunities. But getting into a rhythm on the No. 1 team's home court is not easy."
AM spotted the Women of Troy a 4-0 lead to begin the match but then solo blocks by Laura Jones and Melissa Munsch, as well as two kills by Munsch sparked the Aggies to a 5-0 run. USC regained the lead at 7-6 following an A&M attack error and never trailed the remainder of the game.
The Women of Troy held a 9-8 advantage when they pulled away with an 8-1 run. Up 24-17, USC went on another 5-0 run and was serving for game point when Jones ended the rally with a kill. But Katie Olsovsky pounded a kill down the line to give The Women of Troy a 30-18 win.
There were six lead changes and 10 ties in Game 2. USC was up, 13-10, when kills by Munsch and Price and three consecutive USC errors gave the Aggies their third and final lead of the game at 15-13. A&M held onto a16-15 advantage when USC's April Ross put down three consecutive kills to give The Women of Troy their third lead of the frame.
A&M was within 20-18 when USC scored four consecutive points to build a six-point lead. Up 25-20, The Women of Troy stretched their lead to eight by tallying three unanswered points. A USC kill error briefly ended the run, but then Olsovsky got a kill, and 6-5 middle blocker Emily Adams stuffed an A&M attack for the game winner.
USC built seven-point leads at 13-6 and 14-7 in the third game. The Aggies closed the gap to 16-13 but then committed four consecutive errors to put The Women of Troy back up by seven points. A&M regrouped and got within three points three times but could not get any closer. With USC holding a 26-23 lead, The Women of Troy closed out the game, including an A&M attack into the net that ended the match.
Munsch led the Aggies with 11 kills, and setter Lexy Beers had a team-high eight digs.
Ross and Keao Burdine led USC with 12 kills each and led The Women of Troy to a .327 to .119 hitting percentage advantage. Olsovsky recorded a match-high seven blocks as USC outblocked A&M, 12-5.
The Aggies, who were making their 10th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament, finish the season wth a 21-10 mark as seniors A.D. Achilefu and Julia Rex closed out their collegiate careers.
With the victory, USC improves to 27-1 and advances to the NCAA round of sixteen to be played Dec. 12-15.