October 01, 2003
No. 22 Texas A&M lost a two-game lead and fell to Texas, 29-31, 24-30, 30-21, 31-29, 18-16 in front of 2,513 at Gregory Gymnasium.
It was the first time in nine matches that A&M lost a match after taking the first game this season, and it is the Aggies' second consecutive five-game loss in Austin.
"Being up two games is a nice position to be in," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "We were feeling strong. We were accurate with our setting, and our defense was moving. Then we let up. The intensity dropped, and we started making errors.
"We didn't take care of our side of the court, and they took advantage of it."
A&M right-side hitter Carol Price posted a season-high 17 kills with a .371 hitting efficiency, but the leftside hitters struggled, hitting a combined .050 for the match as the Horns outhit A&M .238 to .206.
Mira Topic led the Longhorns with 22 kills. Jenny Andrew had a match-high nine blocks to lead the Horns to 15 blocks, the most by an A&M opponent this season.
The Aggies overcame a six-point deficit to win the first game. The Horns held a 24-18 lead when A&M outscored Texas, 9-1, to take its first lead since a 7-6 advantage. The Aggies were serving for game point at 29-27, but a serve into the net and a kill by Topic knotted the score. The Horns had a prime opportunity to take the lead on an A&M overpass, but Brandy McGee hit the offering wide. Bethany Howden then hit into the net to give A&M the win.
Game 2 was tied at 15 when the Aggies scored five unanswered points, three on Texas attack errors. A&M held a 23-19 lead when the Aggies pounded four consecutive kills to build their biggest lead of the game. A&M was leading 28-20 when Texas made a last-ditch four-point rally on three kills and a block, but a kill by Munsch and an ace by Skypala sent the Aggies into the break with a 2-0 lead.
Texas avoided its first sweep to the Aggies in Austin by taking the third game, 30-21, and outhitting A&M, .406 to .222. The score was tied at 9-9, when the Horns went on a four-point run. A&M could get no closer than three points as Texas went on to a 30-21 win.
The Horns carried the momentum into the fourth game and evened the match by winning 31-29. Texas, which had built a game-high six-point lead midway through the game, was serving for game point at 29-25 when A&M scored four straight points to tie the score. Texas regrouped and got a kill by Kathy Hahn, and Andrew ended the game with a dump for a kill.
There were seven lead changes and 13 ties in the hard-fought fifth game. Texas fought off two match points as Topic took charge. A&M was up 15-14 when Topic posted back-to-back kills. Her next attack sailed long to tie the score at 16. She then put the Horns at game point and the match ended when A&M's attack went long.
Texas improves to 8-5 overall and 3-1 in Big 12 play. A&M falls to 10-4, 2-2.
A&M returns to action Saturday when the Aggies play host to No. 12 Kansas State. First serve is at 7 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.