October 15, 2003
Texas A&M's Beth Skypala posted a career-high 28 kills to lead the 22nd-ranked Aggies to a 30-18, 32-34, 30-24, 29-31, 15-11 hard-fought victory over Kansas in front of 1,521 at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
"We knew Kansas would be tough to beat," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "It took them a game to get into their rhythm, and then in Game 2, we got sloppy and Kansas got right back into the match.
"For us to come back took a lot of effort and concentration, and we couldn't have done it without Skypala's performance tonight."
In a battle between two teams tied for fourth place in the Big 12 Conference race, the Aggies held off Kansas to remain undefeated in the all-time series with a 16-0 mark. In addition, A&M won its third consecutive match to improve to 13-5 for the season and 5-3 in league play. Kansas falls to 12-7, 4-4.
The Aggies appeared poised to win the match in the fourth game as they rallied for five consecutive points to build a 29-27 edge and take their first lead since a 14-13 advantage. Josi Lima ended the run with a kill, while A&M's leading all-around player Melissa Munsch got up slowly after hitting her head on the floor while diving for the ball. Munsch remained in the game, but the shaken Aggies committed back-to-back attack errors and had a reception error as Kansas pulled out the 31-29 win to force a fifth game.
The Aggies jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the final stanza and never trailed the remainder of the match. They built their biggest lead at 9-3 as Laura Jones and Munsch posted consecutive kills. Just as they had done throughout much of the match, the Jayhawks fought back and twice got within two points. But with A&M leading, 13-11, Jones notched her 14th kill of the match, and Munsch teamed with Tara Pulaski to block Lindsey Morris' attack to end the match.
"I was proud of how we played in Game 5," Corbelli said. "We got off to a great start. Our setting was more comfortable, and our leftsides (Jones and Skypala) were on. We knew that (going to our leftsides) was how we were going to have to win it."
A&M easily took the first game, outhitting the Jayhawks, .442 to .205, en route to the 30-18 win. After spotting Kansas the first three points, Carol Price led A&M on a nine-point scoring run, posting four of her 10 kills of the match during the run. The Aggies led, 24-14, when Munsch posted two kills and Skypala had one to give A&M its biggest lead of the game. Then with A&M ahead, 29-18, Price, who gave the Aggies their first point of the game with a kill, ended the game with a kill.
There were 20 ties and nine lead changes in the second game. A&M twice built four-point leads, but Kansas fought back to take its first lead since a 1-0 start at 17-16. A&M regained the lead at 18 and went up 21-18, but the Jayhawks came back and took their third lead at 23-22 following an A&M attack error. Neither team could build more than a one-point lead until, with the score tied at 32, A&M served into the net and Andi Rozum aced her serve to give the Jayhawks the win and tie the match going into the intermission.
The third game was another battle with 15 ties and eight lead changes. With Kansas leading, 21-20, Munsch had back-to-back kills, and Jones followed with a kill to give A&M a lead it would not relinquish. The Aggies held a 27-24 when Pulaski put down a kill and Kansas committed consecutive attack errors to end the game.
Jones finished the match with 18 kills and 11 digs, and Munsch added 7 kills and a match-high 21 digs. Felder led the Aggies in blocks, tying her career high with eight.
Kansas also had four players reach double figures in kills with Lima posting a team-high 17. Jill Dorsey led the Jayhawks in digs with 19.
As a team, A&M outhit the Jayhawks, .258 to .182, posting 88 kills to Kansas' 66. A&M also led in digs, 98-71 and blocks, 11-8.
A&M looks to equal its longest winning streak of the season Friday when the Aggies take on the Oklahoma Sooners. First serve is at 7 p.m. at McCasland Field House in Norman.