October 22, 2003
No. 21 Texas A&M extended its winning streak to a season-high five matches with a 30-24, 18-30, 30-19, 30-23 victory over Baylor in front of 506 at the Ferrell Center.
In addition, the Aggies extended their winning streak against the Bears to eight matches, and conclude the first half of Big 12 Conference play with a 15-5 mark overall and a 7-3 record in league play.
Baylor, which avoided its sixth straight sweep to A&M, falls to 11-12, 3-7.
Melissa Munsch led the Aggies with 17 kills and a .441 hitting percentage as A&M outhit Baylor, .305 to .268. Laura Jones added 12 kills and Kendra Felder posted 10. In addition, Carrie Moreira, who started in place of an injured Beth Skypala, recorded a career-high 10 kills. Carol Price posted a team-high six blocks as A&M outblocked the Bears, 13-7.
A&M took its first lead of Game 1 at 4-3 following a kill by Munsch and never trailed the remainder of the game. The Aggies held their biggest lead of the game at 18-11, but the Bears twice got within three points. A&M was up, 26-23, when a Baylor service error and back-to-back A&M blocks put the Aggies at game point. Nicole LeBlanc got a kill for the Bears, but Felder answered with a kill to end the game.
Baylor ended a 17-game losing streak to the Aggies by easily taking the second game, 30-18. The Bears, who outhit A&M .486 to .159 in the frame, jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start the game, and A&M never recovered. Baylor took its biggest lead of the game at 26-13 following an A&M hitting error. The Aggies could get no closer than 10 points before Andrea Vakulya closed out the game with her sixth kill of the game.
A&M got back on track in the third game, tallying six blocks and outhitting the Bears, .370 to .105, en route to a 30-19 win. The Aggies held a narrow 15-14 lead when they erupted for eight unanswered points while forcing Baylor to use both of its timeouts during the stretch. A&M was leading 25-17 when Felder's kill sparked a three-point run to give the Aggies their biggest lead of the game at 28-17. The teams exchanged points before Munsch put down a kill to end the game.
A&M put on its best hitting performance in the fourth and final game, posting 22 kills along with a .429 hitting percentage. Baylor scored the first point on a kill but then had back-to-back attack errors to give A&M a lead it would not lose. A&M posted its fifth game-high seven-point lead at 20-13 before Baylor mounted a comeback and got within 23-20. The Bears, however, could get no closer and with A&M leading 26-22, the Aggies went on a four-point run to end the match.
Tisha Schwartz led the Bears with 25 kills, and Vakulya added 15. Stevie Nicholas led in digs with a match-high 22.
The Aggies return home Friday to play host to rival Texas. First serve is at 6 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.