November 19, 2003
Texas A&M reached the 20-win milestone for the ninth consecutive season as the No. 21-ranked Aggies defeated Baylor, 30-24, 28-30, 30-28, 30-27, tonight in front of 1,475 at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
The Aggies hit a season-high .396, which also is a school record for a four-game match, to improve to 20-7 overall and 12-5 in the Big 12 Conference.
"The 20th win means a lot and it is something we strive for every year," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "It also is significant that we achieved the milestone before the Big 12 season is over and considering the fact that the Big 12 is one of the toughest leagues in the nation."
The victory marked A&M's ninth consecutive win against the Bears and help the Aggies maintain third place in the league standings with three matches remaining. Baylor extended its losing skid to three and falls to 12-19, 4-13.
"Obviously we are excited to get the win," Corbelli said. "Baylor is the only team that has upset league-leading Kansas State. I thought Baylor was having one of its best matches of the year, especially with Stevie Nicholas back in the front row. She made a big difference.
"I was impressed with our balance, and we played with confidence. Our attack intensity picked up in Games 3 and 4, but our serving and blocking were not aggressive enough and that made it difficult for us."
Laura Jones led an Aggie contingent of four players to reach double figures in kills with 18 while hitting at a .412 clip. She also tied Lexy Beers and Melissa Munsch for the team lead with 12 digs.
Carol Price tied her season high with 17 kills and led A&M with a .571 hitting percentage, while Munsch also contributed 17 kills and hit .333. Beth Skypala also reached double figures in kills for A&M with 11.
Nicholas had 26 kills for the Bears, and Tisha Schwartz added 20 kills and led the team with a .514 hitting percentage.
A&M hit .375 in the first game, its lowest single-game hitting percentage of the match. The Aggies built their biggest lead at 21-12 following an attack error by Baylor's Andrea Vakulya. The Bears cut the lead to 22-18 but could not get any closer before Skypala put down a kill to end the game.
Baylor evened the match at one game apiece by winning Game 2 despite getting outhit, .381 to .348. The Bears overcame a 17-10 deficit and tied the score at 24 on a Nicholas kill. A&M followed with an attack error to give the Bears their first lead of the game. Baylor held the lead for the remainder of the frame, and Nicholas had the game-winning kill.
There were 12 ties and five lead changes in the third game, and neither team never led by more than three points. The game was tied for the final time at 27 when Skypala gave the Aggies the lead with a kill. A&M, which outhit Baylor, .457 to .244, got a kill by Munsch to put the Aggies at match point, but Nicholas got a kill to keep the Bears in the game. Jones answered with a kill to end the game.
A Price kill gave the Aggies their first lead of the fourth game at 5-4. A&M once again built a game-high seven-point lead at 19-12 when the Bears began another rally. Baylor outscored A&M, 6-1, three on Nicholas kills and three on A&M attack errors, to get within 20-18, but was unable to take the lead for the remainder of the game. The Aggies held a 29-27 edge when Jones put down the match-winning kill.
The Aggies return to the road Saturday for a crucial match against the Kansas Jayhawks. First serve is at 7 p.m. at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center in Lawrence.