November 29, 2003
No. 24 Texas A&M celebrated Senior Day by concluding the regular season with a 30-15, 30-25, 30-23 victory over Iowa State in front of 1,554 at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
A&M improved to 21-9 overall and tied Colorado and Kansas for third place in the Big 12 with a 13-7 record. ISU completed its most successful season since Big 12 play began in 1996, finishing with a 12-19 overall record and tying Baylor for eighth place in with a 4-16 conference mark.
A&M led the entire first game, outhitting the Cyclones, .444 to .079, en route to the 30-15 win. The Aggies rallied for consecutive points eight times throughout the game, including two five-point runs. The Aggies held a 28-15 lead when Kendra Felder put down her fifth kill of the game to put A&M serving for the game. An ISU attack error ended the game.
There were 11 ties and nine lead changes in Game 2 before A&M pulled away for the 30-25 win. The Aggies held a 9-6 advantage when ISU went on a five-point run to take its first lead of the match. The teams exchanged leads until an ace by Beth Skypala gave the Aggies the lead for good at 18-17 and sparked a four-point A&M run.
The Aggies built their biggest lead at 23-18 following an ace by Melissa Munsch. The ace marked an A&M Big 12 season record for Munsch, who posted 30 aces in conference play to break the previous record of 29 set by Farah Mensik in 1997.
The Cyclones stayed within three points at 28-25 before back-to-back kills by Skypala and Tara Pulaski ended the game and gave A&M a 2-0 lead going into the break.
There were eight ties and six lead changes early in the third game before A&M went on an eight-point scoring run to regain the lead and pull away to a 19-12 advantage. The Cyclones cut the deficit to five points at 22-17 but could not get any closer before Pulaski closed out the match with a kill to give A&M a 30-23 win.
Price and Munsch led the Aggies with 11 kills apiece as A&M ran its winning streak to 17 matches against the Cyclones. Skypala led in digs with 12, and Price, Felder and Laura Jones tied for team-high honors with three blocks each.
Renee Pruess posted a match-high 15 kills for the Cyclones, and Brittany Dalager collected a match-high 13 digs in the loss.
As a team, A&M outhit the Cyclones, .303 to .093, while posting 55 kills to ISU's 33. The Aggies also led in digs (66-40) and blocks (6-3) as A&M's four seniors - Price, Skypala, Pulaski and Rebecca Wynalda - had a successful ending in their final scheduled appearance of their careers at G. Rollie White.
The Aggies now await the announcement of the 64-team NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship field. ESPNews will broadcast the announcement Sunday at approximately 7 p.m. ESPNews can be found on DirecTV channel 207 or Dish Network 142, as well as select cable systems.
A&M is expected to receive its 11th consecutive at-large berth to the tournament. First- and second round matches will be played Thursday-Sunday, Dec. 4-7 at campus sites. Regionals will be held Dec 11-14 at Florida, Hawaii, Long Beach State and Nebraska. The semifinals and championship will be played at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Dec. 18 and 20.
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