Texas A&M
Wisconsin
Aggies Back in NCAA Sweet 16
Dec 06, 2003 | Volleyball
December 06, 2003
Texas A&M is Sweet-Sixteen bound after a convincing 30-22, 30-24, 30-18 victory over Wisconsin in the second round of the NCAA Championships.
Playing in front of a boisterous home crowd of 1,314 at G. Rollie White Coliseum, the 24th-ranked Aggies played one of their most balanced and consistent matches of the season. Four A&M players reached double figures in kills, and the Aggies outhit Wisconsin, .319 to .178, for the match.
"Obviously we're very excited, not just because of the victory, but because we peaked from a performance standpoint," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "Every aspect of our game was clicking tonight. We had players who came so solidly prepared to compete at their highest level.
"This was as solid as we have played. The consistency, the focus, all the things coaches dream of having their players do was done tonight."
Melissa Munsch and Beth Skypala led the Aggies with 11 kills each, and Laura Jones and Kendra Felder added 10 apiece as A&M tallied 53 kills to Wisconsin's 39. Munsch also added four blocks to lead A&M to an 8-4.5 block advantage.
Jill Odenthal led the Badgers with 12 kills, and Sheila Shaw added 10 in the loss.
Wisconsin had cut a six-point deficit in half at 25-22 in the opening game when A&M reeled off five unanswered points to end the game. A&M carried the momentum into the second game by jumping out to a 4-0 lead. Wisconsin managed to tie the score at 9 before A&M went on another four-point rally. The Badgers answered with another comeback and eventually took the lead at 17-16 following a kill by Odenthal. The teams exchanged point for point until, with A&M trailing 20-19, the Aggies scored five consecutive points. The Badgers were unable to overcome the deficit, and the game ended when a Wisconsin attack sailed long.
There were three lead changes and eight ties in each of the first two games, but A&M led from start to finish in the third game to complete the sweep. The Badgers trailed by only two points at 9-7 before A&M went on a 10-3 run to put the game out of reach. The Aggies built their biggest lead at 28-16 on a Munsch kill. Wisconsin scored on a solo block by Maria Carlini and then got a kill by Shaw, but a serve into the net put the Aggies serving for the match. The victory celebration then began as Jones put down a kill to send the Aggies to the next round.
The Aggies (23-9), who are the No. 16 seed in the 64-team tournament field, are making their 11th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament and are making their sixth Sweet Sixteen appearance in Corbelli's 11 years at A&M. They will face the winner of No. 1 USC-Loyola Marymount on Friday, Dec. 12 in Lincoln, Neb.
Wisconsin ends its season at 22-11.
