September 15, 2004
No. 12 Texas A&M got off to a slow start in its first Big 12 Conference match of the season but managed to come back and defeat Iowa State, 24-30, 30-21, 30-26, 30-23, tonight at Hilton Coliseum.
A&M entered the match having won 17 consecutive meetings against ISU, but the Cyclones came out determined to end the streak.
"(ISU) didn't catch us off guard," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "I just thought that our fight was not like theirs at the beginning, but we picked up our intensity and execution and things started to come together."
The Aggies were held to a .146 hitting percentage in the first game and fell to ISU, 30-24. There were six lead changes and 14 ties, the last one coming at 24 following an ISU serve into the net. The Cyclones, however, rallied for six consecutive points to close out the game.
"We took awhile to make the adjustments we wanted to make," Corbelli said. "Plus we were making little mistakes that we don't normally make that set us off a little."
The Aggies, who were outhit, .292 to .146, in the first game, turned in a .314 hitting efficiency while holding ISU to a .075 efficiency in Game 2. A&M took its first lead of the second game at 3-2 on a block by Melissa Munsch and Kari Kelley. The Aggies never trailed for the remainder of the game.
A&M scored five consecutive points to push to a 9-3 lead, but ISU cut the lead to two points at 15-13. The Aggies held a 19-16 advantage when they went on an eight point scoring run to take a commanding 27-16 lead. The Cyclones could get no closer than eight points before Cristin Burton put down a kill to end the game and tie the match.
The Aggies never trailed in the third game and held a 25-20 lead when ISU scored four unanswered points, three on A&M attack errors. Back-to-back Cyclone errors ended the short rally, and A&M held on to a 27-24 edge. Ashlie McWee put down a kill for the Cyclones, but Munsch answered with consecutive kills. A&M was serving for the game, but the serve went long. It was the Cyclones' last point of the game as Munsch tallied her seventh kill of the game to put A&M ahead, 2-1.
After a back-and-forth battle in the fourth game which saw seven lead changes, the Aggies took the lead for good at 18-17 when a Cyclone attack sailed wide. A&M held a 28-23 lead when Munsch put down her match-high 20th kill and Christi Hahn had the match-clinching kill.
Hahn finished the match with a career-high nine kills and five blocks after replacing starting middle blocker Kendra Felder, who went out with an injury to her right ankle late in the first game. Carrie Moreira set a career high in digs for the second consecutive match, posting 17 and also adding a personal-best 11 kills.
Kelley also posted career highs with 55 assists and 11 digs.
Munsch, the State Farm Player of the Match, completed a double-double with a match-high 19 digs, and Jones also had a double-double with 18 kills and 11 digs.
Katie Jessen led the Cyclones with 13 kills.
The Aggies improve to 5-2, while ISU falls to 6-2.
The Aggies play host to 24th-ranked Kansas on Friday. First serve is at 6 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum. The Jayhawks, who tied A&M for third in the league last year, open Big 12 with an 8-0 record.