October 09, 2004
Texas A&M suffered its first loss to an unranked opponent as Missouri upended the 15th-ranked Aggies, 30-18, 30-22, 27-30, 30-21, in front of a record 2,683 tonight at the Hearnes Center.
With the win, Missouri extends its winning streak to four and improves to 10-2 overall and 5-2 in the Big 12. A&M, which entered the match tied with the Tigers for fourth place in the Big 12, falls to 8-5, 4-3.
"Their offense was a lot more on -- faster and consistent," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "They had an unbelievable night passing and running their offense, and they were just very balanced and difficult to stop."
Missouri had five players reach double figures in kills, including a match-high 21 by Lisa Boyd. Boyd also had a match-high .486 hitting percentage as the Tigers outhit A&M, .331 to .203.
Laura Jones led the Aggies with 18 kills but was held to a .191 hitting efficiency. Melissa Munsch, who also was held below a .200 hitting percentage, added 13 kills and a team-leading 15 kills to notch her sixth double-double of the season. Christi Hahn, who was making the second start of her career, finished with 10 kills while hitting at a team-high .429 clip. Hahn also led the Aggies with a career-high six blocks as A&M outblocked the Tigers, 12-9.
The teams were tied at 13 in Game 1 following an off-speed kill by Kendra Felder before Missouri went on a 6-1 scoring run. A&M twice got within four points before the Tigers scored three consecutive points. Jones ended the run with a kill off the block, but Missouri answered with another three-point rally. Munsch had a kill for the Aggies, but four straight kills by Missouri gave the Tigers a 30-18 win.
"We have been working on stronger starts and jumping on teams early," Corbelli said. "I thought we were doing that well in the first game, and neither team was backing off. Then a run of points by them really deflated us, and it was hard to get back the momentum."
A&M held a 2-1 lead to start the second game, but it would be its only lead of the game. Missouri responded with four consecutive points and eventually built a 12-7 lead. With the Tigers ahead, 14-10, A&M rallied for four points to tie the score for the final time. A kill by Boyd ended the run, and with a 20-17 lead, Missouri scored five consecutive points to pull away.
Missouri, which outhit A&M .386 to .128 in the opening game, hit .500 in the second game while holding A&M to a .250 hitting efficiency.
The Aggies came out strong after the intermission and jumped out to a 4-0 lead in Game 3. They were ahead, 9-7, when Missouri reeled off six unanswered points. The Tigers maintained a 20-19 edge when Jones tied the score with a kill. Munsch followed with an ace to regain the lead for the Aggies. Missouri managed to tie the score at 27, but kills by Jones and Munsch and a solo block by Munsch gave the Aggies the win.
A&M jumped out to a 9-3 lead to begin the fourth game, but it wasn't enough as the Tigers fought back and took a 18-15 lead following a fun of five straight points. Missouri kept a three-point lead at 24-21 and then capped the match with a six-point run.
A&M returns home for a two-match stand, hosting Oklahoma on Wednesday and league-leading and undefeated Texas in a State Farm Lone Star Showdown on Saturday. Both matches begin at 7 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
State Farm Player of the Match: Christi Hahn