December 04, 2004
Laura Jones registered a career-high and a Texas A&M postseason-record 30 kills, but it wasn't enough as the No. 18 Aggies fell to No. 10 Tennessee, 30-21, 24-30, 30-23, 32-30, in the second round of the NCAA Championships in front of 367 at the Stokely Athletic Center.
"We came up against a tough team on their home court," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "The home court advantage is incredibly huge in this sport, and for whatever reason, we didn't get to host this year."
The Lady Vols, the No. 12 seed in the tournament, improve to 32-2 and advance to face No. 5 seed Ohio State in the regional semifinals Dec. 10 in Minneapolis. The Aggies, who have made 12 consecutive NCAA appearances - including five Sweet Sixteen appearances -- during Corbelli's 12-year tenure, end their season 19-9.
"We were right there even though we were off," Corbelli said. "I thought we matched up really well, but it just wasn't our night. Usually we have more balance. What I know we can do, we didn't do. Tennessee played a great game, and we weren't on top of our game."
Tennessee used a six-point scoring run to take its first lead of Game 1 at 17-13. It was all Tennessee for the remainder of the frame as the Aggies, who were outhit .353 to .159 in the game, could get no closer than three points before the Lady Vols went on a 6-1 scoring run to close out the game.
Jones, who had seven kills in the first game, continued to abuse the UT defense, hitting over, through and off the Lady Vol block to increase her kill total to 14 through two games and help the Aggies even the match. The score was tied at 19 when A&M went on an 8-2 run to build a 27-21 lead. The teams then exchanged point for point with Cristin Burton and Kendra Felder blocking Yuliya Stoyanova for the game winner.
Jones started the third game with a kill but UT immediately erased the lead with a 6-0 scoring the run. The Lady Vols took advantage of five A&M miscues to mount a 6-1 scoring run to take a 19-9 lead. UT held its biggest lead of the game at 28-16 when freshman setter Meghan Kainz led the Aggies to a 7-1 run. But a serve into the net ended any hopes of a comeback as UT took a 2-1 game lead.
There were eight lead changes in the fourth game. A&M built its biggest lead at 6-2 following a 5-point burst. The Aggies held an 18-15 lead when the Lady Vols went on their own 5-point run to take their first lead since a 2-1 advantage. UT held a 22-20 lead when Munsch pounded a kill and teamed for back-to-back blocks to regain the lead for A&M. UT scored two straight points to take back the lead, but A&M eventually took a 26-25 edge on back-to-back kills by Jones. The teams traded points, and Munsch put A&M serving for the game with a solo block. An A&M attack sailed long, but UT served into the net to put the Aggies up, 30-29. UT's Michelle Piantadosi put down one of her 18 kills of the match to tie the score. Unforced errors finished off the Aggies as A&M tipped back-to-back attempts out of bounds to give UT the game and the match.
Piantadosi and Kristen Andre led a group of five Lady Vols to reach double figures in kills with 18 apiece. Sarah Blum added 11 along with a match-high eight blocks as UT outblocked A&M, 11-8. Cynthia Buggs led UT in digs with 28.
Munsch finished with 15 kills and a team-high 17 digs in the final match of her illustrious career. Carrie Moreira, also a senior, and Jones collected 15 digs apiece. The match also marked the final match for seniors Sarah Vick and Lindsay Frantz.