September 02, 2005
An energized crowd of 2,442 came to G. Rollie White Coliseum and helped lift No. 16 Texas A&M to a 30-24, 30-25, 30-23 victory against No. 23 Saint Mary's in a battle of unbeatens at the Texas A&M/McDonald's Invitational.
"The crowd makes you want to play better, and some of the digs that we made tonight, I haven't even seen it in practice," Aggie coach Laurie Corbelli said. "So I know that energy came from the 12th Man and came from all the people who were really encouraging the girls. The players feel it and it makes such a big difference. The crowd makes the game even more fun, and it makes G. Rollie a great place to be."
A&M was slightly out of sync to start the match, and SMC built its biggest lead at 16-12. But the Aggies turned it around, and with the Gaels holding a 19-16 lead, A&M went on a 6-1 scoring run to take its first lead of the match. SMC got within a point at 22-21, but consecutive kills by Laura Jones and Kelsey Bryant gave A&M a three-point cushion. The Aggies stretched the lead to four points at 26-22 following an ace by Kendra Felder. An A&M attack into the net cut the lead to three points, but SMC could get no closer. The Aggies led 27-24 when an SMC service error and a kill by Jones put A&M serving for the game. Jen Moore then capped the game for the Aggies with one of her career-high four aces and one of A&M's 13 aces on the night.
"We out served and out passed them," Corbelli said. "Early we were a little shaky with that, but we have been working so hard on our serving and passing that I knew it would come. We were ready for serving and passing tonight. Although we got a slow start, we hung in there and were very resilient. Even if we passed a high, high ball our setters were turning it into great rhythm for the offense."
A&M overcame a five-point deficit in the second game. A three-point run put the Gaels up, 12-7, but the Aggies answered with four consecutive points to get within 12-11. A&M managed to take its first lead since a 1-0 advantage following a four-point rally that put the Aggies ahead, 18-16. SMC tied the score at 18 and 21 before A&M used a five-point spurt to pull away.
The Aggies led the entire third game. SMC stayed close early and trailed 13-12 when A&M made its longest scoring run of the night with six unanswered points. SMC could get no closer then four points the remainder of the match.
Jones, who had eight kills in the opening frame, led all players with 17 kills, and Christi Hahn added 10 kills for the Aggies.
"Laura is going to get so many kills each match," Corbelli said, "and the other athletes know how important it is to really establish their strengths, because we need them to be honored so everybody is not camping out on Laura. They are all really aware that they have a big responsibility in doing that. We have so much depth at every position and we can mix it up and interchange players, and that has really allowed us to open Laura up. A lot of times she had only one blocker up after we got our passing going."
Aggie libero Holly Clay took match-high honors in digs, tying her career high with 16. Kari Kelley added 14 digs for A&M.
"I was really proud of Holly Clay and her leadership out there," Corbelli added. "The passing and the digging is really remarkable. And with Jen Moore starting to get the confidence, she is becoming her own player now. And her jump serve; once you hit that level of confidence where you know you can do it, you've done it all your life, but you don't feel it for awhile, but when you start to feel it, it is dangerous. And she's just a totally different player now. And it is really good to see, because we knew it was in there. It was just getting that unleashed, and tonight was a big night for her."
Missie Stidham led SMC with 14 kills, and Kaui Salzman added 10. Lyndsey Parker led the Gaels in digs with 13.
With the win, A&M improves to 3-0 on the season, while SMC suffers its first loss and falls to 4-1.
The Aggies conclude the tournament with two matches on Saturday, taking on Lehigh at noon and Virginia at 4:30.
Lehigh fell to both SMC and Virginia in three games to fall to 0-5. Virginia is 1-0.
Texas A&M/McDonald's Invitational Schedule/Results:
Friday, Sept. 2
No. 23 Saint Mary's def. Lehigh, 3-0 (30-22, 30-17, 30-16)
Virginia def. Lehigh, 3-0 (30-15, 30-20, 30-19)
No. 16 Texas A&M def. No. 23 Saint Mary's, 3-0 (30-24, 30-25, 30-23)
Saturday, Sept. 3
No. 23 Saint Mary's vs. Virginia, 10 a.m.
No. 16 Texas A&M vs. Lehigh, 12 p.m.
No. 16 Texas A&M vs. Virginia, 4:30 p.m.