September 09, 2005
Texas A&M suffered its first loss of the season but didn't go down without a fight as the 13th-ranked Aggies fell to sixth-ranked and undefeated Florida, 30-28, 19-30, 30-24, 30-26 at the UTSA Dome Rally at the Alamodome.
A&M falls to 6-1 on the season despite outhitting the Gators, .261 to .225. Florida improves to 6-0, as well as 6-0 in the all-time series against the Aggies.
"We played so consistently and so much better than I've seen this team play so far this year," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "It is a performance that I will remember for a long time even though we had the loss. Some of the things these guys did tonight, when they put their minds to it, they really maxed out their potential, and it was really fun to be a part of."
Laura Jones led the Aggies with 20 kills to give her 1,479 for her career, jumping from sixth to a tie for third in the A&M career kill records. Cristin Burton and Kelly Stanton each posted personal best in kills with 15 and 11, respectively, and Kendra Felder also reached double figures in kills for the Aggies with 11.
Defensively, Holly Clay posted a team-high 16 digs, and Jones and setter Kari Kelley added 11 digs apiece.
"Laura and Holly, the vocal leaders on the court, were constantly reminding the team that we could do this and keep the belief and keep fighting," Corbelli said. "What more can I ask, so I am really, really proud of this group."
A&M had taken and early lead in the opening game and built its biggest lead at 9-5 following a backrow block call against Florida. The lead quickly evaporated as the Gators scored five unanswered points on three blocks and two kills to take their first lead of the game.
A&M regained the lead at 13-12, and a kill by Christi Hahn put the Aggies ahead, 14-12. Florida responded with a kill of an A&M overpass and an ace to tie the score. The teams then exchanged point for point until an attack by A&M sailed long and a ball handling error against the Aggies gave Florida its second lead of the game.
Felder tied the score at 20 as her serve landed untouched on the back line, but A&M was unable to take the lead. Florida took its biggest lead at 26-23, but A&M continued to fight. The Aggies got within a point three times, the last coming at 29-28 following a Jones kill and a solo block by Kelley. Marcie Hampton then clinched the win for Florida with her sixth kill of the game.
A&M, which outhit Florida .273 to .260 in the first game, hit .424 in Game 2, posting 17 kills and only three errors in 33 attempts. Florida, meanwhile, was held to a .095 hitting percentage.
"I could see Florida wasn't connecting, and they were having a lot of hesitation," Corbelli said. "Our team just kept going at them. Everything was just so together."
A&M went on a 7-1 scoring run early in the second game to build an 11-4 lead. Florida managed to get within 17-14 before the Aggies erupted for eight consecutive points. Leading 29-19, Jones posted her seventh kill of the stanza to tie the match at a game apiece.
A three-point run gave A&M its first lead in the third game at 7-5. Another three-point run gave the Aggies their biggest lead of the game at 18-15 and forced a timeout by Florida. Jane Collymore ended the run with a kill. A&M's next attack went wide, and Florida blocked the Aggies' next attempt to tie the score. The Gators then took the lead when A&M was whistled for being in the net.
A&M managed to twice tie the score before Florida used a five-point run to pull away. The Aggies could get no closer than three points, and the game ended on an A&M service error.
"We fight, and fight and fight and fight," Corbelli said, "and when it really came down to it counting, we would miss a serve; we would get aced; we are in system, but we hit into the block. Just some plays that are like boom, boom, boom. Those things are fixable. At least we have been able to identify it. We know we can work at that. At least we saw it early in our season, and we get a chance to really progress from there."
A&M used a six-point run to build an 8-4 lead in the fourth game, but Florida fought back and took the lead at 12-11. A&M tied the score six times, the last tie occurring at 19. A serve that sailed long and a Gator block gave Florida a two-point cushion. The Gators went on to build a 26-22 lead before A&M posted a block and Florida had back-to-back attacks go into the net. But an A&M service error and an ace by the Gators put Florida up, 28-25. Hahn ended the rally with a kill, but A&M then had an attack land out Florida blocked the Aggies' next attack to win the game and the match.
Collymore and Hampton led the Gators with 13 kills apiece, and Kari Klinkenborg and Amber McCray added 11 each.
"It was a good match-up," Corbelli said. "The two teams were very even. I don't think there was anything that one team had that the other one didn't necessarily. I saw both teams fight very hard defensively, which in volleyball is pretty much the name of the game. I feel like we just made some unforced errors right at the wrong times, and that has plagued us at times in big matches, so we have to fix it."
The Aggies go up against another undefeated team Saturday as A&M takes on LSU at 11 a.m. The Tigers improved to 7-0 with a sweep against Texas-San Antonio on Friday.
Live internet audio will be available at www.AggieAthletics.com.