October 12, 2005
Christi Hahn and Kelly Stanton each posted career highs in kills with 18 and 16, respectively, to lead No. 24 Texas A&M to an 18-30, 36-34, 30-25, 30-27 victory over Iowa State in front of 414 at Hilton Coliseum.
The Aggies improve to 9-7 overall and 2-5 in the Big 12, while ISU falls to 11-8, 4-4.
It was the Aggies' 20th consecutive victory against the Cyclones but it was the closest contested match in the history of the series as A&M committed a season-high 19 service errors and was fighting from behind much of the match.
A&M scored the first point of the first game, but it would be the only lead the Aggies would hold. The Cyclones went on their first of seven rallies in which they scored three or more consecutive points to quickly overtake the lead. A&M knotted the score at 3-all before the Cyclones used another three-point run and began pulling away. ISU built its biggest lead at 22-10, and A&M, which was outhit, .387 to .054, in the frame, could get no closer than 10 points before Erin Boeve ended the game with her fifth kill.
A&M fought off four game points in Game 2 to win, 36-34. A&M was ahead, 24-22, when ISU rallied for three points to take a 25-24 lead. The teams exchanged points and the Cyclones were serving for the game at 29-28, when Laura Jones put down her ninth kill of the game to tie the score. A Cyclone attack sailed wide to put the Aggies at game point, but an ISU kill and an A&M attack error put ISU up, 31-30. A&M tied the score at 31 and 32 before Megan Kainz gave the Aggies the lead with an ace. A foot-fault call against the Aggies and a block by ISU put the Cyclones serving for the game for the fourth time, but back-to-back kills by Hahn gave A&M its fifth lead of the game. The Aggies evened the match when ISU's next attack attempt sailed long.
The Aggies never trailed in the third game except for a game-opening ace by the Cyclones. ISU tied the score for the sixth time at 23-all before a service error and consecutive kills by Hahn put A&M ahead, 26-23. A&M committed back-to-back errors before going on a four-point run to end the game and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
A&M held an 11-9 lead in the fourth game when ISU went on an 8-1 scoring run to take a 17-11 lead. The Cyclones maintained a 25-24 lead when the Aggies scored four unanswered points to get within 25-24. Boeve ended the run with one her team-leading 19 kills of the match. Stanton answered with a kill and Holly Clay followed with an ace to give A&M the lead. ISU's next attack went wide, and Jones clinched the match with her 22nd kill of the match.
A&M posted 71 kills to ISU's 59, but was outhit, .255 to .240, outblocked, 11.5 to 4.5, and outdug, 61-48.
The Aggies return to action Sunday, Oct. 16 when they play host to Colorado. First serve is at 2 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum. Fans who show a ticket stub from the A&M-Oklahoma State football game will be admitted for $2. A&M players will be available for autographs following the match.