October 19, 2005
Texas A&M's 11-match winning streak against Baylor came to an end as the Bears stunned the Aggies, 30-27, 30-24, 26-30, 30-26, in front of 1,430 at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
The Bears (11-10, 3-7 Big 12), who had not defeated A&M since 1999 and had lost 12 consecutive matches in College Station dating back to 1992, outhit A&M, .272 to .182, and outblocked the Aggies, 16.5. In addition, Baylor posted 65 digs to A&M's 51.
"We only had 14 digs in two games," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "In seasons past, we dig 17 balls per game, and this year our defense has been really down. It is unacceptable defense. We scratch our heads with why it is happening like that."
Desiree Guilliard-Young and Nicole LeBlanc led a group of four Baylor players to reach double figures in kills with 14 apiece. Stella Odion tallied 13 in the win while hitting at a .579 clip, and Kelly Spriggs added 10 kills for the Bears.
Outside hitter Laura Jones led the Aggies with 28 kills and five blocks and also had 11 digs in the loss. Holly Clay had 15 digs for the Aggies.
"(Jones) is our only offensive power right now," Corbelli said, "and we ask her to go to the back row and attack and play defense and pass. Teams are going at her hard, and it is a one-lady show out there sometimes. It is really tough on her.
"We are struggling to find some consistency with the other left side position. We just go with one and see how things go, and then we try the other. That's not working, but we eventually starting to get some to the back row to Laura which does help a little, but it is still not balancing out our net like we need to be."
Game 1 saw 19 ties and eight lead changes. A&M never held more than a one-point lead throughout the game, and Baylor took its fourth lead at 27-26. Jones tied the score with a kill, before the Bears scored three unanswered points to close out the game and equal their biggest lead of the frame.
Baylor opened the second game with a service error, but it was the only time the Bears trailed in the stanza. Baylor quickly took the lead with a kill and an A&M attack error. The Aggies tied the score for the second time at 4-all before Baylor used a 6-1 scoring run to begin to pull away. A&M, which hit only .026 in the game, could get no closer than three points, and the Bears built their biggest lead at 26-18. A&M cut the gap to five at 29-24 before setter Emily Huston put the Bears up, 2-0, in the match with a game-winning kill.
Baylor held a 2-1 edge to start Game 3 when A&M scored four consecutive points to take the lead. The Bears tied the score at 7-all and 8-all, but never regained the lead. A&M held its biggest lead at 20-15 before Baylor went on a four-point run to get within 20-19. The Aggies regained their five-point advantage at 27-22, but the Bears went on another four-point run to get back within a point. Lindsey Yon, ended the run with one of her 12 kills of the match, and Clay followed with an ace to put the Aggies at game point. A&M clinched the game when a Baylor attack sailed long.
Baylor came from behind and scored seven unanswered points to cap the fourth game, 30-26. The Bears had held a 15-13 lead, but A&M took its third lead of the game and built a four-point advantage following a 7-1 scoring run. The Bears tied the score at 22, but A&M responded with a 4-1 run to force a Baylor timeout. An A&M attack into the net put the Bears within 26-24, and then Guilliard-Young pounded four consecutive kills to put Baylor ahead, 28-26. A kill by LeBlanc and an A&M attack error ended the match.
"It is just a combination of a lot of things," Corbelli said about the loss. "But I think this group is a great team. We are perplexed as to what is holding back our game that we had five, six, seven weeks ago. It hasn't been that team as often as it used to be. That is really our focus right now is to really try to work on our relaxing and letting it just flow, get our playing going, getting a team rhythm."
The Aggies (9-9, 2-7 Big 12) return to action Saturday against Texas Tech in Lubbock. First serve is at 7 p.m. at United Spirit Arena.