November 12, 2005
Laura Jones tied school records with 35 kills and 39 points to lead A&M past Kansas State, 28-30, 30-23, 18-30, 30-20, 15-3, in front of 1,156 at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
The Aggies dominated the fifth game to clinch the victory and earn a split in the season series. A&M hit .667 in the deciding stanza, pounding 12 kills ?- eight by Jones -- with no errors in 18 attempts. K-State, which had no kills, blocks or aces in the final frame, was held to a -.200 hitting percentage.
?The fifth game was great after putting us through very much of a rollercoaster for four games,? A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. ?Both teams had had their real high highs and their real low lows, so Game 5 was just a big question mark on who was going to be the high team. So just to see that we had the momentum going into Game 5, I had a feeling we were going to be the high team in the end.?
A&M (12-12, 5-10 Big 12) had opened the matched by jumping out to a 14-5 lead, but K-State fought ts way back and tied the score at 23 on a dump kill by Stacey Spiegelberg. The teams traded points, and a kill by Christi Hahn gave the Aggies a 27-26 advantage. Agata Rezende tied the score with a kill down the line, and the Wildcats, who had not led since 1-0, got back-to-back kills by Rita Liliom to win the game.
The Aggies scored five consecutive points to build a 9-5 lead in Game 2, and this time were able to hold off the Wildcats. K-State answered with a four point run to tie the score, but Aggie freshman Kelsey Bryant ended the run with one of her five kills of the game, and the Wildcats were was unable to regain the lead. A&M, leading 17-15, reeled off five consecutive kills ?- three by Jones, one by Bryant and one by Kendra Felder ?- to increase the lead to 22-15. K-State answered with three consecutive points but was unable to overcome the deficit. Christi Hahn put A&M ahead, 28-22, on a kill following a slide attack, but K-State?â„¢s Megan Kroeker answered with a kill to return serve to the Wildcats. Kroeker then served long, and Bryant got the game-winner with a tip kill to even the match.
K-State had the hot hand in Game 3. After both teams committed service errors to start the game, Jamie Perkins nailed back-to-back kills to give K-State a lead it would not lose. The Wildcats won nine of the next 11 plays to quickly take command of the game. K-State, which was outhit, .325 to .111 in Game 2, outhit A&M, .371 to .026 in the third frame and regained a one-game lead.
Jones, who had 17 kills entering the fourth game, sparked A&M with 10 kills while hitting at a .533 clip in Game 4. K-State held a 10-9 edge when Jones posted two consecutive kills to give A&M the lead. The Aggies refused to back down and continued to pull away while hitting .615 in the stanza. The Aggies had gotten away from their inconsistent play and carried the momentum throughout the remainder of the match.
?I?â„¢m just incredibly proud of this group,? Corbelli said. ?They have had their share of struggles this year, and they know how much they want this last swing to really be representative of how strong they can play. It was a total team effort. They are so happy.?
Hahn joined Jones in double-figure kills with 11 and led the team with a .381 hitting percentage. Bryant tied her career high with nine kills while hitting .368.
Four Aggies reached double digits in digs, led by libero Holly Clay who had a match-high 23. Jones had 17 digs, and Kari Kelley and Lindsey Yon added 12 apiece as A&M outdug K-State, 89-62.
?Holly Clay really played awesome defense,? Corbelli said. ?She centers our defense and she made some incredible plays, and we had maybe one of our best defensive nights. It all started to come together.?
A&M hit .289 for the match and held K-State to .179, a significant difference from the .442 hitting percentage the Wildcats had against the Aggies in a 3-0 K-State victory earlier this season in Manhattan. A&M, which was held without a block at K-State, got five blocks apiece from Jones and Felder today, and A&M tied the Wildcats with nine total team blocks.
The Wildcats (17-9, 8-8 Big 12) were led by Rezende?â„¢s 18 kills. Liliom was the only other player in double digits with 10. Libero Angie Lastro led K-State with 16 digs, and Perkins added 11. Kroeker and Spiegelberg tied for team-highs in blocks with four each.
A&M concludes at three-match home stand Wednesday, Nov. 16 against Kansas. First serve is at 6:30 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Short Box Score:
Kansas State vs Texas A&M (Nov 12, 2005 at College Station, TX)
Texas A&M def. Kansas State 28-30, 30-23,18-30,30-20,15-3
Kansas State (17-9, 8-8 Big 12) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Rezende, Agata 18-0-2; Lilliom, Rita 10-0-1; Perkins, Jamie 9-2-2; Kroeker, Megan 9-0-4; Speigelberg, Stacey 7-1-4; Werner, Sandy 4-0-1; Hamlin, Joy 4-0-3; Jantsch, Jenny 1-0-0; Lastra, Angie 0-1-0; Totals 62-4-9.0. (Assists) - Speigelberg, Stacey 51. (Dig leaders) - Lastra, Angie 16; Perkins, Jamie 11; Speigelberg, Stacey 9; Lilliom, Rita 8
Texas A&M (12-12, 5-10 Big 12) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Jones, Laura 35-1-5; Hahn, Christi 11-2-2; Bryant, Kelsey 9-0-1; Yon, Lindsey 7-0-2; Burton, Cristin 5-0-1; Felder, Kendra 4-0-5; Kelley, Kari 3-0-0; Kainz, Meghan 0-1-0; Totals 74-4-9.0. (Assists) - Kelley, Kari 39; Kainz, Meghan 17. (Dig leaders) - Clay, Holly 23; Jones, Laura 17; Yon, Lindsey 12; Kelley, Kari 12.