November 19, 2005
Texas A&M won its fifth match in its last six outings by defeating No. 24 Colorado, 30-22, 28-30, 28-30, 30-23, 15-7, at the Coors Events Center.
Laura Jones had a match-high 33 kills, raising her season total to an A&M-record 585, besting the previous record of 577 set by Sheila Morgan in 1993. Jones, who hit .314 for the match, also led the team in digs with 14.
Christi Hahn set a career high in kills for the second consecutive match, posting 23 kills while hitting at a match-high .514 clip for the Aggies. Kelsey Bryant also reached double figures in kills with a career-high 12, and setter Kari Kelley dished out a career-high 80 assists, which ties for second in the A&M all-time match records. In addition Lindsey Yon led the Aggies in blocks with a career-high seven, and Kendra Felder ended the match with a career-high 10 digs. Holly Clay had 13 digs to give her 405 for the season and move into a three-way tie for eighth in the A&M season records.
A&M used a 7-0 run in the opening game to take a 10-3 lead. Colorado later answered with its own 7-0 rally to get within 13-12, but the Buffs were unable to grab the lead. The Aggies held a 23-21 lead before closing out the game with a 7-1 run. Yon and Felder got the game-winning point by blocking Allie Griffin.
A&M equaled its biggest lead of Game 2 at 20-16, but Colorado rallied to take the lead at 23-22. The Aggies retook the lead at 24-23, but the Buffaloes scored four unanswered points to take their third lead of the game. A&M got within a point three times before Amber Sutherland posted a game-winning kill for the Buffaloes to even the match.
Colorado led the entire third game, building its biggest lead at 20-12. The Aggies rallied to get within 27-26, but a kill by the Buffs?â„¢ Lauren Schaefer and an A&M attack error put Colorado serving for the game. Jones fought off two game points with back-to-back kills before Sutherland put down one of her team-high 19 kills to give the Buffs a 2-1 game lead.
It was A&M that led the entire fourth game to tie the match. The Aggies took their largest lead at 18-9 and maintained a 25-17 advantage when Colorado went on a three-point run to cut the lead to 25-20. It was the closest the Buffs could get as A&M scored the next three points. A&M was up, 29-23, when Jones closed out the game with a kill.
Colorado held a 5-4 edge in the final game, but A&M went on an 8-1 run to take a commanding lead. A service error made the score 12-7, but Hahn tooled the block for a kill to put A&M up, 13-7, Yon then aced her serve, and Hahn finished off the victory with a kill.
The match was A&M?â„¢s seventh five-gamer against the Buffaloes in the last 10 meetings. Colorado overcame a two-game deficit to defeat the Aggies in College Station earlier this season. In addition, it was the Aggies third straight five-game match overall, having defeated both Kansas and Kansas State in five in A&M?â„¢s last two outings.
With the win, the Aggies improve to 14-12 overall and 7-10 in the Big 12. Colorado falls to 14-10, 10-9.
The Aggies conclude the regular season with three matches next week beginning Monday with a home contest against Texas Tech. The match, which was postponed due to the threat of Hurricane Rita, will begin at 6 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
A&M concludes its home schedule Wednesday against Iowa State at 6:30 p.m. A&M?â„¢s five seniors ?- Cristin Burton, Holly Clay, Kendra Felder, Laura Jones and Kari Kelley ?- will be recognized after the match. The Aggies wrap up the regular season Saturday at No. 11 Missouri.