November 23, 2005
Texas A&M celebrated Senior Night and continued its late season surge by knocking off Iowa State, 30-22, 30-27, 23-30, 30-24, in front of 1,199 at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
The win marked the Aggies?â„¢ fifth consecutive win and their seventh victory in their last eight outings as they improve to 16-12 overall and 9-10 in the Big 12. Iowa State lost to the Aggies for the 21st straight time and falls to 15-15, 8-11.
Senior Laura Jones led the Aggies with 26 kills and 17 digs. Freshman Kelsey Bryant added a career-high 14 kills along with a personal best .565 hitting percentage, and AVCA National Player of the Week Christi Hahn also pitched in 14 kills. Senior libero Holly Clay joined Jones in double-digit digs with 13.
Erin Boeve led a group of four Cyclones to post double figures in kills with 17. Katie Jessen added 13 kills, and Jessica Klein and Meghan Ferrie contributed 13 and 11, respectively. Katie Churm led ISU with 17 digs.
There were four lead changes and 12 ties in the opening frame. The score was tied for the final time at 14-all before A&M used a 7-1 run to pull away. The Cyclones pulled within four at 26-22 before the Aggies closed out the game with four consecutive points.
The Aggies overcame a four-point deficit early in Game 2 and tied the score four times before taking their first lead at 22-21. ISU tied the score at 22 on a kill by Boeve, but a 7-2 run by the Aggies kept the Cyclones from retaking the lead. Trailing 29-24, ISU fought off three game points before a service error resulted in the winning point for the Aggies.
It was the Cyclones who came from behind to win the third game. Boeve sparked a 5-0 spurt to give ISU its first lead at 13-12. A&M tied the score at 13 and 14 before the Cyclones used a 5-1 push to take a 19-15 edge. ISU, which outhit A&M, .459 to .167 in the game, maintained its advantage at 27-23, and Boeve and Jessen recorded back-to-back kills and then teamed for a block to end the game.
The Aggies held a 14-13 edge in Game 4 before Jones and Bryant keyed an eight-point run with three kills apiece. ISU cut the lead to five points at 27-22 and 29-24, but Hahn ended the Cyclones?â„¢ hopes of picking up their first Big 12 victory against the Aggies with a kill.
The team statistics were close with A&M posting 68 kills to ISU?â„¢s 64. A&M outhit and outdug the Cyclones, .251 to .242 and 61-56, respectively. Each team recorded eight blocks, but ISU committed twice as many service errors with 14.
The match marked the final regular-season home appearance for A&M?â„¢s five seniors: Jones, Clay, Cristin Burton, Kendra Felder and Kari Kelley. The Aggies conclude the regular season Saturday at No. 10 Missouri. First serve is at 6:30 p.m. at Hearnes Center in Columbia.
A&M will find out if it will be making its 13th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament when the 64-team tournament field is announced Sunday between 1:30-2 p.m. on ESPNews.