September 16, 2006
Texas A&M pushed No. 17 Missouri to five games but was unable to hold off the Tigers in a 30-24, 22-30, 20-30, 30-20, 15-11 loss in front of 2,096 at the Hearnes Center.
Despite leading the Tigers in hitting percentage (.287 to .186), digs (86 to 69) and blocks (12 to 5), A&M falls to 7-3 overall and 0-2 in the Big 12 Conference. Missouri, which had fallen at Colorado in five games in its conference opener, improves to 7-4, 1-1.
A&M came back from a four-point deficit in the first game to knot the score at 22. It was the 10th tie of the game, but it didn?â„¢t last long. Missouri answered with six consecutive points, the longest rally of the game to go up, 28-22. A Tiger ball handling error ended the run, and the teams exchanged points until Missouri got the game-winning point on an A&M attack error.
?I feel like we lost the match in Game 1,? A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. ?We lollygagged around and kind of waited around to see how hard they were going to make us work. Once they knew they better fight, I thought then our real game came out. By then it was maybe not too late, but I do believe that we at least put up a good fight in the last four games, but not in Game 1, which I believe we lost it.?
It was the Aggies who used scoring runs to pull out the second game. At 9-all, A&M made its first major push, scoring five consecutive points. Missouri got within 15-14 but was unable to take the lead. A&M built upon a 20-18 advantage by going on a four-point run. The Aggies then held a 27-22 lead when Christi Hahn put down her sixth kill of the game. Kelly Stanton followed with back-to-back kills to give A&M the win and tie the match at a game apiece.
A&M, which had been outhit .321 to .270 in the first game, hit .297 and held the Tigers to a -.040 hitting efficiency in Game 2, posting five team blocks to bolster the cause.
The Aggies rode the momentum into Game 3, doubling Missouri in kills while hitting a blistering .515. The trio of Mary Batis, Hahn and Sarah Ammerman dominated offensively, tallying 15 of A&M?â„¢s 18 kills by posting 6, 5 and 4 kills, respectively.
With A&M leading, 22-18, the Aggies went on a 5-2 run to pull ahead, 28-20. Setter Meghan Kainz then got a kill to put A&M up, 28-20. Missouri committed back-to-back attack errors to give A&M the win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
Missouri led the entire fourth game. The Tigers, who had led by as many as eight points early in the game, held a 22-16 lead when they went on a six-point rally to pull away and force A&M to its first five-game match of the season.
?We started off with a couple of passing issues in Game 4,? Corbelli said. ?They started getting us out of system and got us behind early, and we were playing catch-up quite a bit.?
The Tigers would never trail in the final stanza and set the tone early by jumping out to a 7-3 lead. A&M could get no closer than three points, the last coming at 14-11 before Nicole Wilson put down her 12th kill of the match to clinch the victory for the Tigers.
?I?â„¢m obviously disappointed with the loss,? Corbelli said. ?We are definitely early in the Big 12, and we have such a young group that I know we are only going to improve every game. We learned a lot tonight. When we saw what we could do when we were really focused and had our rhythm going, the team gained confidence. Now it is just finding that consistency.?
Batis led the Aggies with 20 kills while hitting .340. Hahn and Ammerman pitched in 15 kills apiece and 10 and 7 blocks, respectively. Jen Moore had a career-high 15 digs to tie Ammerman for the team lead. Freshmen Zanny Castillo and Stephanie Cadavid added 13 and 12 digs, respectively, as A&M posted a season-high 86 digs.
Jessica Vander Kooi and Na Yang led the Tigers with 17 kills each. Tatum Ailes had a match-high 21 digs.
The Aggies return to conference play Wednesday as they take on Kansas in Lawrence. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center.
Short Box
Missouri def. Texas A&M 30-24, 22-30, 20-30, 30-20, 15-11
Texas A&M (7-3, 0-2 Big 12) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Batis, Mary 20-0-0; Hahn, Christi 15-0-10; Ammerman, Sarah 15-1-7; Stanton, Kelly 8-0-2; Bryant, Kelsey 6-0-3; Kainz, Meghan 4-2-0; Rhodes, Courtnee 0-1-0; Castillo, Zanny 0-1-0; Totals 68-5-12.0. (Assists) - Kainz, Meghan 38; Rhodes, Courtnee 19. (Dig leaders) - Ammerman, Sarah 15; Moore, Jen 15; Castillo, Zanny 13; Cadavid, Stephanie 12; Batis, Mary 12.
Missouri (7-4, 1-1 Big 12) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Yang, Na 17-0-1; Vander Kooi, Jessica 17-3-2; Klein, Julianna 15-1-0; Wilson, Nicole 12-1-3; Hantouli, Amanda 5-0-1; Wang, Lei 2-0-1; Herzog, Brittney 1-0-0; Wilson, Megan 0-2-0; Ailes, Tatum 0-2-0; Totals 69-9-5.0.
(Assists) - Wang, Lei 54. (Dig leaders) - Ailes, Tatum 21; Wang, Lei 15; Yang, Na 11; Vander Kooi, Jessica 10
Site: Columbia, Mo. (Hearnes Center)
Date: Sep 16, 2006 Attend: 2096 Time: 2:16
Referees: Marty Prochko, Mike Hamilton