October 11, 2006
Texas A&M earned its first Big 12 road victory of the season, defeating Baylor, 20-30, 30-14, 30-21, 30-26, in front of 849 at the Ferrell Center. It marks the Aggies?â„¢ seventh consecutive victory against the Bears in Waco.
Christi Hahn led the Aggies, hitting .452 with 18 kills and eight blocks. Mary Batis added 16 kills and a career-high 21 digs. Lindsey Yon, starting in place of Sarah Ammerman, who was held out of the match with an injury, added 15 kills and 15 digs for the Aggies, and libero Zanny Castillo pitched in 18 digs.
Anna Breyfogle led the Bears with 13 kills, but was held to a .152 hitting percentage. Katie Sanders also reached double-digit kills with 10 but hit .075 for the match. Desiree Guilliard-Young, who came into the match with a team-leading .388 hitting efficiency, was held to .192 with nine kills.
Baylor used a late nine-point run to pull away and take the first game. The Bears had used a five-point rally to take their first lead of the game at 8-6. A&M tied the score at 13 following back-to-back blocks by Hahn and Kelsey Bryant but was unable to regain the lead. The Aggies stayed within two points at 20-18 before Baylor, which outhit A&M, .250 to .071 in the stanza, closed out the game with a 10-2 rally.
A&M immediately gained the momentum in the second game, scoring the first four points and holding a lead throughout the frame. The Aggies held a 10-8 advantage when they rolled off eight consecutive points. The Bears ended the run with a kill by Breyfogle, but A&M continued to apply pressure and distance themselves as the Bears struggled with their passing. A&M later reeled off four straight points to build their biggest lead at 27-11. The Aggies allowed only three more points before finishing off the game and holding the Bears to 14 points, the fewest allowed by A&M in a Big 12 match this season.
?I was incredibly proud of the team,? A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. ?They wanted it so badly. Game 1 just showed our impatience and youth. We wanted to hurry and get the game going and we lost focus. Once that was over, they settled down and we made our adjustments.?
A&M, which outhit the Bears, .467 to .023 in Game 2, continued their strong play in Game 3, outhitting Baylor, .314 to .122 in the 30-21 win. The game was tied for the eighth and final time at 8-all before the Aggies slowly began to pull away. With a 23-18 lead, A&M blasted five consecutive kills and Batis followed with a solo block. A Baylor attack into the net put A&M at game point. The Bears fought off three game points before Kelly Stanton put down the game-winning kill.
Game four was the closest contested game of the match with 12 ties and three lead changes. The final tie came at 26-all before A&M rallied for four unanswered points to close out the game and clinch the match.
With the win, the Aggies end a three-match losing streak and improve to 9-7 overall and 2-6 in the Big 12. Baylor, which suffered its fifth consecutive loss and only its second home loss of the season, falls to 13-7, 2-6.
The Aggies return home Friday for the State Farm Lone Star Showdown against No. 10 Texas. First serve is at 6:30 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
The Texas A&M Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and Aggie Athletes Involved will be holding their annual Aggies Can food drive. Fans donating a canned food item at the entrance to the volleyball match will be admitted for $2. Gates open at 5:30 p.m.