November 12, 2006
Sarah Ammerman tallied a career-high 27 kills for Texas A&M, but it wasn?â„¢t enough to hold off Iowa State. The Cyclones, led by Katie Jessen?â„¢s 19 kills, defeated A&M, 26-30, 30-27, 29-31, 30-18, 15-13 to pick up their first-ever victory in 11 visits to G. Rollie White Coliseum and earn a series sweep for the first time against the Aggies.
?I?â„¢m not discouraged with the effort today,? A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. ?I know we just got beat by three seniors, two juniors and a freshman setter. When this group is that age, we are going to be a really strong, experienced group. We are just seeing some novice errors that kill our momentum, and it doubles our frustration and it is very hard to get back on your feet.?
A&M never trailed in the first game and had built an 18-12 lead when ISU used a 7-1 run to tie the score. The Cyclones also tied the score at 20-all and 22-all before back-to-back kills by Kelsey Bryant gave A&M the lead for good. The Aggies went up, 28-24, but Jessen put down consecutive kills to put the Cyclones within 28-26. A Mary Batis kill put the Aggies serving for the game, and an attack error by Jessen gave A&M the winning point.
There were 12 ties and eight lead changes in the second game. A&M led 25-22 when ISU got two kills and the Aggies committed consecutive attack errors to put the Cyclones ahead, 26-25. Courtnee Rhodes tied the score with a kill, and Bryant and Kelly Stanton teamed to block a Jessen attack to regain the lead for the Aggies, 27-26. But ISU then scored four unanswered points, the last two coming on kills by Erin Boeve, to win the game and even the match at a game apiece.
The Aggies trailed late in Game 3, but 11 kills by Ammerman in the frame and a late barrage by Christi Hahn led A&M to a come-from-behind win. The Cyclone led, 28-25, and Corbelli used her last timeout. When the teams retook the court, ISU committed an attack error, and Stephanie Cadavid aced her serve to put the Aggies within 28-27. Hahn then got a kill to tie the score. Nicole Lorenzen kept the lead for ISU with a kill, but Hahn answered with a kill to knot the score at 29. ISU was then whistled for a ball-handling error, and Hahn finished the game with a kill.
?That was one of our better games of the season,? Corbelli said. ?We typically aren?â„¢t so sure we can do that when we made some very, very bad mental errors to get into that position. I kind of got on them a little bit and challenged them to be able to bounce back and execute. We also were in our best rotation with Christi up front. She did a great job of leading them to getting those rallies and getting the confidence back.?
ISU then tied the match and forced a fifth game after holding A&M to a -.020 hitting efficiency in Game 4. The Cyclones also outblocked the Aggies, 7-3, in the game.
There were five ties in the final game, the last coming at 7-7. Jessica Klein then gave ISU the lead for good with back-to-back kills. Jessen also added a kill to put the Cyclones up, 10-7. ISU equaled its biggest lead at 14-11 on a kill by Boeve, but kills by Bryant and Stanton held off two match points and put the Aggies within 14-13. ISU called a timeout before Lauren Cummings put down a kill to end the match in the Cyclones?â„¢ favor.
?I was impressed with the fight and the belief for the most part,? Corbelli said. ?I thought there were moments that we needed to execute at that moment and we failed to do it, and yet we did it earlier in the game; the exact play that we need to. That is where experience can really pay off, and we don?â„¢t have that yet for the most part.?
Boeve had 17 kills and added nine blocks to help ISU to a 14-6 lead in blocks. Cummings and Lorenzen added 10 kills apiece as ISU improved to 18-8 overall and 10-6 in the Big 12 despite trailing 85-65 in kills.
Hahn tied her season high with 21 kills while hitting .400, and Bryant chipped in a career-high 16 kills in the loss, which drops A&M to 11-14 overall and 4-13 in league play. Rhodes ended the match with a career-high 69 assists, and libero Jen Moore led the Aggies in digs with a career-high 20.
The Aggies return to the road Wednesday to take on No. 1 Nebraska. Match time is 7 p.m. at Nebraska Coliseum in Lincoln. A&M then takes on Texas Tech in Lubbock on Saturday before closing out the season at home against Missouri on Nov. 22.
Short Box Score
Iowa State def. Texas A&M 26-30, 30-27, 29-31, 30-18, 15-13
Iowa State (18-8, 10-6) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Jessen, Katie 19-5-4; Boeve, Erin 17-1-9; Cummings, Lauren 10-0-4; Lorenzen, Nicole 10-3-3; Klein, Jessica 8-0-5; Manns, Kaylee 1-1-1; Churm, Katie 0-1-0; Totals 65-11-14.0. (Assists) - Manns, Kaylee 59. (Dig leaders) - Jessen, Katie 20; Churm, Katie 20; Manns, Kaylee 18; Lorenzen, Nicole 15.
Texas A&M (11-14, 4-13) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Ammerman, Sarah 27-1-1; Hahn, Christi 21-0-1; Bryant, Kelsey 16-0-2; Stanton, Kelly 9-2-4; Batis, Mary 8-0-1; Yon, Lindsey 2-0-1; Rhodes, Courtnee 2-0-1; Cadavid, Stephanie 0-2-0; Totals 85-5-6.0. (Assists) - Rhodes, Courtnee 69. (Dig leaders) - Moore, Jen 18; Ammerman, Sarah 15; Batis, Mary 13; Cadavid, Stephanie 9; Rhodes, Courtnee 9.
Site: College Station, TX (G. Rollie White Col.)
Date: Nov 12, 2006 Attend: 1291 Time: 2:20
Referees: Ted Lopez, John Cline