November 15, 2006
Texas A&M was unable to break Nebraska?â„¢s longstanding home winning streak as the top-ranked Huskers collected their 50th consecutive victory at Nebraska Coliseum with a 30-16, 30-28, 30-25 win over the Aggies in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,107.
A&M rebounded from a .161 hitting percentage in the first game to hit .307 for the match, the highest hitting efficiency by a Nebraska opponent this season and the first team to hit over .300 against the Huskers in two years. In addition, the .307 hitting percentage is the highest by an opponent at Nebraska Coliseum in at least 10 years.
?In games two and three we came back and got a rhythm going and played better than we have been playing,? A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. ?This was one of our better passing nights. We have struggled here, but we got the offense into a good rhythm, and we weren?â„¢t making the errors that we did in Game 1.?
Nebraska had built a five-point lead early in the first game, but A&M used a three-point run to get within 14-12. The Huskers responded with nine unanswered points to build a commanding 23-12 lead. Lindsey Yon ended the run with a kill, and A&M?â„¢s Courtnee Rhodes served an ace before Nebraska rallied for six points to build a 29-14 lead. Yon held off game point with a kill, and a Husker attack sailed long on the ensuing play before Jordan Larson put down a kill to finish off the 30-16 win for the Huskers.
A&M, which had been out-hit, .552 to .161 in the first game, took its first lead of the match at 2-1 in the second game following a block by Christi Hahn and Kelsey Bryant and an ace by Stephanie Cadavid. The Huskers tied the score three times before A&M ran off three consecutive points to build its biggest lead at 7-4. Nebraska quickly took its first lead since 1-0 by scoring five straight points. The Aggies stayed within two points and trailed 15-13 when a back-row kill by Sarah Ammerman, a kill by Mary Batis and a block by Bryant and Kelly Stanton gave the Aggie the lead once again. The teams exchanged points until A&M posted three consecutive kills to take a 21-18 lead.
Nebraska retook the lead at 23-22, but A&M would later take its third lead of the game when Batis put down an overpass by Nebraska to put the Aggies up, 25-24. A&M held onto a 28-27 lead when Nebraska put down three straight kills for the come-from-behind 30-28 win and a 2-0 game lead.
A&M, which hit .366 in Game 2, scored the first two points of Game 3 and held the lead until three consecutive points by Nebraska put the Huskers on top, 8-7. A&M tied the score at 8-all and 9-all but was unable to regain the lead. Nebraska built its biggest lead at 24-18, but the Aggies managed to cut the lead to 25-22 on a back-row kill by Ammerman. A&M, hitting .379 in the frame, stayed within three points at 28-25 before Sarah Pavan put down back-to-back kills to clinch the win for the Huskers.
Ammerman led the Aggies with 13 kills, and Batis added 10 while hitting .318 for the Aggies. Hahn lead A&M with four blocks.
Pavan finished with 23 kills and hit .588 to lead Nebraska to a .436 team hitting percentage. Jordan Larson added 13 kills, and Dani Mancuso also reached double figures with 10. Kori Cooper led the Huskers with five blocks to help Nebraska to a 9-6 advantage in team blocks.
With the win, the Huskers improve to 24-1 overall and 16-1 in the Big 12 Conference and climb within one victory of guaranteeing themselves at least a share of the league title with three matches remaining.
The Aggies drop to 11-15 overall -- 4-14 in the Big 12 -- and fall out of contention from making their 14th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.
A&M plays its final road match of the season Saturday as the Aggies take on Texas Tech in Lubbock. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. at United Spirit Arena.
The Aggies conclude the season Wednesday, Nov. 22, with a home match against Missouri. Match time is 6:30 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Short Box Score
Nebraska def. Texas A&M 30-16, 30-28, 30-25
Texas A&M (11-15, 4-14 Big 12) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Ammerman, Sarah 13-1-0; Batis, Mary 10-0-1; Stanton, Kelly 7-0-2; Hahn, Christi 7-0-4; Bryant, Kelsey 5-0-3; Yon, Lindsey 2-0-0; Rhodes, Courtnee 1-2-1; Cadavid, Stephanie 0-1-0; Totals 45-4-6.0. (Assists) - Rhodes, Courtnee 41. (Dig leaders) - Moore, Jen 6; Cadavid, Stephanie 5.
Nebraska (24-1, 16-1 Big 12) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Pavan, Sarah 23-3-3; Larson, Jordan 13-0-2; Mancuso, Dani 10-0-0; Stalls, Tracy 8-2-3; Holloway, Rachel 4-1-3; Cooper, Kori 4-0-5; Schwartz, Rachel 0-1-0; Totals 62-7-9.0. (Assists) - Holloway, Rachel 50. (Dig leaders) - Busboom, Dani 9; Larson, Jordan 8.
Site: Lincoln, NE (NU Coliseum)
Date: Nov 15, 2006 Attend: 4107 Time: 1:23
Referees: Marsha Rupert, Rick Welch