October 13, 2007
Texas A&M used a balanced and effective attack to defeat Colorado, 26-30, 30-22, 30-25, 30-17 in front of 1,400 at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Four Aggies posted double figures in kills with left-side hitter Mary Batis leading the way with 16. Middle blocker Jillian Phillips tied her career high with 14 kills, and left-side hitter Sarah Ammerman also pitched in 14 kills. Right-side hitter Kelsey Bryant had 13 kills and no errors en route to a career-high .812 hitting percentage.
With the win, the Aggies improve to 14-6 overall and conclude the first half of conference play with a 4-6 record. Colorado drops to 5-12 overall and remains winless in the Big 12 at 0-9.
?Their record is very deceiving,? A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said about the Buffaloes. ?They?â„¢ve gone five games with so many good teams, and to not finish is very difficult for a coach.?
Colorado appeared primed to break its losing skid to begin the match, used scoring runs of six points and seven points to help build a 19-10 advantage in game one. A&M, which was outhit, .261 to .163 in the frame, cut away at the lead and eventually got within three points at 27-24. That would be the closest the Aggies would get as the two teams traded points for the remainder of the game with Lauren Schaefer putting down the game-winning kill for the Buffaloes.
?Our players put a lot of pressure on themselves, because they didn?â„¢t want to be the first team to lose to Colorado? Corbelli said. ?We were a step behind, but we knew if we kept staying in it, it would be a battle. We had to let them know that we were planning on winning this match.?
It was the Aggies who used strings of consecutive points to pull away and take the second game. The score was tied for the final time at 9-9 when Kelly Stanton put down a kill and Ammerman aced her serve to give the Aggies a two-point lead. A&M, which entered the match 0-3 when losing the first game, later used two four-point rallies to build a 20-14 advantage. A&M kept its six-point lead at 26-20 when Phillips and Batis posted back-to-back kills to give A&M its biggest lead of the game. Kirsten Wicks ended the run with a kill but then hit long on the ensuing play to put the Aggies serving for game point. Wicks got another kill to keep the Buffs alive before Phillips put down her seventh kill of the game to even the match at a game apiece.
There were nine lead changes and 14 ties in the third game before the Aggies began to pull away. Tied at 24-24, Bryant sandwiched in two aces around a Phillips kill and a block by Phillips and Batis in what would turn into a five-point spurt for the Aggies. Colorado?â„¢s Schylur Edelman got a kill before Batis put down the game winner and gave the Aggies a 2-1 lead in games.
Two Bryant kills and a Phillips kill jumpstarted the Aggies in the third game, and the Aggies never lost the lead. The Buffs got within 10-9 before Bryant returned serve to A&M with a kill. It was the start of a 10-point scoring run for the Aggies, with Ammerman posting two of her career-high five aces during the stretch. Colorado could get no closer than 10 points, the last coming at 27-17. A&M, which outhit Colorado, .393 to .074 in the frame, then used a three-point spurt to close out the game and the match.
Edelman led the Buffs with 12 kills, and Mallori Gibson and Lauren Schaefer added 11 apiece. Alex Buth added 10 kills and also posted a match-high 15 digs.
Phillips led all players with five blocks as A&M outblocked Colorado, 8-6, and held the Buffs to a .253 hitting percentage. A&M hit .314 for the match, its second highest hitting percentage in a Big 12 match this season. Libero Jen Moore led A&M in digs with 13, and setter Kristen Schevikhoven finished with 51 assists for A&M.
The Aggies take a break from Big 12 action as they play host to on non-conference foe Sam Houston State on Tuesday. First serve is at 6:30 p.m. at G. Rollie.