November 21, 2007
Texas A&M closed out the road portion of its regular season schedule and posted its 20th victory of the season with a 28-30, 30-17, 30-25, 30-23 win against Colorado tonight at the Coors Events Center.
With the win, the Aggies improve to 20-10 overall and 9-10 in the Big 12 and complete the season series sweep against Colorado. The Buffs suffer their fourth consecutive loss and fall to 6-21, 1-18.
Sarah Ammerman paced A&M, tying her career high with 27 kills while hitting .358 in front of her home state crowd. Mary Batis added 15 kills and a team-high 19 digs for the Aggies, and Jillian Phillips also reached double figures in kills with 10. Phillips also tied Kelsey Bryant for match-high honors in blocks with six as the Aggies out-blocked Colorado, 15-7. Setter Kristen Schevikhoven, who also hails from Colorado, tallied 60 assists.
There were six ties and four lead changes early in the first game before the Buffaloes took the lead for good on a kill by Schylur Edelman. Colorado built its biggest lead at 26-22 before A&M began to chip away and eventually got within 28-27 following back-to-back kills by Ammerman. Mallori Gibson put the Buffs serving for the game with a kill but then hit long on the following play. A&M, however, served into the net to end the Aggies?â„¢ comeback hopes and the game, 30-28
A&M jumped out to a 3-0 lead to begin the second game and held the lead for the remainder of the frame. The Aggies, who out-hit CU, .400 to .024 in the stanza, continued to reel off series of points, including a five-point run that put A&M ahead, 26-14. The teams then exchanged points until, with A&M leading 28-17, Colorado committed back-to-back kill errors to give A&M the 30-17 win and even the match at a game apiece.
A&M scored five unanswered points to take its first lead of the third game at 7-3. The Aggies continued to widen the gap, taking their biggest lead at 27-17 following a six-point run. CU answered with a five-point rally to cut the margin to 27-22 and later got within 28-24. Bryant put down a kill to put the Aggies serving for the game, but Edelman came back with a kill. But then CU served into the net to hand the Aggies the game-winning point and give A&M a 2-1 lead in games.
CU used a seven-point run to take a 10-6 lead in the fourth game. The Buffs maintained their four-point lead at 18-14 when A&M reeled off seven consecutive points, with Ammerman posting three kills and two solo blocks during the run to put the Aggies ahead, 21-18. A&M never relinquished the lead and held onto a 28-23 lead before Bryant and Batis put down consecutive kills to give A&M the 30-23 win and the match.
A&M hit .302 for the match while holding Colorado to a .147 hitting percentage.
Edelman led the Buffs with 15 kills, and Alex Buth and Gibson added 13 and 11, respectively.
The Aggies conclude the regular season Saturday as they play host to the Baylor Bears on Senior Night. First serve is at 6:30 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum, and Aggie seniors Jen Moore and Kelly Stanton will be honored prior to the match. Anyone presenting a ticket from the A&M-Texas football game will be admitted to the volleyball match for $2.