April 05, 2008
The Texas A&M volleyball team continued to impress as the Aggies made a strong finish to win their own tournament today at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
After splitting two-set matches against LSU and Stephen F. Austin, A&M swept Rice to finish first in its pool. The Aggies then took on Houston Baptist, the winner of the other pool, and crushed the Huskies, 25-6, 25-19, to capture the tournament championship.
?We played tight at first,? A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. ?We did it to ourselves, just a self-imposed pressure of wanting to do well and to please. It showed mostly in our passing and serving, and it kept us out of our style of play. Also playing to 25 points makes it such a fast game, and if you start out slow, you are immediately on your heels, and it is tough to come back.
?Once they started to relax, the better they got. It was a total transformation from the start to the end. We were able to pinpoint what was happening and changed it. We learned a lot, and that is critical. We have only one more weekend of competition in the spring, and we want to make the most of it.?
A&M dropped the opening set against LSU, 25-22, but then came back to win the second set, 25-13 to earn the split. The Aggies also dropped the first set against SFA, 25-20, but rebounded to take the second set, 25-19.
?[Setter] Kristen Schevikhoven started slow but picked up the pace, started moving the ball around and instigated the faster speed,? Corbelli said. ?She was really good and got the team going.?
Going into the final match of pool play, the Aggies needed to sweep Rice to be the outright top winners in the pool. A&M took control early and carried it throughout the match as the Aggies convincingly defeated the Owls, 25-10, 25-19.
A&M also took instant command in the crossover match against Houston Baptist, the first-place finisher in the other four-team pool. A&M defeated the Huskies, 25-6, 25-19, to win the tournament.
?Everyone on the left side was fantastic,? Corbelli said. ?[Sarah] Ammerman and [Jenny] Banse were consistent, and when they got hold of the ball they were both hitting so hard, no one could stop them. They were really fun to watch.
?The two freshmen, [Kelsey] Black and [Chelsea] Ringel were really inspirational. Seeing two basically high school seniors do such a great job competing and to also see how quickly they are meshing with the team was very rewarding.?
Corbelli also was quick to praise middle blocker Jillian Phillips, as well as Mary Batis, who played on the right side after being a starter on the left the last two years.
?Phillips had been out all week with an illness, but she played today and made some incredible blocks. Batis was our anchor on the right and showed why she is so important to our team from an execution standpoint to a leadership standpoint.?
A&M returns to competition Saturday, April 12 at the Texas Tornados annual tournament in Houston. Teams confirmed to be at the tournament are Arkansas, Baylor, Houston, Kansas State, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, New Orleans, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, defending national champion Penn State, Rice, South Florida, SMU, Stephen F. Austin and Texas.
Details are still being finalized and will be posted as soon as they become available.
The following are the complete results from today?â„¢s A&M Spring Tournament:
Court 1
A&M v LSU: LSU 25-22; A&M 25-13 = 1-1 split
Rice v SFA: Rice 25-19; 25-23 = Rice 2-0
A&M v SFA: SFA 25-20; TAMU 25-19 = 1-1 split
Rice v LSU: LSU 25-14; Rice 25-20 = 1-1 split
LSU v SFA: LSU 25-22; SFA 25-21 = 1-1 split
A&M v Rice: TAMU 25-10; 25-19 = A&M 2-0
Court 2
La Tech v SHSU: SHSU 25-16; 25-20 = SHSU 2-0
HBU v UH: HBU 25-23; 25-23 = HBU 2-0
UH v La Tech: UH 25-13; 26-24 = UH 2-0
HBU v SHSU: HBU 25-20; 25-19 = HBU 2-0
SHSU v UH: SHSU 25-20; 25-18 = SHSU 2-0
La Tech v HBU: La Tech 25-21; HBU 25-20 = 1-1 split
Final Pool Standings:
Pool 1
1. Texas A&M
2. LSU
3. Rice
4. SFA
Pool 2
1. HBU
2. SHSU
3. UH
4. La Tech
First Place Crossover: Texas A&M def. HBU, 25-6, 25-19
Second Place Crossover: LSU def. SHSU, 25-22, 25-15
Third Place Crossover: Rice def. Houston, 25-21, 23-25, 15-13
Fourth Place Crossover: SFA def. La Tech, 25-20, 25-14