Texas A&M
Texas
A&M Falls to No. 3 Texas, 3-1
Oct 15, 2008 | Volleyball
Oct. 15, 2008
Box Score
Post Game Audio:
Coach Mary Batis [mp3]
Texas Coach Jerrit Elliott [mp3]
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - No. 3 Texas (13-2, 7-1 Big 12) extended its season-high winning streak to seven matches and snapped Texas A&M's three-match winning streak with a 25-13, 23-25, 25-16, 25-18 victory at G. Rollie White Coliseum in the teams' first match-up in this year's State Farm Lone Star Showdown.
A boisterous crowd of 3,203 - an A&M season-high and the sixth most in school history - watched as Destinee Hooker paced the Longhorns with a match-high 20 kills while hitting at a .410 clip. Ashley Engle added 11 kills for Texas, and Lauren Paolini added 10 kills while hitting .714 as Texas, which entered the week ranked No. 2 in the country for hitting percentage, outhit the Aggies, .375 to .122.
Mary Batis and Sarah Ammerman led the Aggies with 15 kills apiece, and setter Jola Kelner posted a career-high and match-high 15 digs.
"It was a very exciting environment, and it was such a totally different feel for them to kind of adjust to," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "I was just really proud that they were my team, especially game two. There are not many teams that are finding ways to defeat this Texas squad right now, and at the same time, we wish we would have had more experiences like game two, because that was really what we can do. We should have game two a little bit more often. We'll get there. It's not easy."
The teams were tied at 12 in the opening set when a kill by Paolini gave the Longhorns the lead. Engle then served the Longhorns to a 23-12 lead, with a service error ending Texas' run of 11 consecutive points. A&M served out of order on the ensuing play, and a kill by Texas setter Michelle Kocher ended the set. Texas posted 13 kills and no errors for a .619 hitting efficiency in the set, while A&M was held to a .036 hitting efficiency.
"(Texas) was able to string together more (points)," Corbelli said. "That is kind of a capsule of what volleyball is. We have to string together more (points), and we have been. Not against No. 3 in the nation, we haven't been, but we have against the rest of the Big 12. We know we have it in us. We are getting the understanding of what that's all about, and I think that you'll see this group learns very quickly. They are going to learn from it and remember from it."
A&M began the second set with an attack error but then scored five straight points to take the lead. The Aggies built their biggest lead at 10-4, but Texas went on a 7-1 run to tie the score at 11-all. Back-to-back kills by Jennifer Banse and Kelsey Bryant gave the Aggies a two-point cushion, but Texas countered with a block and an ace to tie the score at 13-13. The score was knotted again at 14 before A&M scored four unanswered points to go up, 18-14. The teams then exchanged sideouts until A&M scored two straight to take a 24-19 lead. Texas fought off four set points before Aggie Darla Donaldson's kill closed out the frame and evened the match at a set apiece.
"Game two was a great game for us," Batis said. "We came out with just a different attitude than we did in games one, three and four. That attitude is what we need to find and carry over. Games one, three and four, we need to focus on starting strong. We were obviously very, very excited about the match, having a massive 12th Man (crowd) out there, but we need to focus a little more on what we need to do. We know what we need to do; it's just getting it done."
A&M outhit Texas, .243 to .207 in the second set, but Texas had another error-free performance in the third set with 15 kills and no errors in 31 attempts for a .484 hitting efficiency. The Longhorns scored the first three points after the intermission and led the entire third set. Leading 20-16, Texas used a five-point rally to end the set.
Texas hit .258 in the final set while holding A&M to a .000 hitting efficiency as the Aggies had 10 kills and 10 errors in the stanza. Similar to the third set, the Longhorns scored the first three points to open the final frame and kept the lead for the entire set. A&M used a four-point rally to get within 19-15, but Texas scored three straight to go up, 22-15. The teams traded points for the remainder of the match, with Jennifer Doris getting the match-clinching kill.
"Sometimes our passing pulled our setter off too much to run the middle," Corbelli said. "We really try to use all of our attackers, but 40 and 41 swings by Sarah and Mary is a little bit skewed."
A&M played much of the final set with three freshmen -- Stephanie Wells -- on the court.
"We've just had so many players out of the gym (with injuries)," Corbelli said. "I said to Robyn (Romansky, assistant coach), `who would have ever thought we're here in the Texas match with our starting setter out, with our starting middle out, another starting middle out.' First of all our fans were supportive to the end, which was really cool, and those freshmen couldn't care less that they were freshmen. The team couldn't care less that there were freshmen out there.
"What we suffered through with the loss of our typically starting players is that the team has really had to step up and except new players, except new levels of ability and experience on the court; new communication styles; new ways of handling each other. It has been a totally different team from four weeks ago. That's what is really cool about my team. I'm really proud, especially of our win streak, and especially of game two tonight. It has been a rough road. No one said it was going to be easy. We are learning that when it's a tough road, we have to be able to keep the spring in our step.
"The other games, we weren't in our rhythm and in the kind of game that we know we can play. We are really focused on just what we did well, and we are going to try and carry that feeling and focus with us to our next match."
A&M (9-9, 4-4 Big 12) returns home Friday for a crucial match against the Baylor Bears, who are in a three-way tie with A&M and Iowa State for fourth place in the Big 12. First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum. It will be "A&M Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night". In addition, many former Aggie volleyball players will be gathering for a reunion.
