Texas A&M
Baylor
Volleyball Falls to Baylor in Four Sets
Oct 17, 2008 | Volleyball
Oct. 17, 2008
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Katie Sanders and Ashlie Christenson tallied 17 kills apiece to lead Baylor to a crucial 24-26, 25-20, 25-18, 27-25 Big 12 Conference victory against Texas A&M in front of 2,012 tonight at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
The teams entered the matched tied for fourth place in the league standings, but the Bears broke away from the tie, improving to 5-4 in conference matches and 13-6 overall. A&M drops to 4-5 in the Big 12, 9-10 overall.
Neither team led by more than three points in the closely contested first set. Baylor held a narrow lead at 21-20 but a service error and an attack error put the Aggies up, 22-21. The teams exchanged kills and the score was tied at 24-all when Sarah Ammerman and Mary Batis put down consecutive kills to clinch the set for the Aggies.
Baylor jumped out to a 12-1 lead in the second set. A&M chipped away at the lead, getting within 19-16 and 23-20 before a kill by Anna Breyfogle put the Bears at set point. A&M was then whistled for a ball handling error on the next play to give Baylor the win and even the match at a set apiece.
"I didn't feel like we went after them," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "Maybe there were some really fast rallies that people enjoy watching, but I know when my team is going after a team, and that is not what happened tonight in my opinion. I think we backed off. All of the unforced errors that got us into the hole to start with in game two were strings of five and six errors in a row. They are trying to not make a mistake, not really getting after it. We have a tough time not stopping our own string of errors. Tonight was maybe the worst at that."
A&M took a 4-1 lead to begin the third set, but Baylor countered with an 8-1 run to go up 9-5. The Aggies came back and took the lead at 13-12 on an ace by Ammerman, but a Breyfogle kill and an ace by Brittany Ridenour put the Bears back in the lead. Batis answered with a kill to tie the score for the sixth time, but Baylor responded with a 7-1 run to pull away. Leading 23-18, Ashley Byrd and Breyfogle closed out the set for the Bears with back-to-back kills.
There were 14 ties and eight lead changes in the fourth and final set. A&M once again took an early lead as the Aggies went up, 6-2. Baylor reeled off four consecutive points to tie the score at 6-6 and eventually took its first lead at 9-8 following an A&M attack error. A&M then went on an 8-2 run to build a 16-11 advantage, but Baylor came right back, scoring six straight points to pull ahead, 17-16. The teams continued to trade leads, with A&M scoring two consecutive points to take its final lead at 24-23. Baylor fought off two set points, one courtesy of an A&M service error and the other on a kill by Sanders. With the score tied at 25-25, A&M's attacked sailed long on the next play to give Baylor the lead and another Aggie error ended the set and the match.
Baylor outhit A&M, .270 to .148 in the match, posting 12.5 blocks to A&M's eight. Breyfogle, who hit .478 with 12 kills, posted 12 blocks for the Bears, the most by an A&M opponent this season.
Batis led A&M with 15 kills, and Ammerman added 14. Chelsea Ringel led the Aggies with 15 digs.
"Tonight was a rough night for the team," Corbelli said. "You can see by the numbers, the percentages are very low. I think we just have to dismiss this one as fast as we can from our heads and move forward. As hard as it and as challenging as it can be, we have to really, really work at coming back with a lot more confidence, a lot more fight."
A&M concludes the first half of Big 12 play Wednesday at league-leading and undefeated Nebraska (18-0, 9-0 Big 12). The match against the Cornhuskers, who are ranked No. 2 nationally, is slated to begin at 7 p.m. at Nebraska Coliseum and will be televised live by CBS College Sports (DirecTV 613/Dish 152).
