Texas A&M
Texas Tech
Aggies Play Lights Out in Home Finale
Nov 26, 2008 | Volleyball
Nov. 26, 2008
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M began the night by honoring Laurie and John Corbelli for coaching in their 500th match at the helm of the Aggies. A&M then brought down the house with a dominating 25-19, 25-8, 25-18 victory over Texas Tech in what marked the final match at G. Rollie White Coliseum for at least three years, if not permanently.
"It's the end of a really meaningful era in Aggie Volleyball and just a very sentimental (time) for myself," head coach Laurie Corbelli said after the match. "I'm really going to miss this place, and I was really happy that my team played so great to go out with a big smile. It was great volleyball."
A crowd of 1,399 watched as all13 players on the A&M roster saw action for the first time this season and compiled a blistering .471 hitting percentage, which ties for fourth in the all-time school records and is the highest by an A&M team since the Aggies hit a school-record .533 against Missouri in 1999. Senior leader Jillian Phillips, who has been sidelined for nearly the entire season and had only appeared in one home match this season, got the match-clinching kill.
With the victory, the Aggies win their fifth consecutive match, equaling their longest winning streak of the season. A&M, 15-14 overall and 10-9 in the Big 12, closes out the regular season at Missouri on Friday in an all-or-nothing match for the Aggies, who must win against the Tigers to finish above .500 and thus keep their NCAA postseason hopes alive. First serve is at 6:30 p.m. at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Mo.
"It's do or die," Laurie Corbelli said. "(Missouri) can't go even if they win, but it is their last home match and the pride that they have when they play at home is huge. This is going to be a really big test of our courage. I feel like there is some pressure, but it is only the pressure that we will let ourselves feel, because we know that we just need to do what we do, no different than what we have been doing in the last three weeks. Hopefully with the maturity we have on the team, the seniors and juniors that head up our team in terms of numbers on the court can really mesh and stay connected. We just have to play well to win."
Sarah Ammerman, whose improved play has been vital to the Aggies' success of late, continued her dominance tonight, hitting a season-high .560 while leading the Aggies with 16 kills and 12 digs. Mary Batis added 11 kills while hitting .409. Amanda Dowdy led the Red Raiders with nine kills.
In the opening set, the score was tied for the second and final time at 2-2 when Jennifer Banse posting two kills during the rally. A&M, which outhit the Red Raiders, .360 to .111 in the set, went on to build a 10-5 cushion, but Tech managed to cut the margin to two points five times, the last occurring at 17-15. Batis then put down a kill and Darla Donaldson had back-to-back kills set up by Tech overpasses to once again give the Aggies a five-point lead. Consecutive errors by the Lady Raiders later gave A&M its largest lead at 23-17. The teams then traded points for the remainder of the set, with a Tech attack error ending the set.
A&M was up, 7-4, in the second set when Ammerman got a kill and then served the Aggies to a 14-4 lead. A service error ended the run, but a Batis kill and back-to-back kills by Donaldson sparked a five-point run to put A&M up, 19-5. A&M, which outhit Tech, .571 to .069 in the set, allowed only three more points by the Red Raiders, marking the fewest points in a set by an opponent this season.
A&M led the entire third set and was up, 18-15, before the Aggies used a five-point run to pull away. A kill by Batis put Aggie serving for the match, but Tech extended the match with back-to-back kills before Phillips recorded the commemorative match-winning kill.
"I just see our team cutting down on errors, just playing their game more confidently, Corbelli said. "It just seems like things are really clicking with our transition game, which we struggled with earlier in the season. They've really put in a ton of work to get to this point. "
