Texas A&M
14-8, 7-7Big 12
Baylor
20-6, 9-6Big 12
No. 23 Aggies Fall to No. 20 Baylor in Five
Nov 07, 2009 | Volleyball
Nov. 7, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - No. 23 Texas A&M suffered its second consecutive five-set heartbreaker as the Aggies dropped a 18-25, 25-13, 25-27, 25-23, 18-16 decision to No. 20 Baylor in front of 1,784 tonight at Reed Arena.
"Obviously we are really disappointed," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "We didn't play sharp enough to get the win. I thought we played with a lot of heart, a lot of desire, and a lot of fight. It was a great team effort. We needed a little more luck and a lot fewer errors."
A&M (14-8, 7-7 Big 12) led the Bears in kills, 70-63, but committed 36 errors to Baylor's 18 and was outhit, .242 to .167 for the match. Baylor had 18 blocks in the match, equaling the most by an A&M opponent this season, including nine blocks apiece from middle blockers Torri Campbell and Anna Breyfogle.
"We had double the hitting errors that they had and it was amazing that we could even go five with that attack performance," Corbelli said. "But I'm really proud of my team. I thought they gave every ounce of energy in their body to get this match."
A&M outhit Baylor, .289 to .105 in the opening set, and Sarah Ammerman led the Aggies to a 17-9 kill advantage with seven kills in the frame as the Aggies overcame a 10-7 deficit to win the set. Trailing 11-9, the Aggies took their first lead with a three-point run, capped by the go-ahead kill by Ammerman who tooled the Baylor block after a long back-and-forth rally. Baylor got a block on the next play to tie the score at 12-12, but an Ammerman kill gave the Aggies the lead for good. A&M began to pull away and was up, 21-7, when Ammerman tipped the ball over for a kill and then teamed with Kelsey Black for a block. Baylor then hit long to put the Aggies at set point, but the Bears got a kill from Katie Sanders before Black put down a kill to close out the set.
Baylor led the entire second set as the Bears posted six team blocks in the stanza and held the Aggies to a -.128 hitting efficiency. Baylor built a 13-6 lead and then put the set out of reach by scoring five unanswered points behind the strong serving of Taylor Barnes. Baylor led 22-10 when the teams began to trade points for the remainder of the set.
Baylor built a 17-13 lead in the third set when Mary Batis and Ammerman connected on consecutive kills and Jola Kelner and Jennifer Banse tied the score for the 12th time with a kill. The lead changed for the sixth time after an Ammerman kill put the Aggies at set point. Elizabeth Graham gave breath to the Bears with a kill, but Miller counter with a kill to the deep corner to put A&M up 26-25. Christenson then hit long to give the Aggies the winning point.
There were 16 ties and four lead changes in the fourth set. Baylor held a narrow 13-12 lead when A&M posted three consecutive kills to take its first lead of the set. Baylor regained the lead at 17-16, but A&M came right back to take the lead at 19-18. The Aggies stayed ahead at 20-19 when Baylor ripped off five unanswered points to go up 24-20. Baylor then served long and had an attack sail long. A&M scored its third consecutive point on a block by Kelner and Miller before Christenson put down a kill to clinch the set for the Bears and force a fifth set.
A&M, playing in its second consecutive five-set match and looking for its first win in its third five-setter of the season, took the lead at 5-4 and built its biggest lead at 11-7 when Baylor began a comeback. The Aggies held onto a 13-11 lead when the Bears reeled off three points to be serving for the match. Black tied the score with a kill, but the Bears got a block on the next play to go up, 15-14. Batis staved off another match point with a kill off the block, but Christenson countered with a kill. Batis held off Baylor's third match-point attempt with a kill to tie the score for the ninth time, but Breyfogle posted her 17th kill of the match and an A&M attack went long to give Baylor the win.
Ammerman led the Aggies with a season-high 26 kills, and Batis added 17 to move into eighth in the A&M records with 1,335 career kills. Batis also led A&M in digs, tying her career high with 22 and climbing from ninth to seventh on the career charts with 1,254 career digs.
Five other A&M players also reached double figures in digs as the Aggies tallied 94 to Baylor's 84.
"Defensively we were all over the court," Corbelli said. "I thought we had a good start then a slow game two. They made a few changes with how often they were going to use their middles, that threw us off a little bit. I think we adjusted and played some awesome defense.
"I think they won the serve receive battle tonight. I thought they passed really well for the most part. They were in system a whole lot. One of their keys was going to the middles, give the middles the ball, and those guys did a nice job."
Campbell tied Breyfogle with a team-high 17 kills, and libero Allison King had 28 digs for the Bears, who improve to 20-6 overall and 9-6 in the Big 12.
The match against the Bears is the first of three consecutive Top 25 contests for the Aggies, who host No. 8 Iowa State on Nov. 11 and are at No. 10 Nebraska on Nov. 13. The match against the Cyclones begins at 6:30 p.m. at Reed Arena.
