Texas A&M
2-0
Virginia
0-2
Aggies Improve to 2-0; Face Showdown with UNI for Tourney Title
Aug 28, 2009 | Volleyball
Aug. 28, 2009
Senior right-side hitter Jennifer Banse tied her career high with 15 kills to lead Texas A&M to its second sweep of the day with a 25-21, 25-14, 25-18 victory over Virginia this evening at the Texas A&M Invitational at Reed Arena.
With the win the Aggies improve to 2-0 and face a showdown against undefeated Northern Iowa for the Texas A&M Invitational title Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
In addition to her kills, Banse had no errors in 23 attack attempts for a career-high .652 hitting percentage to lead the Aggies to a .460 to .259 advantage. Senior Mary Batis added 13 kills while hitting at a .400 clip, and senior setters Kristen Schevikhoven and Jola Kelner dished out 26 and 14 assists, respectively, while also getting the freshmen middle blockers heavily involved in the offense.
"The first match, we kind of came out with butterflies in our stomachs," Banse said regarding the Aggies' sweep against Iona in the first-ever volleyball match to be played at Reed. "We got all of them out and finished up strong, and then against Virginia, we were kind of on a mission. It was absolutely a total team effort, and everyone knew what we had to do."
The score was close through the first half of the first set with Virginia building its biggest lead at 15-12. A&M chipped away at the lead and was down 18-17 when the Aggies scored four unanswered points. The Cavaliers could get no closer than two points before Schevikhoven clinched the set with a kill.
A&M never trailed in the second set, outhitting the Cavaliers, .484 to .097 in the frame. Virginia stayed close at 11-10 before the Aggies got back-to-back kills by freshman middle blocker Sarah Ammerman then served an ace to force Virginia to call a time out. The Cavaliers ended the run with a kill, but A&M came right back with four more unanswered points to go up, 18-11.
The Aggies used another four-point run to widen the gap to 22-13. A service error put only a momentary glitch in the race to the finish, but Virginia then committed a service error and an attack error to put A&M at set point. Kelner then set up Kastmo for the set-winning kill.
There were six lead changes and 10 ties early in the third set before A&M once again buckled down to close out the match. Trailing 11-10, Kastmo evened the score for the final time with a kill. Banse followed with three consecutive kills to give the Aggies the momentum.
"Jenny wasn't happy with her morning match," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "When she was unhappy with her morning match, I knew she was going to turn it around. Then I just kept saying, `keep feeding Jenny; keep feeding Jenny.'"
A&M continued to reel off consecutive points while Virginia was unable to put together back-to-back points for the rest of the set. Ahead 24-18, Batis capped the match with a kill.
Kastmo finished with five kills and no errors in seven attempts, and freshman middle blocker Lindsey Miller added six kills and hit .308. Freshman Tori Mellinger also appeared in two sets as a defensive specialist.
"I'm really impressed with the way the freshmen are handling themselves," Corbelli said. "They are a very even keeled group, all of them. And the more and more confidence they get, the energy will continue to be positive energy from the middle. I'm really excited for their development.
"And the outside hitters and defensive players are doing a great job. I don't think our setters had to chase down many balls down tonight at all, and I was really pleased with that."
The Aggies will face their biggest hurdle in the tournament finale as they take on a scrappy and well-balance Northern Iowa team to determine the champion. Like A&M, the Panthers also picked up sweeps against both Iona and Virginia.
"Very solid team," Corbelli said about UNI. "They move the ball around well and evenly distribute the ball. They are very quick and athletic. They have a setter who takes charge and runs the show. She also is a great attacker on the second ball. They have a great libero. It is going to be a very challenging match tomorrow. We are going to have to pull it all together to be able to battle with that team."
Tournament Schedule/Results
Friday, August 28
Texas A&M def. Iona, 3-0 (30-28, 25-12, 25-10)
Northern Iowa def. Virginia, 3-0 (25-12, 25-14, 27-25)
Northern Iowa def. Iona, 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-15)
Texas A&M def. Virginia, 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-18)
Saturday, August 29
10 a.m. Iona vs. Virginia
12:30 p.m. Texas A&M vs. Northern Iowa
Tournament Standings
Texas A&M, 2-0
Northern Iowa, 2-0
Iona, 0-2
Virginia, 0-2
