Texas A&M
6-1
Texas Southern
4-5
Aggie Volleyball Dominates Texas Southern
Sep 11, 2009 | Volleyball
Sept. 11, 2009
SAN MARCOS, Texas - Texas A&M got contributions from all 14 players as the Aggies crushed Texas Southern, 25-7, 25-16, 25-18, at the CenturyTel Premier at Strahan Coliseum.
A&M led the entire match, outhitting the Tigers, .434 to .044, en route to picking up their third consecutive sweep and improving to 6-1 overall, including 2-0 in the tournament.
Texas Southern falls to 4-5, 0-2 in the tournament.
A&M starters hit .682 with 16 kills and only one error in 22 attempts in the opening set. Texas Southern also had 22 attacks but was held to a .000 hitting percentage as the Tigers had five kills negated by five errors.
Corbelli used an entirely different lineup in the second set with the exception of freshman Abby Howden appeared in the lineup for the first time this season and registered an ace with the first serve of her collegiate career.
"We were prepared to have a lot opportunities to be in transition, to really be able to work with the speed that we wanted to attack the net with on our transition play," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "To be able to have the first group in and be very efficient and get their work done, we wanted to make sure we got an opportunity for some of the new players to get on the court and be in a match setting. It is a lot different than training, and they needed to get out there, so it was an opportunity to do the same type of focus work on their transition game."
Texas Southern got within three points at 18-15, but a kill by Dylan Faulkner sparked a four-point run for the Aggies. An attack error returned serve to the Tigers, but setter Jola Kelner put down a kill to put the Aggies up, 23-16. Texas Southern hit into the net to put the Aggies at set point, and Kelsey Black capped the frame with a thundering kill.
Despite the inexperienced lineup, the Aggies hit .231 while holding the Tigers to a -.077 hitting efficiency.
Freshman middle blocker Julia Russell also saw action for the first time in her collegiate career as she started the third set and helped the Aggies jump out to an 8-1 lead.
Texas Southern closed the gap to four points late in the set, using a three-point rally to cut the lead to 21-17. Black then posted back-to-back kills and Kelner served an ace to put the Aggies at match point. The Tigers got a kill to keep the match going but then had an errant overpass, setting up Black for the winning kill.
"I thought that Kelsey and Chelsea (Ringel), as the anchors for the outside hitting in games two and three, both did a great job," Corbelli said.
Black led all players with nine kills, and Mellinger took top honors in digs with 13. Emma Obi led the Tigers with five kills.
The Aggies conclude the tournament tomorrow against host Texas State at 2 p.m.
"Tomorrow is going to be a great match," Corbelli said. "Texas State is always in contention for their conference championship, and they've got a really nice system and have a lot of experienced players. They are at home and they have nothing to lose, and I fully anticipate that they'll be working on all cylinders coming at us, so we will have to be very, very sharp and on top of our game in order to come out with the win."
