Texas A&M
7-1
Texas State
3-8
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas A&M | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| Texas State | 17 | 17 | 20 | 0 |
Volleyball Sweeps Tournament Field; Ammerman Named MVP
Sep 12, 2009 | Volleyball
Sept. 12, 2009
SAN MARCOS, Texas - Texas A&M completed a sweep of the tournament field to capture the championship title at the Texas State CenturyTel Premier this weekend at Strahan Coliseum.
Senior outside hitter Sarah Ammerman collected tournament MVP honors after leading the Aggies with 12 kills and only one error in A&M's 25-17, 25-17, 25-20 victory over host Texas State in the final match to determine the champion. The win against the Bobcats gave the Aggies their second consecutive tournament championship this season, having won their own Texas A&M Invitational in the season-opening weekend.
Senior outside hitter Mary Batis and freshman middle blocker Lindsey Miller joined Ammerman on the all-tournament team as the Aggies improved to 7-1 on the season.
A&M spotted the Bobcats (3-8) the first three points of the match but then went on a 12-3 run to go up 12-6. Texas State never got closer than five points for the remainder of the set as the Aggies continued to pull away. A kill by Jennifer Banse and an ace by Alisia Kastmo gave the Aggies their largest lead at 23-14. An attack error returned the serve to Texas State, but Ammerman put down her fourth kill to put the Aggies at set point. The Bobcats scored two points to stay alive but then served into the net to hand A&M the win.
"I was really pleased with the preparation," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "The team took a lot of time to digest all the information we had for them, and we just had a lot of players who were really determined and executed the game plan almost to a `T'. Once we could get going and got our rhythm and got the momentum, it was really hard to stop us. I don't know who could have stopped us today. They were just really on with Ammerman being almost error free the whole match in her attacking."
The Aggies had five aces in the set, including two by setter Kristen Schevikhoven. In addition, A&M outhit the Bobcats, .258 to .091.
A&M hit .276 in the second set while holding the Bobcats to a .088 hitting efficiency. Three consecutive Bobcat errors gave A&M a 7-5 lead, and the Aggies would once again hold the lead for the remainder of the set. A&M equaled its biggest lead of the set at 21-12 following two consecutive back-row kills by Ammerman, who finished with five kills in the set.
The Aggies had a 23-17 lead when Texas State was called for an error, putting A&M at set point. Freshman libero Tori Mellinger then clinched the set-winning point with her second ace of the match.
"We really focused a lot on aggressive placement with our serves," Corbelli said. "We identified areas that we knew would put them in a disadvantage in their attack, and we were really accurate with our serving. I do think it took Texas State out of some of their offense and made our block even easier. Once your serving is really, really strong and accurate, then your block has an easier time. Both of those combined made a difference."
Texas State built a 14-10 lead in the third set and kept a lead at 17-14 when Batis got a kill off the block, which marked the start of a five-point run for the Aggies. Mo Middleton, who led the Bobcats with 12 kills, brought Texas State back into a tie at 19-19 on a shot to the deep corner, but A&M countered with three unanswered points to go up 22-19. A service error put the Bobcats within 22-20, but they served into the net on the ensuing play and then had an attack error to put the Aggies at match point. Batis, who had six kills to move into ninth in the A&M career records with 1,998, registered her third ace for the final point, giving the Aggies a season-high 10 aces for the match.
A&M hit .299 for the match and held the Bobcats to a .133 hitting efficiency.
"With our serve reception, Tori Mellinger passed just some beautiful balls to get us in system," Mellinger said. "I thought also our blocking is starting to come around. It's been an area that we've had to really work around because it hasn't been that sharp, but I'm seeing signs that it is coming back, the timing and the position of it, so we were really please."
Mellinger and Banse led the Aggies with 10 digs apiece.
A&M ends the non-conference portion of its schedule riding a four-match winning streak. The Aggies, who are picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 Conference, open league play at Texas Tech on Saturday, Sept. 19. First serve against the Red Raiders is 2 p.m. at the United Spirit Arena in Lubbock, Texas.
"Just having the talent that we have, the depth that we have, and seeing the team grow in their resilience and grow in their making better adjustments when they are down, I'm really excited for (the Big 12 season)," Corbelli said. "I think they understand how important preparation is. We have more time to prepare, and I'm just really expecting the best."
