Texas A&M
9-9, 3-5Big 12
Missouri
12-7, 4-5Big 12
Missouri Edges A&M in 5 Sets
Oct 13, 2010 | Volleyball
Oct. 13, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M led Missouri in every positive statistical category, but the Tigers managed to pull out a 25-23, 20-25, 25-23, 11-25, 15-9, victory over the Aggies tonight at Reed Arena.
"That may have been one of the best matches we have played all year," A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli said. "Stat sheet-wise, we dominate. We scored more points. What kind of a sport out there has you score more points and lose? It is very, very frustrating. (We) out-hit, out-dig, out-block and out-score, so you can imagine the disappointment in our hearts and the sick-to-our-stomach feeling that we have."
A&M (9-9, 3-5 Big 12) posted impressive numbers playing in its sixth 5-set match of the season, hitting .246, a season-high in a five-set match, as well as recording season highs of 97 digs and 16 blocks.
Individually, sophomore libero Tori Mellinger posted 34 digs, the most digs by an A&M player in the rally-point scoring era -- using both the 30- and 25-point scoring cap -- and ranking fifth all-time in the Aggie record books. It is the most digs by an Aggie since Erin Gibson had 35 against Colorado in 2000 and only four shy of tying the all-time record of 38 set by Yvonne Van Brandt in 1988 and tied by Stacy Sykora in 1998 using side-out scoring.
"I can't recall having a libero having the ability to be able to do the things she does," Corbelli, who is in her 25th season as a head coach, said about Mellinger. "I haven't taught her anything, she just came with it. She just has great instincts. She is, in one word, amazing."
Chelsea Ringel also had a career-high with 21 digs, and Elise Hendrickson, a transfer from Arizona, had an A&M career-high 13 digs. Kelsey Black also reached double figures in digs, pitching in 15.
Middle blocker Lindsey Miller had a career-high eight blocks along with 10 kills, and Stephanie Minnerly also had a career-high with seven blocks as the Aggies held Missouri to a .150 hitting percentage for the match. Setter Allie Sawatzky dished out 50 assists, the fourth time she has record 50 or more assists.
In a battle of two of the leagues' top kill leaders, Black had match highs of 25.5 points and 20 kills while hitting at a .241 clip, and Missouri's Paola Ampudia had 17.5 points and 16 kills but was held to a .029 hitting efficiency. Brittney Brimmage tied Ampudia for the Missouri lead with 16 kills while hitting .371.
A&M led most of the first set and equaled its largest lead at 19-16 when Missouri came out of a timeout and began to rally. The Aggies held a 22-21 lead before Brimmage tied the score with a solo block. Ampudia then gave the Tigers their first lead as A&M was called for a blocking error. Ampudia hit wide on the next play to tie the score for the ninth time, but she quickly put the Tigers at set point with her fifth kill of the set. A&M hit wide on the ensuing play to end the set.
"We know our issue is finishing," Corbelli said. "It's not a secret. At least it is clear to us what we need to continue to work on. That is not an easy one to identify, the root of the problem, but we think we have a pretty good idea of how to try and help them as coaches.
"It is really about ourselves now. It is us against us. Fighting that battle within, of whatever is getting in our way of executing, and playing like we know how when it counts."
Missouri scored the first point of the second set, but a kill by Hendrickson and an ace by Miller gave the Aggies a lead they would not lose. A&M, which outhit the Tigers, .349 to .140 in the frame, built its biggest lead at 17-11 and was up 21-17 before the teams began to trade points for the remainder of the set. Ringel capped the set with a solo block.
Missouri used an 8-0 run early in the third set and seemed in control at 22-15 when A&M rallied. The Aggies went on a 6-0 run, getting two kills from Black and two points from blocks by Black and Miller during the rally to get within 22-21. Ampudia ended the run, tooling the block for a kill. Black then had a booming kill, but the teams continued to exchange kills before Brimmage posted the set-winning kill to put the Tigers up, 2-1, in the match.
A&M scored 10 unanswered points to take a lopsided 14-2 lead in the fourth set. The Aggies, who outhit the Tigers, .438 to .054, and got 10 digs in the set from Mellinger, later used a four-point run to build their biggest lead at 21-6. Ahead, 24-11, Hendrickson put down a kill to send the match to a fifth and deciding set.
A&M was up 5-3 when Missouri scored three consecutive points, two courtesy of A&M attack errors, to take a 6-5 lead. Hendrickson posted a kill to tie the score, but the Tigers scored the next three points to go up 9-6.
Missouri (12-7, 4-5 Big 12) later led 10-7 when Ringel and Miller teamed for a block and Ringel followed with an ace to put A&M within 10-9, forcing a Missouri timeout. The Tigers returned to the court and reeled off five unanswered points to close out the match.
"We made seven errors in Set 5," Corbelli said. "It is hard to win a set, much less a 15-point set when half the points are errors, and we got aced in that set too. That is the stuff we are working on and are going to figure out."
"It is a tough loss. Looking at the numbers, it is unbelievable to me how we lost," Mellinger added. "It is so hard to just pinpoint, other than just finishing the game, finding what is going wrong. Our numbers were incredible tonight, and I think we meshed really well tonight, which we have not necessarily been struggling with but have been inconsistent with, and I think tonight, we definitely had that side going for us."
Despite the setback, Corbelli remained optimistic about her young, improving squad.
"I am not discouraged at all. In fact, looking at these numbers, as a coach, I am looking for my players to become better volleyball players. I am looking at numbers and how we are working with each player to improve their game and how it relates to their role on the team. It's clear to me that the light is coming on.
"I like where my team is 99% of the time in terms of the mental side. I feel like I can't ask for much more physical effort. They are doing exactly what we ask them to do. It is the part of sports, the momentum and the mental side of it all is what we are still learning. It is obvious that we can play this game at (a high) level. It's more the intangibles that we are still struggling to find on a consistent basis."
A&M heads to Ames, Iowa, on Saturday to take on 13th-ranked Iowa State. Match time, originally slated for 6:30 p.m., has been changed to 3 p.m. to avoid a scheduling conflict with the Cyclones' football game at Oklahoma, which was changed to a 6 p.m. kick so that it can be televised by FSN. The volleyball match will be played at Ames High School, because Hilton Coliseum is still undergoing repairs after suffering substantial flood damage in August. The Aggies will be looking for their first victory in Ames since 2005.
