Texas A&M
9-7, 3-3Big 12
Baylor
9-8, 2-4Big 12
A&M Volleyball Falls to Baylor in Five
Oct 06, 2010 | Volleyball
Oct. 6, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M's Kelsey Black had a career-high 28 kills and tied her career high with 24 digs, but it wasn't enough as the Aggies fell to Baylor, 25-15, 22-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-13, in front of 1,197 tonight at Reed Arena.
The match was decided in the back-and-forth fifth set, which saw seven ties and five lead changes. The Aggies jumped out to a 4-0 lead -- three on kills by Black -- and Baylor called a timeout. The Bears then scored the next five points to take their first lead.
Neither team built more than a two-point lead for the remainder of the set, and A&M held a 13-12 lead when a controversial call resulted in a point for the Bears. Instead of A&M serving for the match following an attack by Chelsea Ringel, in which the ball appeared to carom off the Baylor block before hitting the antenna, the linesman ruled the ball hit the antenna before going off the block, resulting in a point for the Bears. With the score knotted at 13, Ashlie Christenson put down back-to-back kills to secure the win for the Bears.
"I think (the call) got my team frustrated," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "It's hard to really measure, but it didn't seem that we were back at that same intensity level after that play. I don't think they quit. I think their heart dropped into their stomachs. It was critical and hard to forget."
In the opening set, A&M (9-7, 3-3 Big 12) took its only lead at 9-8 on an ace by freshman setter Allie Sawatzky, but Baylor followed with a 9-2 run to build a 17-12 advantage. The Bears, who outhit A&M .389 to .121 in the set, continued to reel off strings of points and were leading 23-15 when Briana Tolbert and Elizabeth Graham posted back-to-back kills to clinch the set for the Bears.
The Aggies built a 17-9 lead in the second set, but the Bears rallied to tie the score at 19-19. A Baylor attack error and consecutive kills by Lindsey Miller and Black put A&M ahead, 22-19, and Baylor used its second timeout. Baylor came out of the timeout and got a kill from Torri Campbell, but Miller countered with her fourth kill of the set to put A&M up, 23-21. The teams continued to trade points before A&M's Stephanie Minnerly and Alisia Kastmo blocked an attack by Ashlie Christenson to give A&M the set.
There were 13 ties and four lead changes in the third set. A&M held a 20-18 lead, but Baylor won three of the next four points to tie the score at 21-all. Black posted her sixth kill of the set to put the Aggies ahead, 22-21, but Baylor got a kill and a block to take the 23-22 lead. A&M was then whistled for a blocking error to put the Bears at set point. Baylor had an attack error to put A&M within 24-23 before Allison King posted the set-winning kill for the Bears.
Black had seven kills and hit .312 in A&M's fourth-set win to tie the match. The Aggies built their biggest lead at 24-17, but Baylor scored three consecutive points to stay in the hunt. Miller and Sawatzky then blocked Christenson for the set winner to force the final set.
Baylor which outhit A&M, .210 to .178 in the match, had five players reach double figures in kills, including a team-leading 18 by Campbell, who was teammates with Black on Amarillo's 2007 high school state championship team. Campbell also finished with a match-high eight blocks to lead the Bears to a 15-8 advantage.
"We are obviously incredibly disappointed, although we try to look at the bright side," Corbelli said. "We did do some pretty incredible things defensively. Kelsey Black was all-world tonight attacking. They were on her hard with their serving, so they made her play the whole way around. She handled it beautifully.
"We have been able to cut back on some of our errors, and that's a positive. We are looking for more people to put the dang ball away is what we are looking for. We get great digs. We get sets that are opportunities for our hitters, and we're just not putting that ball away, and we are not used to that. We know exactly where we need to improve. This match definitely spotlights weakness, areas that you need to make changes and grow in."
A&M libero Tori Mellinger led all players with a career-high 26 digs. Ringel added 13 digs, and junior transfer Sarah Grace, who played her freshman season at Baylor, tied her A&M career high with 11 digs.
Baylor, which ranks second in the nation in digs per set, got 24 digs from Allison King, and tied A&M with 87 total digs.
"To tie them in number of digs tonight was a great defensive effort on our end as well," Corbelli added. "We had to make some adjustments after set 1, and I thought the team responded well. Tori Mellinger is just an amazing defensive player, and she made the correct adjustments at the correct times and did a beautiful job."
Baylor improves to 9-8 overall and 2-4 in the Big 12. A&M drops to 9-7 overall, including 3-3 in Big 12 matches.
A&M makes its final Big 12 trip to Lincoln, Neb., this weekend to face the third-ranked and conference-leading Nebraska Cornhuskers. First serve against the Huskers, who will be members of the Big Ten Conference beginning next year, is slated for 7 p.m. at Nebraska Coliseum. The match will be televised live in Nebraska on NET.
A&M Virtual Guide: http://guides.aggieathletics.com/volleyball/
