Texas A&M
1-2
LSU
3-0
LSU Takes Tournament Title With Win Over A&M
Aug 28, 2010 | Volleyball
Aug. 28, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - LSU took advantage of Texas A&M's offensive struggles to defeat the Aggies 25-9, 25-17, 25-22 and capture the Texas A&M Invitational title today at Reed Arena with a perfect 3-0 record.
A&M, which was outhit .389 to .081 in the match, drops to 1-2.
"LSU really came at us hard with their serving and it put a lot of pressure on our passers, which as a result really takes you out of your middle attack," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "It made us have to go to one hitter most of the time. We were out of system with our first two sets more than 90 percent of the time, and it is very difficult to win a match when you are out of system that much."
LSU outhit A&M, .360 to -.161 in the opening set as the Tigers raced to a 25-9 win. The Aggies steadily improved over the remainder of the match and were within 18-15 before LSU used a five-point run to pull away.
LSU held its biggest lead of the third set at 19-13 when A&M began to rally. An LSU error and consecutive kills by A&M's Kelsey Black (Amarillo, Texas) and Allie Freiwald (Littleton, Colo.) put the Aggies at 19-16. LSU then committed another attack error and called a timeout.
Junior right-side hitter Elise Hendrickson (Long Beach, Calif.), a transfer from Arizona who was making her Aggie debut, then promptly aced the Tigers to put A&M within a point, 19-18.
LSU scored three unanswered points to go up, 21-18, but Lindsey Miller (Katy, Texas) ended the run with a kill. LSU had an attack error, and Chelsea Ringel (Arlington, Texas) followed with an ace to tie the score. Black then put the Aggies ahead, 22-21, with her team-leading 12th kill of the match, and LSU burned its final timeout.
The Tigers came out of the timeout and got back-to-back kills by all-tournament team member Angela Bensend. Tournament MVP Michele Williams then put the Tigers at match point with her 12th kill, and an A&M attack error ended the match.
Corbelli remained optimistic after falling to the more experienced Tigers.
"They have a lot of athletes and a lot of experience together," Corbelli said about LSU. "We are still building that part this season, and we have nowhere to go but up. We saw just bits and pieces of every part of our game, and it's not huge but its details, little plays, part of plays that need to be changed by individual players that will eventually turn into looking a lot like the pace that LSU runs.
"We have our work cut out for us, and that is the exciting part for me. We have the athletes. We have the talent. We know what we need to do, and now it's just a matter of figuring that out and practicing it. "
Bensend led all players with 14 kills as the Tigers posted 44 kills to A&M's 26. A&M's Tori Mellinger (Dallas, Texas) took match-high honors in digs with 13.
A&M returns home Wednesday to play host to the Sam Houston State Bearkats. Match time is 6:30 p.m. at Reed Arena. It marks the Aggies' final home contest before opening Big 12 Conference play against rival Texas in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown on Thursday, Sept. 16.
"I expect them to be very fired up to play against A&M, nothing-to-lose type of thing," Corbelli said about the Bearkats. "They have a lot of Texas players that know our Texas players from club and high school, so there are some ingrained rivalries in the whole thing and I think it is going to be very spirited."
Texas A&M Invitational All-Tournament Team
Taylor Akana, Siena
Angela Bensend, LSU
Kelsey Black, Texas A&M
Hannah Clancy, Pacific
Svenja Engelhardt, Pacific
Lauren Waclawczyk, LSU
MVP: Michele Williams, LSU
Final Tournament Standings
1. LSU 3-0
2. Pacific 2-1
3. Texas A&M 1-2
4. Siena 0-3
Complete tournament results:
Friday, August 27
Texas A&M def. Siena, 3-0 (25-11, 25-21, 25-12)
No. 23 LSU def. Pacific, 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-19, 26-24)
Pacific def. Texas A&M, 3-2 (28-26, 23-25, 25-16, 19-25, 15-12)
No. 23 LSU def. Siena, 3-0 (25-16, 25-13,25-22)
Saturday, August 28
Pacific def. Siena, 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-15)
No. 23 LSU def. Texas A&M, 3-0 (25-9, 25-17, 25-22)
