Texas A&M
2-2
Sam Houston State
2-3
A&M Cruises to Sweep Against Bearkats
Sep 01, 2010 | Volleyball
Sept. 1, 2010
"It was nice to be able to start the match with a lot of positive energy and be able to compete at the pace we have been working towards, with the tempo of offense and working our ball control," Corbelli said. "We got a lot of contribution from a lot of different attackers, and everyone got on the floor. I saw a lot of nice things tonight."
Kelsey Black (Amarillo, Texas) led the Aggies with 12 kills while hitting a career-best .526. She also tied a school record for the second time this season with six aces as A&M tallied 10 for the night while allowing no aces by the Bearkats.
"I do feel like this team is a really good serving team," Corbelli said. "We have Kelsey's jump top-spin. We've got Tori Mellinger's jump float, and I have got a couple of players backing up to the basketball inline and putting it in the air and letting it float through the air. The bottom drops out of it as it crosses the net, which is what Elise (Hendrickson) did to end that last set. We aren't looking for aces necessarily. We are looking for consistency, placement, and then if we can add some pace to that, it is really nice."
A&M (2-2) scored the first four points of the match -- three on consecutive aces by Black -- and led the entire first set. Later in the match, the Aggies, who outhit SHSU, .417 to .059 in the frame, held a 20-12 lead but committed three errors in a row, and Corbelli called a time out. A&M then came back onto the court and reeled off five unanswered points to get the win, with Stephanie Minnerly (Arlington, Texas) and Allie Sawatzky (St. Andrews, Manitoba, Canada) teaming for a block for the set winner.
SHSU (2-3) held its only lead of the match at 2-1 in the second set following an A&M attack error, but Allie Freiwald (Littleton Colorado), who started at setter in place of Sawatzky in the second stanza, set up Black and Chelsea Ringel (Arlington, Texas) for back-to-back kills to give the Aggies a lead they would not relinquish.
A&M pulled away and built a 17-11 advantage following a Bearkat attack error. SHSU later cut the gap to four points at 18-13 but could get no closer.
A kill by Lindsey Miller (Katy, Texas) later put A&M up, 22-15. Freshman Kelsey Kinley (College Station, Texas) making her first appearance of the season, then subbed in to serve, and the Aggies built a 24-15 lead. Kim Black staved off set point with a kill for the Bearkats, but Kelsey Black countered with a kill to end the set.
The third set started out much like the first set as the Aggies jumped out to a 4-0 lead with Kelsey Black posting a pair of aces. A&M reeled off strings of points throughout the remainder of the set, while allowing SHSU to score consecutive points only once. A service ace by Elise Hendrickson (Long Beach, Calif.) capped the match.
Freshmen Lauren Conrad (The Woodlands, Texas) and Heather Reynolds (Wharton, Texas) made the first court appearance of their careers in the third set, and rookie Ashley Vrana (Houston, Texas) also got in the action as A&M completed the sweep.
"I like watching other people score; celebrating is half the fun of the game," Kelsey Black said about seeing her teammates get into the match. "It was really exciting to see everyone else get in there and see a lot of production from a bunch of different players. For us going into the Big 12, that is going to be a big thing for the team, to get more people in there and cause problems for the other team."
Mellinger (Dallas, Texas) led all players with 15 digs, and Minnerly had a match-high three blocks as A&M outhit SHSU, .280 to .010, and outblocked the Bearkats, 5-1.
Carli Kolbe, who attended A&M Consolidated High School in College Station, led SHSU with five kills.
A&M takes its first road trip of the season this weekend as the Aggies travel to Springfield, Mo., to compete in the Missouri State JQH Invitational, Sept. 3-4. The Aggies face the host Bears Friday at 7:30 p.m. and then take on North Carolina and Ohio on Saturday.
"We will have our hands full," Corbelli said. "They are teams that are really talented. There is experience. There is size. There is a little bit of everything in all three teams. We are the team that went furthest last season, so I know they all are gunning for A&M. We have targets on our backs. It would be huge accomplishment for us to come out 3-0. That's what we are going for but it won't be easy."
