Texas A&M
9-5, 3-1Big 12
Colorado
5-6, 2-3Big 12
Volleyball Gets Crucial Big 12 Road Win; Defeats CU, 3-2
Sep 29, 2010 | Volleyball
Sept. 29, 2010
BOULDER, Colo. - Texas A&M got a crucial Big 12 road match tonight, defeating Colorado, 25-22, 25-17, 18-25, 23-25, 15-6, tonight at the Coors Events Center.
Kelsey Black had 18 kills and Chelsea Ringel threaded the CU defense for a career-high 13 kills in the win. Freshman setter Allie Sawatzky also pitched in a career-high eight kills and tallied 45 assists, and libero Tori Mellinger led all players with 21 digs as the Aggies improve to 9-5 overall and 3-1 in the Big 12.
Colorado, which had won its last two home matches in five sets, falls to 5-6 overall and 2-3 in conference play.
There were 16 ties and three lead changes in the opening set. Sawatzky had two kills to spark a 3-0 run for the Aggies, which gave A&M its first lead at 12-10. Colorado retook the lead at 18-17, but a crushing kill by Black tied the score. The Buffs' next attack went off the antenna to give A&M the 19-18 lead. The teams traded points before A&M scored consecutive points on a Black kill and a block by Stephanie Minnerly and Alisia Kastmo to put the Aggies up, 22-20.
A Colorado kill through the block put the Buffs within 22-21, but Kastmo got a kill and the Buffs committed an attack error to give A&M the biggest lead in the frame and put the Aggies serving for the set. Colorado got a block before Kastmo posted her third kill to give A&M the 25-22 win.
A&M scored the first seven points of the second set and led for the rest of stanza. The Aggies, who outhit CU .294 to .219 in the first set, outhit the Buffs .257 to .032 in the second frame.
CU twice got within three points, the last coming at 11-8 before A&M used a 4-0 run, which included two kills by Ringel, to retake the seven-point advantage at 15-8. CU never got closer than five points and was trailing 23-17 when Lindsey Miller got a kill on the slide play to put the Aggies at set point. CU's next attack sailed wide to end the set and give A&M a 2-0 lead in the match.
Black and Ringel had five kills apiece in the set, and Mellinger had eight digs.
The Buffs scored the first two points of the third set, but A&M reeled off four unanswered points to take its only lead of the frame. CU immediately followed with a four-point run of its own to go up, 6-4. A&M, which was outhit, .400 to .135 in the set, was unable to overcome the deficit. The Buffs used a 5-1 run to build their biggest lead at 22-15 and were up 23-18 when an A&M block error put CU at set point. Colorado then blocked an A&M attack to end the set.
Colorado held a 19-17 lead in the fourth set when A&M scored three straight points to take its first lead of the set. The Buffs countered with a 3-0 run to regain the lead, and the teams sided out for the remainder of the set, with Kerra Schroeder clinching the set for the Buffs with a kill.
A&M held a narrow 7-6 lead in the final set but then reeled off eight unanswered points to race to the win. The Aggies, who outhit the Buffs, .364 to -.235 in the set, had three kills and two blocks during the run, as well as two aces from Sawatzky, including the match clincher.
A&M hit .213 for the match, posting 61 kills, 59 assists, three aces 68 digs and 11 blocks. Colorado hit .173 with 53 kills, 52 assists, three aces, 61 digs and 12.5 blocks.
It was A&M's last Big 12 match at Colorado, which moves to the Pac 10 Conference next season.
The Aggies return to Reed Arena Saturday to play host to the Kansas State Wildcats. First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m. It will be Corps Night at Reed, and any members of the corps will be admitted free.
