Texas A&M
2-3
Missouri State
4-0
Volleyball Falls to Missouri State
Sep 03, 2010 | Volleyball
Sept. 3, 2010
A&M (2-3) was outhit, .229 to .066 in the match. MSU, which posted 14 blocks to A&M's seven, also led in kills, 47-30. Junior outside hitter Kelsey Black (Amarillo, Texas), A&M's go-to hitter, was held to a team-high nine kills.
"Our inexperience really showed tonight," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "We are really struggling offensively and defensively as well. Our hitters became very tentative because they were feeling like they better put the ball away because they weren't playing very good defense either, so the hitters were feeling impatient."
A&M scored the first point of the match, but the Bears then reeled off five unanswered points forcing Corbelli to call an early timeout. The Aggies came back and had cut the lead to 9-7 on a back-row kill by Chelsea Ringel (Arlington, Texas), which sparked a five-point run, giving the Aggies a 12-9 lead.
A&M kept the lead at 14-12 before the Bears tallied three consecutive kills to retake the lead, 15-14. Lindsey Miller (Katy, Texas) ended the run and tied the score with a kill, but the Bears got a kill and two blocks as they began to pull away. A&M could get no closer than three points for the remainder of the set and trailed 23-20 when MSU ended the set with back-to-back kills.
MSU jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the second set, but A&M came back and tied the score at 8- and 9-all before freshman setter Allie Sawatzky (St. Andrews, Manitoba, Canada) gave the Aggies the lead with a kill. A service error tied the score, but Ringel got an off-speed kill and Black and Miller teamed for a block to give the Aggies their largest lead of the set at 12-10.
The lead was short lived, however, as an A&M attack error sandwiched by two MSU kills gave the Bears a 13-12 advantage. The teams traded points before MSU went on a 6-1 run to take its biggest lead at 20-15. A&M countered with a 7-2 rally, with Miller getting a kill and following with a solo block to tie the score at 22. A service error put the Bears up, 23-22, but the score became tied for the ninth time in the set after an MSU attack sailed wide. It would be the final point for the Aggies as MSU got a kill and a block to close out the set.
MSU scored the first three points of the third set and kept a lead the entire set. The Bears, who outhit A&M .211 to .023 in the frame, later used a 5-1 run to take their largest lead at 15-9. A&M made another charge, going on a 6-1 run to get within 16-15. A&M stayed within a point at 17-16, but a kill by MSU and three consecutive A&M attack errors put the Bears ahead, 21-16. A&M got within three points at 21-18, but a serving error by the Aggies and a kill by MSU put the Bears up 23-18. The teams then traded points until Cara Hackmann clinched the sweep with a kill for MSU.
"We started off each set down by four or five points, and for the whole time we were playing comeback," Corbelli said. "We were really close so many times, but it's just inexperience I think. We were really uptight for whatever reason.
"Our goal was to come here and play some great volleyball and learn a lot and get a lot of experience, see where we need to be focusing our efforts every single day in practice. It certainly is clear to us what we need to do."
MSU's Christine McCartney led all players with 13 kills, and teammate Shayla Patrick had eight blocks, including four solo blocks.
The Bears' Melissa Gmur led all players with 16 digs, and Tori Mellinger (Dallas, Texas) led the Aggies with 12 digs.
A&M concludes the tournament with two matches on Saturday, taking on North Carolina and Ohio at noon and 5:30 p.m. respectively.
The Aggies are 5-1 all-time against North Carolina and have won the last three meetings. A&M and Ohio will be meeting for the first time
Live scoring of the matches will be available at AggieAthletics.com.
