Senior outside hitter Kelsey Black led the Aggies' charge with 16 kills while hitting at a .364 clip, and junior right-side hitter Alisia Kastmo tied her career high with 13 kills while hitting .423. Sophomore setter Allie Sawatzky tallied 42 assists as A&M outhit UTSA, .301 to .203, for the match.
Three A&M players reached doubles figures in digs, led by junior libero Tori Mellinger's 17. Senior outside hitter Chelsea Ringel pitched in 12, and Black added 10 digs.
UTSA took its only lead of the first set at 9-8 but was unable to hold the lead as A&M went on a 7-1 run to take it its largest lead at 15-10. The Roadrunners got back within 17-16, but an untimely service error prevented UTSA from tying the set. The Roadrunners' next chance to tie the score was at 24-23 after fighting off two set points, but Black ended their comeback hopes with her fourth kill of the match.
UTSA jumped out to a 13-6 lead in the second set, but once again the Aggies charged back, reeling off several runs of points during a 16-6 rally to take a 22-19 lead. UTSA could get no closer than two points for the remainder of the frame and trailed 23-21 when Black put down back-to-back kills to end the set and give the Aggies a 2-0 lead going into the break.
The Roadrunners took their only lead of the third set at 14-13 following consecutive kills by Brittney Malloy, but a UTSA service error and an attack error returned the lead to the Aggies. UTSA tied the score three times before A&M went on a 6-1 run to go up, 23-18. UTSA cut the deficit to three points at 23-20 and 21-24 before Miller put down the match-winning kill.
Whitney Walls and Dempsey Thornton led UTSA (0-2) with nine kills apiece, and libero Kelsey Jewasko had a team-leading 16 digs.
In addition to outhitting the Roadrunners, A&M also led in kills (50-38), assists (48-35), aces (6-1) and digs (56-40). UTSA led in blocks, 5-3.
The tournament concludes Sunday at 12:30 p.m. with A&M facing a rematch with Creighton (1-1).
Quotes:
HEAD COACH LAURIE CORBELLI
Opening statement:
"Winning and
playing well is fun, especially on first day when you have lots of hitters and
lots of adrenaline and you're able to calm it down just a little bit and get
into it early and keep that rolling. Even when the other team manages to score
runs of points on you, we were able to keep track and score points today. "
Talk about the second
set...
"We just couldn't put the ball down, and there were a couple
of errors here and there. I was just really impressed with UTSA. I called one
timeout in the second set when we were down by eight points. Really it wasn't
the volleyball as much as it was our focus. We were thinking about the errors
we made; we were worrying about it a little. I could see it on their faces.
There was some stress. I think they're really working hard on letting that go.
I think we really need to focus on that and emphasize that. The game is too
fast, you get away too quickly if you focus on that."
On Kastmo's play and
her getting a good start to the season...
"It was a great start. We've been working to adjust the
different heights of the sets where she can get most comfortable. She's just
playing all the way around now. What a difference a year makes in a player like
that who's very physical and needs those years of playing under her belt. And
gaining confidence is a big thing for her. She's becoming more vocal and more expressive
on the court and in a team game like this, all of those things really do
matter."
On her making kills
in a game setting out of practice...
"When the whistle blew and she was asked to go get these
kills that she can do in practice, that was the telling moment for her; how she
is going to handle the competition, how defenses try to stop her. Getting good
position is such a key thing for her and it determines the outcome of her swing
and she was working really hard to get the best she could."
SENIOR OUTSIDE HITTER KELSEY BLACK
On Kastmo beating her
in kills and how that could benefit the team down the road...
"Most of it is just because we know what Alisia is capable
of. I tell her everyday that she is built for this and has that much potential.
She is made physically to do what she did today, and it's really exciting when
she can go out and do what she did today."
Did you feel more
comfortable out there tonight than against Creighton...
"Yeah, the biggest thing fore me that we've been working a
lot on is figuring out when I can score, and I realized that I don't have to
swing full to score. I can do so many different things than just swing real
hard. And that way I'm not near as tired in the second game, when beforehand I
would be winded."
On the team's defense
tonight...
"I think definitely one of our team strengths is our
defense. We've gotten really good at getting in the right spot and getting
what's right in front of us. That takes a ton of pressure off of our hitters,
because they know if they don't get the set that they want and the hit that
they want then they're going to hit the ball over and get a second shot at it
when the defense makes a dig."
Complete tournament schedule/results:
Friday, August 26
Creighton def. UTSA, 3-2 (25-15, 25-19, 25-27, 16-25, 16-14)
Texas
A&M def. Creighton, 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-16)
Texas
A&M def. UTSA, 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-21)
Saturday, August 27
Texas A&M vs. Creighton 12:30 p.m.
Tickets: $9 for reserved seats; $7 for adult general admission; $4 for youth (ages 2-high school) general admission. Children under 2 are admitted free in general admission sections. Single match as well as season tickets can be purchased at the Reed Arena entrance, online at AggieAthletics.com, or by calling 888-99-AGGIE.
Free parking for volleyball fans is available in lots 100a, 100b, 100g and 100f. Lot 102 is for handicap parking.
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