Texas A&M
13-3, 2-1Big 12
Kansas State
13-4, 2-1Big 12
A&M Sweeps K-State, Stays Undefeated at Home
Oct 01, 2011 | Volleyball
The Aggies (13-4, 2-1 Big 12) also remained undefeated at home, improving to 6-0.
Kansas State, which had not lost a match since getting swept by BYU on Sept. 3, drops to 13-4 overall and 2-1 in the Big 12.
"Obviously, we had to be very prepared for tonight's match," A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli said. "Kansas State is one of the hottest teams in the Big 12 right now. Our goal was to serve them tough and get our blocking going early. We had scouted them pretty well and our players responded beautifully with the plan, and I was mostly proud that we didn't have a lull in our game. I think it's been a little characteristic of us early in our season to have a drop off after a good run of points, and we really stayed consistent tonight."
A&M junior middle blocker Lindsey Miller took charge defending at the net, posting a career-high nine blocks to help A&M not only shut down the hottest team in the league, but also help the Aggies contain the league's top kills and points leader, Kaitlynn Pelger, who came in hitting .355 with 4.77 kills and 5.85 points per set. Tonight the Wildcats' standout middle was held to only eight kills and 10 points while hitting .038.
"I thought our serving was tough enough to discourage them to run their middle," Corbelli said. "It kept them a little bit out of system, which meant it's tougher to get the ball to your middle attacker when you're not at the net playing the ball. Lindsey had nine blocks, a career night for her, and that definitely disrupted their hitter tonight, but it definitely started with their passing."
A&M outhit the Wildcats in every set and ended the match with a .250 to .176 advantage. The Aggies also outblocked K-State, 10 to 5.5 and had four aces and only three errors. The Wildcats had two aces but committed 10 service errors on the night.
Aggie senior outside hitter Kelsey Black led all players with 16 kills while hitting at a .357 clip, and she completed her 10th double-double of the year with 10 digs. Junior libero Megan Pendergast tied Black for team-high honors in digs with 10. Sophomore setter Allie Sawatzky dished out 30 assists as A&M posted 42 kills to K-State's 37.
The Wildcats got off to a quick start, jumping out to a 12-6 lead in the opening set before the Aggie offense caught fire. Following one of K-State's five service errors in the set, A&M posted four consecutive kills to get within 12-11. A service error ended the run, and the Wildcats went on to build a 16-13 lead. Black then posted one of her five kills in the set, and K-State followed with an attack error as the Aggies continued to chip away at the lead. Black and Miller then blocked Pelger on consecutive plays to give A&M its first lead of the match, 17-16.
K-State regained the lead and was up 20-19 when A&M connected on five kills from five different players to be serving for the set. The Wildcats staved off two set points before junior right-side hitter Alisia Kastmo put down her fourth kill to close out the frame.
The Wildcats built a 12-10 lead in the second set before A&M erupted for eight unanswered points, with Miller posting four blocks during the run. K-State, which was outhit, .290 to .143 in the frame, never got closer than three points before Black blasted a kill down the line to clinch the set and a 2-0 lead for the Aggies.
K-State held a narrow 10-9 lead in the third set, but a service error and consecutive aces by A&M's Elise Hendrickson gave the Aggies a lead they would not relinquish. The Aggies, who outhit K-State .385 to .308 in the stanza, used three more three-point scoring runs during the set to eventually build a 24-17 lead. K-State setter Caitlyn Donahue posted a kill to keep the Wildcats alive, but Miller countered with a kill to secure the sweep for the Aggies.
Lilla Porubek led the Wildcats with 12 kills while hitting .476. Libero Kuulei Kabalis finished with a match-high 11 digs.
The Aggies head to Austin on Wednesday, Oct. 5 to take on the eighth-ranked Texas Longhorns in the first edition of the State Farm Lone Star Showdown. First serve is at 6:30 p.m. at Gregory Gym in Austin, and the match will be televised live by FSN.
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