Texas A&M
7-0
Washington State
5-2
A&M Captures Second Consecutive Tournament Title
Sep 03, 2011 | Volleyball
Win the win, the Aggies go 4-0 in the tournament and improve to 7-0 overall, the best season start since the 2007 team won its first 10 matches.
Washington State suffers its only loss of the tournament and drops to 5-2 overall.
A&M senior outside hitter Kelsey Black collected tournament MVP honors for the second consecutive weekend after averaging 4.17 kills per set while hitting at a .438 pace in four matches. Junior right-side hitter Alisia Kastmo also was named to her second consecutive all-tournament team.
As a team, A&M outhit the tournament field, .333 to .124, drawing praise from Aggie head coach Laurie Corbelli.
"We've really be concentrating on our offense, working on better rhythm, working on expanding our shot selection and working on minimizing our errors," she said. "All three things were the main reason we were able to go undefeated this weekend.
"For any great offense, you have to also have the ball control to back it up, and our passing and ball control were so good and our hitters just kept getting better. We haven't seen hitting percentages like this in a long time."
With the title at stake, there were 17 ties and six lead changes in the tightly contested first set between the Aggies and the Cougars. The Aggies equaled their biggest lead at 21-18 after a 4-1 run, but WSU scored four unanswered points to take a 22-21 lead. The teams exchanged points and WSU was serving for the set after Meagan Ganzer put down her seventh kill. A&M's Lindsey Miller put down one of her five kills in the set, and Black gave A&M a 25-24 lead, pushing the ball to an open back corner for a kill. Jaicee Harris put down a kill to tie the score before Black went down the line to post her sixth kill. Tori Mellinger followed with an off-speed shot over the block to clinch the set for the Aggies.
A&M outhit WSU, .361 to .237 in the opening frame, and in the second set, the Aggies hit .393 while holding the Cougars to a .000 hitting percentage. WSU had gotten within 11-9 before the Aggies went on a 9-3 run. Then with A&M leading 20-13, Aggie setter Allie Sawatzky posted three kills during a four-point rally to put A&M serving for the set. WSU got a kill and A&M hit into the net to put the Cougars within 24-15 before Mellinger split the block for a kill to close out the set and give the Aggies a 2-0 lead.
Things continued to go in A&M's favor to start the third set. After Mellinger got a kill down the line to open the set, Sawatzky recorded an ace when her serve hit the tape, rolled over the net and fell on WSU's side. Then on the next play, Black dug a hard driven ball that sailed back over the net and fell untouched deep in the Cougars' court.
A&M went on to build a 5-0 lead, but WSU fought back, eventually posting its own 5-0 run to take its first lead at 17-15. The Cougars later held an 18-17 edge before Miller teamed for a block and followed with three consecutive kills and a solo block to put A&M up, 22-18. Black then recorded her 11th kill of the match, and Miller scored again as she and Mellinger posted a block. A&M ended the match on an 8-0 run with Mellinger closing out the contest with her 11th kill.
Miller tied Ganzer for match-high honors with 12 kills, but Miller had zero errors in 20 attempts for a .600 hitting efficiency while Ganzer was held to a .189 hitting efficiency and was the only Cougar to reach double figures. Miller tied teammate Elise Hendrickson with a match-high four blocks. Aggie libero Megan Pendergast led all players with 10 digs, and Sawatzky finished with seven kills, seven digs and 31 assists.
"We saw a lot of different styles, a lot of different defenses and I'm convinced that this weekend will prove to be a huge step for us as we pursue our goals," Corbelli said. "It feels awesome to be 7-0. It has been awhile that we have been this dominant in the preseason. We want to continue that. I believe the team knows where we have to improve and they won't settle or be complacent. They are a driven and ambitious group, and they only want to get better."
The Aggies return to action next weekend as they participate in the Ladyjack Invitational, hosted by Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas. A&M faces the host Ladyjacks on Friday, Sept. 9 at 6 p.m. at Shelton Gym. The Aggies conclude the tournament against Northern Illinois on Saturday at 10 a.m.
Tournament Results:
Thursday, September 1
Portland def. Butler, 3-1 (20-25, 25-15, 25-20, 25-18)
Texas A&M def. Portland, 3-1 (25-13, 25-17, 21-25, 25-18)
Friday, September 2
Washington State def. Nevada, 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-20)
Texas A&M def. Butler, 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-17)
Butler def. Nevada, 3-1 (25-21, 29-27, 27-25)
Washington State def. Portland, 3-2 (25-19, 20-25, 25-18, 17-25, 15-12)
Saturday, September 3
Texas A&M def. Nevada, 3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-20)
Washington State def. Butler, 3-1
Texas A&M def. Washington State, 3-0 (27-25, 25-15, 25-18)
7:30 p.m. Portland vs. Nevada
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