Texas A&M
10-3, 2-0SEC
Tennessee
7-10, 0-3SEC
Aggies Sweep Tennessee, Move to 2-0 in SEC
Oct 03, 2014 | Volleyball
Thirteen of 15 A&M players contributed in the victory as the Aggies won their third consecutive match and improved to 10-3 overall and 2-0 in SEC play. Tennessee, playing its SEC home opener, suffered its third straight loss and dropped to 7-10, 0-3.
A&M led the entire first set despite using a new lineup, as Aggie head coach Laurie Corbelli wanted to give other players an opportunity to gain more experience. Sophomore middle blocker Darby Graff drew the first start of her career, as did senior outside hitter Sydney Wilhelm, with sophomore Emily Hardesty moving to the libero position.
The Aggies, who outhit Tennessee, .500 to .222 in the set, held a 14-10 lead when A&M exploded for eight unanswered points. Angela Lowak later put the Aggies at set point with her fourth kill, but the Lady Vols countered with a kill to stay alive. Lowak then came back with her fifth kill to close out the set.
Tennessee had an early 5-3 lead in the second stanza before Ashlie Reasor, Wilhelm, Lowak and Graff each had a kill during a 4-0 run to return the lead to the Aggies. The Lady Vols were able to get to within 10-9 but could get no closer as the Aggies pulled away, building their largest lead at 17-12. A&M then committed a service error and an attacking error before the teams began trading point for point. A&M eventually got to set point courtesy of a Tennessee serve that sailed long. A&M then committed a ball handling error before Wilhelm clinched the set with a kill.
A&M jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third set and continued to pull away with 11 players seeing action for the Aggies. Up 23-15, Lowak completed the sweep with back-to-back kills. A&M outhit the Lady Vols, .304 to -.045 in the final set.
Lowak led all players with 13 kills while hitting .370. Freshman setter Stephanie Aiple dished out 31 assists as eight different A&M players had at least one kill and helped A&M outhit UT .333 to .159 as a team. Wilhelm and Reasor tied for match-high honors in digs with nine apiece. Graff and Aiple tied for match-high honors in blocks with three each.
A&M continues its road swing on Sunday, facing No. 13 Kentucky, at 5 p.m. (CT) in Lexington, Ky. The match against the Wildcats, who won their seventh consecutive match and improved to 13-2 with a 3-1 victory against Alabama tonight, will be televised by SEC Network.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M volleyball team on Facebook and on Twitter by following @AggieVolleyball.
Texas A&M Post-Match Quotes:
Texas A&M Head Coach Laurie Corbelli:
On getting the first SEC road win of the season...
“It's really important to get a road win in SEC play. It's a long, hard season. There are 18 matches. You get people in at your place nine times and you have to go and try to win on the road nine times, and to get started with a win in a huge arena with a great crowd and great atmosphere…I thought we executed really well. I thought our passing was superb, which really led us to get our offense going. And so I thought that win really propelled us and gave us a lot of confidence on the road, and we are looking forward to the next one.”
On the starting lineup adjustments...
“We are just trying to really do various things. I have a lot of talent on my team, and a lot of it is young. We want to make sure we are using it as much as we can and maximizing our talent. We really like our different new passing formations, as well as the things that [Darby] Graff has been doing in practice, and we just want to give kids opportunities to get in there and get some experience when they can. Using [Sydney] Wilhelm in the left a little bit, using [Kiara] McGee a little bit, just trying new things and trying to keep everything fresh is really going to hopefully add to all the different things we can do.”
On playing 13 of 15 players...
“I tried to get all 15 in. It's hard because a couple of them are defensive players and it's hard to kind of get in a rhythm in defense, but hopefully we will get that chance again. But I thought that everybody that went on the court went in with a great level of intensity. There weren't many mental mistakes at all. I was overall really, really pleased with the effort of the team tonight. In this arena, I wasn't sure how our serving and passing was going to go. Our serving was not great, but not bad. It's something that we have really been working on, and I'm seeing more consistency from our serving. I'm still looking for it to be tougher, especially from a serving interest.”
On playing No. 13 Kentucky on Sunday...
“I think we are ready. We have got a variety of lineups we can use. I think that's going in our favor. We've got a healthy group, and I think mentally they are very fresh and ready to go. So, yes I think the team is as ready as they will be, and we look forward to it.”
