Texas A&M
17-8, 9-5SEC
Tennessee
8-21, 1-14SEC
Aggies Earn 3-0 Sweep Over Tennessee
Nov 16, 2014 | Volleyball
With the win, the Aggies improve to 17-8, including 9-5 in Southeastern Conference play with only four matches remaining in the regular season. Tennessee suffers its sixth consecutive loss and drops to 8-21 overall and 1-14 in conference matches only.
A&M sophomore setter Kaysie Shebeneck, who drew the starting nod while freshman setter Stephanie Aiple rested after making 21 consecutive starts, directed the Aggie offense to a .312 hitting percentage with 38 assists. She also pitched in on defense, tying her career high and tying for match-high honors with six blocks as A&M held the Lady Vols to a .164 hitting efficiency.
A&M freshman opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor led all players with 10 kills while hitting .381, and sophomore outside hitter Emily Hardesty and sophomore middle blocker Jazzmin Babers added nine kills apiece for the Aggies.
Babers tied Shebeneck with six blocks and led all players with 12.5 points. Freshman libero Amy Nettles had a match-high 14 digs, and Hardesty and junior outside hitter Angela Lowak added 13 and 11 digs, respectively.
A&M never trailed in the opening set and held a narrow 17-16 advantage before junior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan's kill off the block began a 5-0 run by the Aggies. The Lady Vols would later use a 3-0 spurt to get within 23-20 before Babers got a kill from the right-side pin to put A&M at set point. The Lady Vols, who were outhit .263 to .150, stayed alive with a block, but Reasor followed with her fourth kill of the frame to close out the 25-21 win.
Tennessee held a 7-5 lead in the second set, but an attack sailed long to put A&M within 7-6. Lowak and Sullivan then recorded back-to-back kills to give the Aggies an 8-7 lead. A&M, which outhit the Lady Vols, .333 to .051 in the set, led for the remainder of the stanza, twice reeling off four unanswered points to build a 22-13 cushion. Tennessee's Jamie Lea then put down a kill, but the Lady Vols followed with three consecutive unforced errors as A&M won the set, 25-14, and took a 2-0 lead in the match.
A&M overcame a six-point deficit and outhit Tennessee .342 to .279 in the third set to complete the sweep. The Lady Vols had pulled out to an 11-5 lead when A&M outscored Tennessee, 10-2, to go up 15-13. The teams then traded points until Tennessee scored three consecutive points to regain the lead, 20-18. In a set that saw six lead changes and nine ties overall, Lowak knotted the score for the sixth time with a kill, and Reasor followed with a kill to return the lead to the Aggies, 21-20. Tennessee tied the score at 21 and 22 before Raina Hembry got a kill to put the Lady Vols ahead, 23-22. Hardesty then came through with back-to-back kills, and Reasor followed with a kill to close out the match.
Kanisha Jimenez and Ashley Mariani led the Lady Vols with eight kills each, and Jimenez also took team-high honors in digs with 12.
A&M has a midweek match at Arkansas, as the Aggies look to avenge a loss to the Razorbacks earlier this season at Reed Arena. First serve is Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville, and the match will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
A&M returns to Reed next Sunday, Nov. 23, for its regular-season home finale against Missouri. It will be “Senior Day,” and senior outside hitter Sydney Wilhelm will be honored following the match.
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 depending on setter Kaysie Shebeneck to run the offense today…
“You should see her work every day in practice. When we announced that Stephanie [Aiple] was going to be the starter back in September, Kaysie never missed a beat. She has a level of commitment that's rarely seen at the collegiate level. I never doubted her. I never worry about it. It's such a treat for us as coaches to have someone like Kaysie on our team. I've known it from the day I met her that she would be that kind of teammate and that kind of player for our program.”
On setter Stephanie Aiple being out today…
“She had a procedure done on Thursday that we knew would be a tough one. We figure that it was going to change our lineup a little bit. We were going with Kaysie obviously. It was just a no brainer. Kaysie works every day in practice the same number of hours and minutes that the other girls do. In her position, the way we practice she sees most of the hitters when they swing. It's not real different. The main difference is probably having to command the court, and that's one of the things Kaysie does best. We told Steph not to suit up while she heals, and we didn't miss a beat.”
On running different plays…
“Kaysie is the kind of setter that likes to run different things and think outside of the box a little bit. I like that about her. Look at the back bumps that she did. She was running out to the right sideline and bump set a ball to a spot behind her and nailed it -- almost better than some of her front sets with her hands -- to our outside hitter who got a huge swing. That's one of the things she does best. She had two or three of those running off the court, bump set crosscourt to a spot. I challenge anybody to go out and try to do that. I can't do that. She likes to have the variety and keep people guessing with what she's going to throw at them, and I like that a lot.”
On the slow start in the third set…
Tennessee changed their lineup and used a new outside hitter. I thought [Ashley Mariani] was really doing some good things. It was hard for us to slow her down. [Jamie Lea] came in. She is one of their better athletes. She hits from really high. She got some kills off the bat and got them some momentum. I think we did see some lulls there, but we did recover. For me that's what I was looking for. We identified what we needed to change and worked to change it. As a group of primarily freshmen and sophomores, that was really important to me that they found a way to turn it around.”
Sophomore setter Kaysie Shebeneck
On starting today…
“The team was phenomenal today. When Laurie announced what was going to happen this match, she gave a great pregame speech for us and just laid out flat what we were going to do. I think that was significant in the win today. The team prepared and handled the adversity extremely well. That just gives a person and a teammate so much confidence. 'Team' was definitely the defining word for today.”
What it was like being out there…”
“It was definitely a lot of fun. There were times we would be laughing in a good way or just smiling. Playing as one was good. I had a lot of fun, and it looked like my teammates had a lot of fun. It's fun to win.”
On Ashlie Reasor getting a lot of swings today…
“Personally I feel comfortable with all my hitters. I know that they are going to get the job done whenever they need to. Ashlie Reasor was just doing extremely well today. She deserved to get the ball. All the hitters deserve to get the ball, but she just did phenomenally today.”
On getting six blocks…
“That is also because of Jazzmin Babers, who is such a good blocker. She closes to me and I feel comfortable going up with her every time.”
