Texas A&M
7-2
Florida State
10-0
Florida State Holds Off Texas A&M, 3-1
Sep 19, 2014 | Volleyball
The Seminoles improve to 10-0, while the Aggies, who entered the match riding a five-match win streak, fall to 7-2.
The Aggies held a 12-10 lead in the first set before FSU reeled off four unanswered points to go up 14-12. The Seminoles would go on to build their largest lead of the entire match at 20-15, but A&M charged back, outscoring FSU, 5-1 to get within 21-20. The Aggies, however, were unable to get any closer as the Seminoles regained serve with a kill and then got a block to go up 23-20 leading into an A&M timeout. FSU served long coming out of the timeout, and A&M junior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan teamed with freshman setter Stephanie Aiple to block FSU's kill leader, Nicole Walch, to put the Aggies back within a point, 23-22. A&M was then called for a foot fault on the serve, and FSU aced its serve to close out the first set.
There were 13 ties and three lead changes in the second set. A&M had led by as many as three points and held a 17-15 lead when FSU scored three consecutive points to take its first lead since 2-1. A&M sophomore outside hitter Emily Hardesty ended the run and tied the score at 18-18 with a kill, but the Seminoles came back with a kill and an ace to go up 20-18. FSU then committed three attack errors, including an attack into a block by Sullivan and Aiple that returned the lead to A&M, 21-20. The teams exchanged points and were knotted at 23-all when Aggie sophomore middle blocker Jazzmin Babers put down a kill to put A&M at set point. Junior outside hitter Angela Lowak then served a ball that hit off the tape and fell in for an ace to seal the 25-23 win and even the match at a set apiece.
The Aggies took their largest lead of the match at 8-3 in the third set, but FSU countered, outscoring A&M, 8-2 to take its first lead of the frame, 11-10. There would be a match-high 16 ties and five lead changes in the set, with the Seminoles using a 3-0 surge to build their largest lead at 19-17. A&M responded with its own 3-0 rally to regain the lead at 20-19, but FSU got kills from Katie Horton and Sarah Burrington to regain the lead. Sullivan tied the score with a kill, but A&M was whistled for a ball handling error on the ensuing play and then hit long as FSU went up, 23-21. A&M came back and evened the score at 23 and then held off one set point to tie the score at 24-24 before FSU put down an overpass and then blocked an A&M attack to pull out the 26-24 win and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Just like the other sets, the fourth stanza was tightly contested with 11 ties and three lead changes with the final 25-21 score representing the largest lead by either team in the set. The Aggies equaled their largest lead of the frame at 17-14 before FSU went on a 6-1 run to go up 20-18. A&M got within 20-19 but could get no closer. The Aggies trailed, 23-21, when Horton posted back-to-back kills to secure the victory for FSU and keep the Seminoles undefeated.
Sullivan led A&M with 13 kills while hitting .333, and Lowak also reached double-digit kills with 12 and also had five blocks to lead the team with 15.5 points. Sophomore libero Victoria Arenas tallied a team-high 16 digs, and Hardesty added 11 digs, while Babers took team-high honors in blocks with seven. Aiple, the reigning ESPNW national player of the week after leading the Aggies to back-to-back victories over then-No. 6 USC and then No. 13 San Diego last week at the USC Classic in Los Angles, dished out 42 assists.
Walch led the Seminoles with 20 kills but was held to a .186 hitting efficiency. Horton finished with 15 kills while hitting .406. Libero Katie Mosher led all players with 18 digs, and Burrington took match-high honors with eight blocks.
As a team, FSU outhit A&M, .204 to .174, leading in kills, 57-52, and blocks, 14-11.
A&M gets another opportunity to hand the Seminoles their first loss of the season tomorrow as the teams face off again at 11 a.m. at Reed Arena.
Volleyball BINGO cards will be given out, and prizes will be given to those who present a winning card at the 12th Man table located on the concourse. Also a post-match autograph session will be held on the court following the match. Autograph cards will be provided.
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.
Post-Match Quotes:
Texas A&M Head Coach Laurie Corbelli
On the match overall…
“We didn't have all of our attackers really in rhythm. We didn't have our outside attacking where it's been, which is puzzling for me because it's been really dependable and strong and smart. We don't have the arms that they have on the outside, but we do have height. We play high. We have some pretty ferocious attackers. We just couldn't get a rhythm, and we really struggled scoring out there. That was just unusual for us.”
On FSU's attacking…
“They were ripping our seam. They set the ball really fast and really inside. Our blockers did the best they could. It was really, really fast and really inside from something we've ever seen before.”
On A&M's defensive response…
“I'm really encouraged with our blocking. I think the hardest part was the speed that started tearing up our block. It is something we have to adjust to. I like how we adjusted, and I like that we played it really tight. I really thought those were really good plays and almost score on any team. I felt the things that were in our control to score; we didn't score when we could have or really needed to. I think that's just hitting. It's, just attacking, the basics of attacking. We were in and out of it, honestly.”
On the team's performance during the fourth set…
“I think it's in the meat of the set that we sometimes start to either build some momentum, and then when we lose it, we lose it really big. We're just a little bit inconsistent, although the scores were still pretty close. It was really tightly contested. Honestly, I think it was a run of errors by us in a lot the situations. We did make two or three errors in a row quite often. That's uncharacteristic of us over the last two weeks.”
“[Tonight you saw] really good volleyball players and really good college volleyball. We had a fantastic crowd. I thought to play at that level after losing five players- four which started- from last year's team, and having such a new group in front of their fans and family at Reed Arena, to just play with such conviction and pride and they play so hard, I'm just incredibly proud of our team and how far they've come in such a short time. I'm extremely proud of our older players that are leading the young ones and setting the tone. I have nothing to be upset about, honestly. I'm just a bad loser, and yet we get a chance tomorrow again, and that really excites me. It makes me want to win even more. It makes me want my team to know they can do it, and they have an opportunity.”
Texas A&M junior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan
On playing against FSU's different style of blocking …
“They were in system a lot. They were coming fast at us, attacking us. They had three hitters getting big approaches, up every time, always running an 'x' play, a cross, and just coming at us at different zones, too. They were mixing it up every time.”
On taking on a leadership role on the team…
“I think I'm taking on that [leadership] role. I trust my teammates so much, and they trust me. They're constantly giving me feedback. I give them feedback. We have great communication with each other.”
