Texas A&M
3-1
Ohio
1-3
Aggies Improve to 3-1 with Sweep of Ohio
Sep 05, 2014 | Volleyball
Ohio was ahead, 6-4, in the opening frame when freshman setter Stephanie Aiple, who drew the first start of her young career, paired with junior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan for a block. Sullivan then stepped to the service line and tied the score with an ace. Sophomore middle blocker Jazzmin Babers gave A&M its first lead on the next play with a kill down the block, and the Aggies continued on a 6-0 pace to build a 10-6 advantage.
A&M would hold a lead for the remainder of the set, reeling off three unanswered points to build its largest cushion at 23-18. Ohio then rallied, getting within 23-22 before freshman opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor posted a kill to put A&M at set point. Ohio, which was narrowly outhit .200 to .184 in the set but led in kills, 16-11, got back within a point, 24-23, following a back-row kill, but Aggie sophomore outside hitter Emily Hardesty countered with a cross-court kill to close out the set.
Ohio jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set, but A&M chipped away and tied the score for the first time at 6-6 on a kill by junior outside hitter Angela Lowak. Ohio answered with a kill to keep the lead and held a 9-7 margin when Babers had back-to-back kills and teamed with Reasor for a block to give the Aggies their first lead in the frame. The teams traded points before Ohio used a 6-1 spurt to build a 17-13 lead. The Maroon and White responded with its own 6-1 run -- included three kills by Sullivan -- to retake the lead, 19-18. Ohio tied the set for the seventh time at 19-all but was unable to regain the lead as Lowak pounded a kill through the Bobcats' block. An Ohio attack error, followed by an errant overpass that set Reasor up for the kill gave A&M a 22-19 lead. A&M hit long on the next play, but Reasor posted a kill, and Lowak aced a serve to put the Aggies at set point. Reasor then got another kill to finish out the set to give A&M a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set was tied at 3-3 before the Bobcats used a 7-0 run to surge to a 10-3 advantage. Ohio continued to add on the points and took its largest lead at 16-8. A&M slowly began its comeback, with freshman defensive specialist Amy Nettles entering the match for the first time and getting some key plays in the back row. The Aggies had gotten within 19-14 before Lowak and Babers combined for five consecutive kills to knot the set, 19-19. Ohio got a kill and a block but then committed three consecutive attack errors, the third the result of a solo block by Babers that gave A&M a 22-21 lead. Ohio tied the score with a block, and the teams continued to trade points. Hardesty put A&M at match point, 24-23, but Ohio stayed alive with a lucky play in which a dig fell in for a kill. Undeterred, Sullivan put A&M at match point once again with a tip kill, and Hardesty finished off the set and the match with her ninth kill of the match.
A&M improved to 3-1 as it outhit Ohio, .291 to .235. The Bobcats, who led in blocks (7-6) and digs (43-37), fall to 1-3.
Individually, Reasor tied her career high and also tied Sullivan for the team lead in kills with 10. Sophomore libero Victoria Arenas led the Aggies with 11 digs, and Babers finished with four blocks. Aiple dished out 39 assists and scooped up seven digs.
Kelly Lamberti and Shelby Walker led the Bobcats with 10 kills apiece, and Meredith Ashy had a match-high 12 digs.
The Aggies play two matches on Saturday to conclude the tournament. A&M takes on Virginia Tech at 10 a.m. (9 a.m. CT) and then faces VCU at 5 p.m. (4 p.m. CT). The Hokies swept VCU is the first match of the tournament earlier today.
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 Head Coach Laurie Corbelli post-match quotes:
On overcoming 14-6 deficit in the third set to complete the sweep…
“I was so proud of the togetherness our team showed. Looking at the team down by eight points, you would not know that they were down. They kept their composure. They kept their belief. That was so important that they each continued to show that belief in each other and the belief that we are going to win. I thought Ohio had a great game plan and came out in Set 3 and really exploited us. We took such a long time to really adjust. Amy Nettles did a beautiful job coming in off the bench. Just her assignment, be here at this time, she was there, she made the play, done. That is what you want in any of your subs, but especially a freshman defensive specialist who is coming in for one of the first times in her career and just got it done. It was really important, because we weren't taking the tips very well.
“I thought our serving was really consistent; maybe not as aggressive as we would like to be, but it was consistent. We weren't missing a lot. We weren't giving away a lot of points. And our passers, we are trying to do the two-passer formation, and Emily (Hardesty) and Victoria (Arenas) are really doing a beautiful job.”
On freshman setter Stephanie Aiple getting her first career start…
“She did a really nice job. It is always a battle in our gym right now with our setters, really competing hard. I credit that competition between [Aiple and Kaysie Shebeneck] for both of their improvement. I like her distribution. I think our hitters are getting their rhythm. That is another issue is hitters getting rhythm with each of the different setters. As much as they are really not that different, they are still a little bit different. I think she is commanding the court really well, and I was really pleased. I thought she did a nice job.”
On Ohio taking early leads in every set and A&M's ability to overcome the deficit...
“I thought being the visitor against a very experienced team, we were going to get attacked from the beginning. They were going to come hard at us with their serve. They were going to come fast on their attack, and they did. I thought our blocking early really gave us a good advantage mentally. We at least could get our block together. We saw the pace of their attack, and could handle it to some degree, and that gave us some confidence early. And then we just kind of scratched and clawed our way back point-by-point. We didn't try to rush anything. We had great leadership from Shelby Sullivan. It was just constant talk, and I think our talk on the court was really important: information to each other; encouragement to each other. It started to get silent on the other side once we started scoring points with that communication. We are just really learning, and all the things we learned tonight are going to help us in the long run.”
On tomorrow's matches…
“We've got lots of things to work on. I think we are going to focus more on Texas A&M volleyball and our side of the court with the kinds of things we did today, from our serve receive to our blocking to our set distribution. And I think we are in a good mindset right now to come in and play really well.”
Tournament Results/Schedule:
Friday, Sept. 5
Virginia Tech def. VCU, 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-17
Texas A&M def. Ohio, 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 26-24
Saturday, Sept. 6 (all times are Central)
9 a.m. Texas A&M vs. Virginia Tech
11 a.m. VCU vs. Ohio
4 p.m. Texas A&M vs. VCU
6 p.m. Ohio vs. Virginia Tech
