No. 21 Texas A&M 3, Texas 0
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COLLEGE STATION, Texas
- The No. 21 Texas A&M
Aggies defeated the University of Texas volleyball team, 3-0, in a
Big 12 Conference match that kicked off the second half of the conference
schedule on Friday night at A&M's
G. Rollie White Coliseum. Texas A&M (16-5, 8-3 Big 12) used convincing
wins of 30-15, 30-17, 30-23 to earn the victory over Texas (10-10,
5-6 Big 12).
Texas played without its top hitter and blocker - freshman middle blocker Brandy Magee (Mission Viejo, Calif./Capistrano Valley) - who returned to her family's home of Summit, Miss. to attend to a family emergency.
"Tonight wasn't about volleyball for our team," Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott said after the match. "Our minds and our hearts weren't here tonight; they were with Brandy and her family. We wanted to come out and play the match for her, but A&M is just too good. We cancelled practice on Thursday and didn't prepare for them at all, and we were using a lineup we hadn't practiced with before. I am very proud of our team for sticking with their hearts tonight. All we can do now is keep Brandy in our thoughts and get mentally prepared for Missouri on Wednesday (Oct. 29) night."
Texas came out of the gates slow, falling behind 16-6 in the first game. The Longhorns used a side out and back-to-back aces by junior Mira Topic (Kastela Kambelovac, Croatia/Vladimir Nazor) to pull within seven points, but A&M closed the game with a 14-6 run. The Aggies dominated the net in hitting, recording a .414 attack percentage, while limiting the Longhorns to their season-low 30-point game attack percentage of -0.86. Senior Kathy Hahn (Leander, Texas/Leander) had three of UT's six total kills in the game. A&M registered 15 kills.
A&M continued its strong play in the second game, again posting 15 kills to the Longhorns' 10. The Aggies had a .369 attack percentage, while Texas improved to .133 in game two. The two teams played evenly with A&M leading 9-8 before the Aggie posted a 9-4 run to move ahead for good. Melissa Munsch served 10-straight points including five aces - as A&M built its lead to 28-15. As a team, the Aggies had seven aces in the game.
The Aggies extended a 5-0 lead to open the third game. Bethany Howden (Austin, Texas/Westlake) made a side out to break the A&M run but the Aggie's gained serve back on a Carrie Moreira kill making the score 6-1. The Aggies continued to hold the lead, closing the game with a seven-point lead.
The match also marked the first time Hahn faced her younger sister, Christi, who is a freshman middle blocker for the Aggies. Christi did not play in the teams' first meeting on Oct. 1 in Gregory Gym. Kathy went face-to-face with Christi in the game's final two points, blocking one of Christi's attacks back into play.
Howden led the team with nine kills while Kathy Hahn added eight kills and a .333 attack percentage. A&M's Laura Jones led the Aggie's with 15 kills, and Munsch and Kendra Felder each added nine kills. A&M had a .357 attack percentage while holding the Longhorns to a .126 attack percentage on the night.
The Longhorns return to action on Wednesday, Oct. 29 in a 7 p.m. match at Gregory Gym on the UT campus. Live stats and an audio broadcast can accessed at www.TexasSports.com.
