COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M posted a thrilling 25-15, 19-25, 25-19, 21-25, 15-11 victory over No. 15 Colorado State tonight at Reed Arena, making it a rewarding evening for Aggie head coach Laurie Corbelli who was coaching the 900th match of her 30-year head coaching career.
Corbelli, in her 23rd season at the helm of the Aggies, received clutch performances across the board as A&M improved to 6-3 following its first ranked win of the season. A&M outside hittersEmily Hardesty and Angela Lowak each posted double-doubles, with Hardesty tallying 17 kills – one shy of her season high – while hitting .317 and Lowak adding season highs in both kills (16) and digs (14) while hitting at a .297 clip. Sophomore Ashlie Reasor came off the bench and pitched in nine kills without an error for a .529 hitting percentage.
Defensively, A&M sophomore libero Amy Nettles led A&M to a 78-61 advantage in digs as she tied her career high with 27, and redshirt middle blocker Jazzmin Babers tied her season high with 10 blocks as A&M outblocked the Rams, 16-9.
Junior setter Kaysie Shebeneck, who entered the match in the second set after starting setter Stephanie Aiple went down with a foot injury, dished out 30 assists while directing the A&M offense to a .278 to .156 hitting advantage over CSU.
The Aggies, playing in front of 1,177 on Fish Camp Night, quickly took control of the opening set, jumping out to a 6-0 lead. The Aggies, who hit .243 while holding CSU to a .079 hitting percentage, continued to pull away, building their largest lead at 19-7 on a Hardesty kill. The Rams rallied and got within 22-15 but served wide to put A&M up, 23-15. Senior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan and Aiple teamed for a block to put the Aggies at set point, and Lowak clinched the win with her fifth kill of the frame.
It was the Rams who took control early in the second set, jumping out to a 9-3 lead. CSU kept its six-point cushion at 13-7 before A&M began to chip away at the lead, with back-to-back kills by Babers and Sullivan pulling the Aggies within 16-13. The Rams then scored five unanswered points to surge to a 21-13 advantage. A&M countered with its own five-point run, with Lowak posting four consecutive kills followed by a block by Sullivan and Aiple to put the Aggies within 21-18. Aiple then suffered her injury on the next play, and the Rams took a 22-18 lead. Shebeneck came in and immediately set the hot-handed Lowak, who posted her seventh kill of the set, but the Aggies were unable to overcome the deficit as the Rams closed out the set with a kill, a block and an ace.
There were 10 ties and six lead changes in the third set. The Rams, whose 13 aces in the match were the most by an A&M opponent this season, had six aces in the third set alone, including back-to-back aces that put CSU ahead, 11-9. Babers then got a second-ball kill and followed with a solo block to tie the score, 11-11. Hardesty returned the lead to the Aggies with consecutive kills, forcing CSU to call a time out trailing 13-11.
The Rams got a kill and an ace coming out of the timeout to tie the score at 13-13, but they were unable to take the lead. The Aggies went on to build their largest lead at the time at 18-15 following a CSU attack into the net. The Rams got within two points three times before a CSU attack error, a block by Babers and Reasor and back-to-back Reasor kills put the Aggies at set point, 24-18. CSU, which was outhit, .364 to .049, got a kill to stay alive but was whistled for a ball handling error on the ensuing play, giving A&M the 25-19 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
Despite getting outhit, .194 to .186 in the fourth frame, the Rams managed to tie the match. The set was tied for the 10thtime at 16-all when CSU used a 5-1 run to go up, 22-17. The Rams’ next attack attempt sailed long, and Babers and Reasor put A&M within 22-19 with a block. Hardesty continued the scoring run, getting a kill that was made possible by Nettles’ diving pancake save. The Rams then hit long as A&M closed within 22-21. CSU’s Adrianna Culbert followed with two of her seven kills in the set to put the Rams at set point, and A&M hit into the net on the next play as the Rams evened the match at a set apiece.
A&M entered the final set with a 2-0 record in five-set matches this season, while CSU was playing in its first match to go more than three sets. The Aggies used a 4-0 run to take a 4-1 lead, but CSU would come back and tie the score at 7-all and again at 8-all. An A&M attack error would give the Rams their first lead since 1-0. Kills by Hardesty brought the Aggies back into a tie two more times before Reasor posted the go-ahead kill at 11-10. The Rams, who were outhit .381 to .182, then hit into the net to give A&M a 12-10 lead, but the Aggies hit into the net on the next play to keep the Rams within a point, 12-11. Reasor posted a cross-court kill and then teamed with Sullivan for a huge stuff block to put the Aggies at match point. CSU’s next attack attempt sailed wide, setting off a celebration for the home team.
Culbert finished with a team-high 15 kills for the Rams, who suffered their second consecutive loss and fall to 6-3.
A&M concludes its non-conference slate this weekend, taking on No. 18 Florida State on Friday at 6 p.m. (CT) at Tully Gym in Tallahassee, Fla., and Florida A&M at 11 a.m. (CT) on Saturday at Al Lawson Center in Tallahassee.
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Texas A&M quotes:
Head Coach Laurie Corbelli:
Opening statement…
“We’re thrilled we got a win over No. 15 Colorado State. Sometimes it feels like we get the opportunities to do these types of things, and we let them slip by too often. I saw it start to happen a bit in the second set, so I tried to find a way to get the team back on track and focused and determined. I was really proud how they came back. I don’t know that many programs have a back-up setter that can step in and do what Kaysie Shebeneck did. She works her butt off every day. She’s the ultimate team player. I’ve been saying she’s one play away from getting on the floor, and it’s not that I want that play to happen, but it happened. She got on the floor and did a beautiful job. I have a lot of respect for that. I am really proud of the players that came in and did the job that needed to be done.”
On the difference between set one and those to follow…
“Personally, I thought we did well. I think our short serves took them by surprise. Not many people short serve that consistently. I don’t think they knew how to get their offense going. They don’t get a big approach. It frustrated them really early, and they started making errors. They just couldn’t get rolling. A lot of those points on the scoreboard for us, we didn’t have to do anything for them other than serve a short ball or let them make an error. It was a false for us thinking we were just rocking and rolling. When set two happened, and they started playing, we took our foot off the gas pedal. It’s a game that shifts so quickly with momentum.”
On the return of seniors Angela Lowak and Shelby Sullivan…
“Nothing against the non-senior group, but with the seniors are out there, the experience is so invaluable in our sport. These seniors are so valuable for us. To have the seniors on the floor, they know how to calm the team. They know how to fire up the team, how to talk to the team and how to handle situations. It’s really nice to have that out there.”
On the upcoming match against No. 18 Florida State after suffering two losses to the Seminoles last season…
“I think third time’s the charm. The seniors as leaders really do a great job of reminding the team it takes team focus, team effort. I think we have fire power on both pins. We have setters that can do the job, as proven tonight. We’ve got to clean up some things, but I think they know that they’re very capable. Sometimes the confidence is a bit a hidden, but when it comes out and they play that way, they believe they can beat anybody on a good night. They have to make that night good.”
Texas A&M senior outside hitter Angela Lowak
On what the team learned and how will it help them against Florida State…
“After coming off of a tough weekend in Iowa we were so thirsty for a win, especially against a ranked opponent, because we’ve been given these opportunities in our pre-season schedule and haven’t necessarily capitalized on them so we knew it was our time to capitalize on this opportunity. We’ve seen we can do that against a great team, so now we just have to have that winning mentality all of the time.”
On Kaysie Shebeneck coming in at setter…
“Kaysie did a tremendous job. It was so easy. As Coach [Corbelli] said, she always works her butt off in practice and we’re always hitting off of her, so I had confidence in her completely when she stepped on the court. It was just like practice. I knew she would do everything she could to get the win.”
On how it felt to be in front of the home crowd as a senior…
“It was awesome. I always tell people the older you get the more carefree you are on the court, you can really embrace the good things about it, the crowd doesn’t make you nervous, it’s just such a great atmosphere. We had the corps there tonight, really represented so well, and just the student body as well. It was just a great crowd and a great atmosphere there tonight, and to show them good Aggie volleyball, it makes me so happy. ”
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics