Aggie volleyball team rallies from 2-0 deficit to beat No. 22 Sooners

  • By DAVID HARRIS

  • Posted: Thursday, October 13, 2011 7:00 a.m.
  • Text size: A A A


It took Texas A&M 10 years to rally from a 2-0 deficit for a victory on the volleyball court.


It took less than a week for the Aggies to do it again.


On the heels of a big comeback Saturday at Kansas, A&M rallied for a 22-25, 19-25, 25-17, 29-27, 15-11 victory Wednesday over No. 22 Oklahoma in Big 12 play at Reed Arena.


The Aggies (15-4, 4-2) pulled off a 14-25, 19-25, 27-25, 25-22, 15-12 victory over Kansas on Saturday in Lawrence, Kan., and watching the impressive back-to-back comebacks, A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli said she's come to some conclusions about her current team.


"To do this two times in a row, we've resolved that it says two things," Corbelli said. "No. 1, that we're a great comeback team and No. 2, we recognize that we have to work on stronger starts, period."


The hitting percentages told the story for the Aggies. In the first two games, the A&M attack couldn't get anything going against the OU block, hitting .100 and .048 respectively. But in the final three sets, A&M shored up its passing, kept feeding its playmakers, and it paid off in a big way. The Aggies hit .382, .212 and .300 in the decisive three games, finding ways around the Sooners' block.


While the Aggies started finding their offensive rhythm in the third game, not coincidentally, the Sooners (17-5, 4-2) had zero blocks in the set -- a trend that continued.


Lindsey Miller led A&M with her patented slide attack, notching a career-high 23 kills on .455 hitting.


"It was pretty incredible," Corbelli said. "I just think she's putting up some All-American numbers at this point in time."


Facing two match points down 24-22 in the fourth game, the Aggies got back-to-back kills from Alisia Kastmo and Elise Hendrickson to tie it at 24. A&M later spoiled a third match point in the back-and-forth game that included 10 ties and three lead changes and came out on top when Tori Mellinger delivered her third kill of the match.


Kastmo finished with 18 kills while hitting .325, and Hendrickson added 10 kills. A&M setter Allie Sawatzky had 60 assists, leading the Aggie attack that churned out a season-high 71 kills.


"[ Sawatzky] did excellent tonight," Miller said. "She put it where we needed it when we needed it."


Before the match, Corbelli pointed to Sooners' setter Brianne Barker as the overriding reason for OU's early-season success, and Barker gave Corbelli a first-hand look why.


Whether it was her precision passing leading the Sooners' offensive attack or her defense that often stifled the Aggies' hitters, Barker had a consistent imprint on the match. She finished with 49 assists, 17 digs, three kills and two assisted blocks.


"I think she's just really phenomenal," Corbelli said. "She's very hard to read. She delivers balls right on target. She's just one of the best."


The Sooners' triumvirate at the net -- Suzy Boulavski, Sallie McLaurin and Carlee Roethlisberger -- also caused the Aggies' hitters problems throughout the night. Those three helped OU notch 12 blocks in the first two sets.


But over the final three sets, OU managed just three blocks.


"As we continued to put more pressure on them," Black said, "it took the stress off."


The Aggies will travel to Lubbock to take on Texas Tech at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

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