Mary Batis had waited too long for this moment, so when she was the first to see Texas A&M's name go up on the television during the NCAA volleyball tournament selection show Sunday it wasn't surprising to see her jump out of her seat.
What happened next, though, was a little startling.
"I don't know what the heck happened. I jumped up and nobody else did, so I sat back down," Batis said. "I was expecting a room of jumping, screaming girls. It was very quiet. You would have thought we hadn't made the tournament."
In retrospect, the senior outside hitter saw it as everyone collectively taking a breath after finally making the tournament following the disappointment of just missing out the past two years, plus having to sit through the first half of this year's show before getting the official word they were in.
"I think just relief and there are so many young players that really didn't know how to react," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "The seniors, I think tears were coming, not knowing how to react."
A&M (18-10) will play Arizona (19-10) in the opening round at 5 p.m. Friday at the Maravich Center on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge, La. The winner will face the winner of the matchup between No. 15 seed LSU (24-6) and Tulane (18-9).
"I think it's a really, really good draw for us," Corbelli said. "Arizona is incredibly physical; their smallest player isn't under 6-foot-2 across the front line and they are very talented and well coached.
"That's our first challenge and after that, LSU we've seen many, many times. The four teams make a great field and it will take a tough, tough team to get out of it."
Under Corbelli, A&M had gone to the tournament for 16 straight years, a string that ended in 2006 when the Aggies had a sub-.500 record.
The two years after going 12-16, the Aggies were 21-10 and 16-14 with fourth-place finishes in the Big 12. Both times, players and coaches left the selection show disappointed.
The four seniors, with a career 67-50 record, had never experienced postseason play. On Sunday they were joined at the lounge in their new home, Reed Arena, by a handful of freshmen who watched intently and kept their celebration to a small cheer and a big smile.
"Yeah, they don't get it. They are going to be spoiled after this," said senior Jennifer Banse, who was confident the Aggies would make the tournament. "They haven't had three years of huge disappointment."
A&M tied Baylor and Oklahoma for fourth in the Big 12 standings at 11-9. The suspense for the Bears and Sooners was over early with their names being put up in the first half of the selection show.
"Last year Iowa State made it and we didn't, and we were tied with them in the Big 12 and we had just beat them two weeks before the selection show," Batis said. "Seeing Oklahoma go should have made me more comfortable, but it didn't because I know what happened last year and I know the NCAA selection committee is unpredictable."
A&M is in the same regional (Omaha, Neb.) as the three seeded Big 12 teams -- No. 2 Texas, No. 7 Iowa State and No. 10 Nebraska. That means unless Baylor or Oklahoma pull off major upsets, only one Big 12 team has an opportunity to make the national semifinals.
Last season, Nebraska and Texas made the semifinals and Iowa State reached the quarterfinals.
"That's very disappointing. It kind of says that we [the Big 12] really don't mean much and only one of these teams can make it to the final four," Corbelli said. "I don't know the criteria. I know there are restrictions on the committee to selecting teams and where they are going to go. It's very disappointing, though, and I don't know what led them to do this."
If A&M makes it past the first weekend, their likely opponent would be Texas.
"I hope for [the Aggies] it's a big thrill, for me it certainly is. I missed going," Corbelli said. "Hours have gone by after those selection shows where the players wouldn't leave the place because they were in shock. It's been a real big eye-opener as a coach, of how much they want to go and represent their school."
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NOTES -- Jennifer Banse's teammate and best friend from San Antonio Churchill, Sam Dabbs, is the setter for LSU. ... A&M setter Kristen Schevikhoven transferred as a sophomore from Northern Colorado, which made the tournament for the first time in its four years as a Division I team. ... A&M won its last four matches, with the key victory being the first of the four at Oklahoma. ... A&M was 4-8 against teams that made the tournament.
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