Driven to prove it belonged after not making the NCAA Tournament for three years, the Texas A&M volleyball team went into last weekend's first and second rounds with an attitude. That approach got the Aggies through two matches, and it's what they'll need when they play second-ranked Texas in the Sweet 16.
The Aggies were smarting from being passed over in recent years by the NCAA selection committee, and they responded by beating Arizona and host Louisiana State in the first two rounds of the Tournament.
A&M reached the NCAA playoffs for 13 consecutive seasons before missing out in 2006. The Aggies came to think of themselves as part of the national tournament during that run, but three years without an NCAA bid gave A&M coach Laurie Corbelli the feeling of an outsider trying to prove her team belonged.
"We finally were given an opportunity to be in their Tournament," Corbelli said. "As much as we all thought we deserved it in previous years, it didn't happen. We're kind of ... I don't know how you say it ... super, incredibly determined because we want to make sure we're making the most of our opportunity."
That resolve carried the Aggies past Arizona and LSU, marking the first time since early in the 2004 season that A&M won consecutive matches against nationally ranked teams. It also lifted the Aggies into a third-round matchup against Big 12 champion Texas, which is the top team in the nation according to RPI rankings used to help seed teams in the Tournament.
The Aggies (20-10) and the Longhorns (26-1) will play the opening match of the Omaha Regional at 4:30 p.m. Friday at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb. The second semifinal will pair Big 12 teams Iowa State (27-4) and Nebraska (25-6). Those semifinal winners will play in the regional championship match at 8 p.m. Saturday for a berth in the Final Four.
Texas swept A&M in both of their regular-season matches, stretching its winning streak against the Aggies to 11. A&M's last victory over UT came in 2004.
"We're going to have to be mental monsters," Corbelli said. "We are counting on our team being incredibly loose and tough-minded, like we played the last two matches. It's going to be all about our mindset and how willing we are to approach this game with a strong belief that it can be done."
The Longhorns' only loss of the season came at Iowa State. UT is led by Big 12 Player of the Year Destinee Hooker, who won the high jump championship at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in College Station last spring. The Horns have another All-American in Ashley Engle along with a third member to the all-conference first team in Juliann Faucette.
"It's such an incredibly physical Longhorn team," Corbelli said. "They're big. They jump high. They hit so hard, and they hit from such a high contact point. That's what is hard to stop. It's very unusual in our game to have that many players at that level."
Although Corbelli is generous with compliments for A&M's rival, she isn't offering a concession.
"We're not just saying, 'Yippee, we got in the Sweet 16!' We're going with a huge purpose and a huge goal," Corbelli said.
Thinking big comes easier after a huge weekend. The Aggies overcame more than two ranked teams in Baton Rouge, La., prevailing with one of their top players suspended for the first-round match and several players suffering from food poisoning before the second match.
A&M opened the tournament with a 3-1 victory over Arizona despite playing without senior outside hitter Sarah Ammerman, who leads the team in kills and ranks fourth on the school's career list. Ammerman was suspended one match for breaking a team rule, but sophomore Kelsey Black filled in and delivered a career-best 17 kills. Senior right-side hitter Jennifer Banse also posted her career high with 23 kills.
In the second round, Ammerman returned with 26 kills as A&M outlasted SEC champion LSU 18-25, 26-24, 23-25, 25-23, 15-10. The Aggies had lost all three of their five-set matches during the regular season.
It also was the first time A&M won two road matches to reach the NCAA regional semifinals.
"It is such a sweet feeling because there was a lot of adversity," Corbelli said. "The way I look at it, we actually did learn from a lot of things we suffered through this year. It paid off.
"We knew we had seen great volleyball, for the past 11 weeks [during conference play] especially, so the level of confidence and momentum that we were carrying into the Tournament was really noticeable. The girls played so loose and relaxed and confidently."
Corbelli has no doubt that the four Big 12 teams landed in the same regional because of a backlash after the conference put three teams into the Elite Eight last year. She also expects Nebraska fans to support the Aggies in the match against Texas.
"It's somewhat disappointing, obviously, that we all have to meet this early in the Tournament," she said. "I don't think there's a lot of people up in Nebraska who want the Longhorns to win, just from a perspective of all their sports. I think that we will be the favorite for the majority of them."
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