Sarah Ammerman's expression was a dead giveaway that what she was being told by the head referee was not what she and her teammates wanted to hear.
Texas A&M thought it had gotten to match point in Game 5, but after a lengthy conversation, the referees made the Aggies and Lady Bears replay the point. Baylor won it to go up 14-13, and after A&M saved four match points, 20th-ranked Baylor sealed an 18-25, 25-13, 25-27, 25-23, 18-16 victory in Big 12 play.
The Aggies (14-8, 7-7) thought they had taken a 14-13 lead in Game 5 when Baylor libero Allison King was called for setting the ball from behind the 10-foot line for an attack, which is illegal.
"[The head referee] told me that the the down ref saw the setter behind the line, saw the libero behind the line, and so that's what he has to go with," Ammerman said. "I just kept asking for clarification, and he kept telling me that's what the down ref saw and that's what he's going with."
But after the long discussion, the referees reached an impasse and had the teams replay the point.
The call, though it came at a crucial time in the match, was just one point in a back-and-forth affair.
A&M came from behind to win Game 1 and held on to a tightly played Game 3 that had 13 ties and five lead changes. Baylor (20-6, 9-6) easily won Game 2 and rallied from down 20-19 to win Game 4 and force the deciding set.
"I didn't think we played sharp enough to get the win," Corbelli said. "I thought we played with a lot of heart, a lot of desire, a lot of fight, a great team effort. We needed a little more luck and a lot fewer errors. We had double the hitting errors they had."
The Aggies had 94 digs, 10 more than the Bears, which allowed them to overcome an 18-6 block advantage by Baylor.
"That's the one thing that has kind of been holding us back in the past few matches," said A&M's Mary Batis, who had 22 digs. "We've been focusing on it, and tonight we came in determined to get every ball up and scrap. If the ball was 2 inches above the ground, we were going to get a hand under it. We made that commitment to each other before the match started and I was real pleased with the result."
The Bears, however, dominated with their middle blockers. Freshman Torri Campbell and preseason All-Big 12 senior Anna Breyfogle each had 17 kills and nine blocks. They also both hit over .400.
Ammerman had a match-high and season-high 26 kills.
A&M took a 2-1 match lead after being down 12-9 in Game 3. Jola Kelner entered the match at setter for a change of pace and led the Aggies to a 27-25 victory.
She then had the Aggies up 20-19 in Game 4 before Breyfogle pulled the Bears even with a kill. Then Jordan Rice served for five straight points. The Aggies thwarted three game points, but Ashlie Christenson ended A&M's rally attempt with a kill for a 25-23 win.
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NOTES -- A&M's next match is against No. 8 Iowa State, which will be coming off a 3-0 loss to No. 10 Nebraska in front of 10,000 fans at Ames. ... Mary Batis moved up the all-time A&M kills and digs chart, jumping over Elizabeth Edmiston (1989-92) for ninth with 1,335. She passed Melissa Munsch (2001-04) and Laura Jones (2002-2005) and is now seventh with 1,254. ... Ammerman has recorded 20 kills in three straight matches.
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