After toiling through a pair of five-set road games in its last two matches, the 16th-ranked Texas A&M volleyball team was happy to return home.
The Aggies showed just how happy they were on Wednesday night, firing on all cylinders to sweep Baylor, 30-19, 30-25, 30-23 at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
The Aggies (9-1, 2-0 in Big 12) had 50 kills against only 15 errors and hit .315 as a team. Baylor (8-3, 0-3) managed 41 kills and had 22 errors to hit only .160 as a team.
“One of the things that first comes to my mind is our attack was much sharper than it has been,” said A&M volleyball coach Laurie Corbelli. “We’ve been working at getting our offensive timing and our rhythm so that we have a little more deception and we break up the block a little bit. I thought tonight that was something that we did better than we’ve been doing.”
The Aggies set the tone for the match in the first game. A&M’s attack and defense was nearly flawless as the Aggies raced to a 23-10 lead when a service ace by Baylor’s Tatiana Kenon cut the lead to 23-11. It was Baylor’s first point off its own serve.
The teams traded points the rest of the way as the Aggies cruised to take the first game.
The Aggies hit .364 in the first game while Baylor could only manage a .050 hitting percentage.
The second game was neck-and-neck all the way as Baylor stepped up its play. Baylor took a 7-4 lead on a block by Tisha Schwartz and Kenon. A&M raced back to tie the game at eight on a kill by senior outside hitter Brandi Mount. After Mount’s kill, neither team could get farther than three points from each other, and the game was tied 12 times.
With the score tied at 25, senior outside hitter Michelle Cole put A&M ahead 26-25 with a kill. A&M freshman Melissa Munsch gave A&M the break it needed when her block gave the Aggies a 27-25 lead. A&M would score the last three points, closing out the game on a kill by Munsch.
Munsch, in the starting lineup for the second straight game, had another solid game. She finished tied for the team lead in kills with 11 and led the team in hitting at .438.
“She’s just a phenomenal athlete who learns quickly and has a great feel for the game,” Corbelli said. “I think she’s one of those types of players that was born to play volleyball.
With the Aggies ahead two games to none, they cruised to victory in the third. A&M opened up a nine point lead at 27-18 and held on to close the match out.
Baylor’s Stevie Nicholas had a team and match high 14 kills, followed by Kenon who tallied 11.
Cole tied for the A&M team lead in kills with 11, added eight digs and hit .429.
“I feel great,” Cole said. “You have to after a win like that. As an outside hitter, I know I felt a little off my game after Missouri so I spent some time working after practice and it just really came out tonight. Jenna [Moscovic] was setting butter. It was beautiful. I ate it up. I really think that helped our offense a lot. ”
The Aggies return to Big 12 action this Sunday when they travel to Ames, Iowa to take on the Iowa State Cyclones.