The matchup between the No. 17 Texas A&M volleyball team and the Missouri Tigers Saturday night was a must win but not an easy win for the Aggies.
Coming off a four-game winning streak, including against No. 20 Colorado, the Tigers were on a roll and looking to upset the Aggies.
A&M had a difficult time penetrating the Missouri blockers and dropped the first match 30-28.
Following the first match, the Aggies had a sense of urgency. Sophomore middle blocker Tara Pulaski and senior setter Jenna Moscovic were elemental in the Aggies’ wake-up call and were vocal in motivating the team.
Attributing the first match loss to mis-positioning, coach Laurie Corbelli worked to reposition the Aggies on the court.
“They do a great job of identifying the attacker and putting up a very solid bloc. They are good at blocking the seam, and we like to hit seam,” Corbelli said. “We made a big change, because they didn’t change their blocking, we changed our direction of where we were hitting.”
“We realized that that was exactly where the match was going to be won or lost, by hitting and blocking,” she said.
Midway through the second match, Corbelli’s decision to reposition the blockers paid off, as the Aggies capitalized, winning 30-21.
However, in the third match the Tigers again challenged the Aggies by stepping up their intensity and gained an early lead by finding holes in A&M’s back line. Throughout the third match the score remained close, but the Aggies proved superior beginning with the serves from junior outside hitter A.D. Achilefu, whose powerful serves, accompanied with a combined 12 kills between Erin Lechler and Brandi Mount, proved too much for the Tigers. The Aggies took the third match 33-31.
Team play was the nails in the coffin for the Aggies’ second home victory, taking the fourth match easily 30-20.
“We focused in practice on making me an attacker because it opens up the other hitters, luckily they were not on me as strong tonight as some teams are,” Moscovic said.
The Aggies’ next contest is Monday at 7 p.m. against the Kansas State Wildcats.
“We have been struggling at home, and I think we came out with the mind set that we weren’t going to loose,” Pulaski said, “it was definitely a turning point for the team.”