The No. 14 Texas A&M volleyball team began its season strong this past weekend, going 2-1 at the North Texas Classic. The Aggies, will put their skills to the test once again as they travel to Puerto Rico for the Puerto Rico Clasico where they will face No. 16 Florida State, No. 6 Minnesota and Virginia Tech.
Texas A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli said that although the Aggies had a successful trip to North Texas, there are still a few things they need to work on to get them in shape to make a second SEC championship run.
“I saw a group that had great determination that is well-oiled in some areas and not so much in others,” Corbelli said in a press conference Tuesday. “I’d say our offense when we’re passing well was on point and really effective, but I felt like some of our assignments we were supposed to be on, defensively especially, were a little bit off.”
The team suffered a tight loss to No. 15 Ohio State in five sets during their second match of the weekend, a game Corbelli still finds the defeat tough to take.
“I think it was just a really inconsistent performance,” Corbelli said. “We were really good at points and then we had some drop offs that ended up catching up with us. We had every opportunity to go on ahead in [the second set] and not finishing that was frustrating.”
Despite the painful loss, Corbelli said she is finding the positives and hopes her team can learn lessons from it and grow from their mistakes moving forward.
“If we can learn from it then I’m okay with it,” Corbelli said. “If we repeat that again it’s going to be a tough discussion.”
Looking ahead, the team has already made its long-awaited trip to Puerto Rico where they will play three challenging games in the Puerto Rico Classic.
“We were the first team to commit to this tournament not really knowing who all of our opponents would be, but then found out it’s going to be No. 6 and another top-20 team,” Corbelli said. “We’re glad for that, you want that kind of competition and some of the best volleyball in the country will be in Puerto Rico with us and we’ll get to go head-to-head with them.”
With matches against No. 6 Minnesota, No. 16 Florida State and Virginia Tech looming this weekend, Corbelli is slightly nervous about how her squad will fare in the difficult early-season tournament.
“Puerto Rico is going to be incredibly tough,” Corbelli said. “It certainly will be a challenge and I am worried about the outcome a little, but I also know that how we play and the things we’re doing well gives us feedback for growing our team, for developing the areas of our game that really need it and there’s no better way to do it than to go to a tournament like that.”
