Ags Drop Two at JQH Invitational

Texas A&M's volleyball team returns to College Station after falling to two of three matches this weekend at the Missouri State JQH Invitational tournament. Losses to Missouri State and Ohio sandwiched a win over North Carolina.

"Our goal was to come here and play some great volleyball and learn a lot and get a lot of experience, see where we need to be focusing our efforts every single day in practice," said A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli. "It certainly is clear to us what we need to do."

Committing 87 errors in 12 sets, the Aggies hitting percentage was a lowly .146 percent for the tournament. A&M also fell victim to 18 service errors and five blocking errors.

"We are really struggling offensively and defensively as well," Corbelli said. "Our hitters became very tentative because they were feeling like they better put the ball away because they weren't playing very good defense either, so the hitters were feeling impatient."

Despite the Aggies' early struggles in 2010, Corbelli is encouraged by the room for improvement and maturity that every player on the young roster possesses. It is experience, not talent, which is missing on the court for A&M.

"We are making progress, which is the good news," Corbelli said. "The level that we are playing is relatively high compared to what it was last weekend, so that is exciting to me. The bad news is we haven't figured out yet how to get the win when we have it right there in our hands. Just finishing."

In their only victory of the weekend, the Aggies grinded out a 3-2 five-set victory over the Tar Heels. Junior outside hitter Kelsey Black recorded a double-double with 20 kills and 12 digs while sophomore middle blocker Lindsey Miller and junior utility player Elise Hendrickson both tallied career-highs in kills combining for 28. Defensively, A&M had five players with double-figures in digs.

"That win was just a total team effort," Corbelli said. "Our blocking started out a little bit shaky, but as soon as we got our blocking disciplined and timed well, everything started to fall into place, from our digging to our transition offense. It was an equal effort from every side of the court, and it was really a very satisfying win given how inexperienced and young we are and having to go five to win against a very experienced and very talented North Carolina team. Any win that this group gets right now is just going to propel our confidence and everything that we do. It was one of the most fun wins we've had in a long time."

Freshman setter Allie Sawatzky continued to impress with a game-high 56 assists.

"Our 17-year old setter, Allie (Sawatzky), just brings a smile to my face every time I watch her play because she does exactly what we ask her to do," Corbelli said. "She takes chances and she's just consistent in everything she is doing right now. That was a really big match for her."

After a week off, A&M will hit the road again travelling to the Denver Pioneer Classic next weekend. Matches against Jacksonville State, Denver, and Gonzaga will cap off the Aggies' non-conference schedule for the season.