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Texas A&M Falls to Shandong in Exhibition Match
The Texas A&M
volleyball team made its first local appearance of the season, taking
on the Chinese team, Shandong, tonight at A&M Consolidated High
School Tiger Gym. Eighteen of the 19 suited-up Aggies saw action in the
25-23, 25-15, 25-17 loss against the taller, talented international
team.
"For me it was a really good opportunity to evaluate
a couple of kids that I really only see in practice," Texas A&M
head coach Laurie Corbelli said. "We have a long line of outside
hitters waiting to get on the court, and I think that was probably the
most valuable thing for me. We also really needed this match just to
fix some things just in our minds, about how we want to enter the court
and how we are going to set the tone for our side. I thought this past
weekend it was really inconsistent, and I was looking for that today,
just have more of a consistent mental, battling, whatever you want to
call it type of mentality."
All-American middle blocker
Jazzmin Babers, setter and reigning SEC Player of the Year Stephanie
Aiple and senior outside hitter Emily Hardesty all sat out the match,
giving the younger players a chance to get some on-court experience in
a non-practice situation.
"Those guys carry us every day,"
Corbelli said of the three long-time starters. "Their job is to go out
and win for the Aggies, from the Aiples and the Babers and the
Hardestys, so it is easy for the ones who don't play much to say to
them 'have fun, loosen up, play harder,' and now get out there and see
how challenging it really is. It is fast. You need to have a lot of
discipline is how I put it. Typically the older players have a lot more
of that just because of all the years, but it is time for the young
kids to experience something like this. I think they really did have
fun. I think they learned a lot. I hope we can carry the lessons on
that we learned, but overall I enjoyed it."
With freshman
middle blocker Maddie Douglas making her debut in the maroon and white
in place of Babers, senior setter Kaysie Shebeneck replacing Aiple for
the first time this season and freshman Hollann Hans playing in place
of Hardesty to start the match, Shandong jumped out to a 13-8 lead.
Hans then quickly helped the Aggies get their first lead, recording a
kill and serving three aces during a 6-0 run that put A&M ahead,
14-13. A service error knotted the score before junior opposite hitter
Ashlie Reasor blasted a kill down the line to put Texas A&M up,
15-14. It would be the final lead for the Aggies as Shandong countered
with a kill down the line, and A&M then hit wide on the ensuing
play.
The Aggies managed to tie the score three more
times, the last coming at 21-21 before Shandong scored three unanswered
points to go up 24-21. The Aggies fought off two set points as junior
outside hitter Kiara McGee got a kill and Reasor teamed with sophomore
middle blocker Kaitlyn Blake for a block to put A&M within 24-23.
Shandong then got a kill to close out the set.
"In the
first set when we had a couple of the other starters out there in McGee
and Reasor," Corbelli said. "I could see that it was a little smoother.
We didn't necessarily do everything the way I would like, but it was a
little smoother group as opposed to the second two sets where it was a
whole new group all together."
Several players made their
first appearance of the season in the second and/or third sets
including setter Lexi Lopez, middle blocker Ellianna Shadricks, outside
hitter Amanda Heller and local crowd-favorite and defensive specialist
Haley Slocum, all freshmen who were making their A&M career debuts.
In addition, redshirt freshman Monste Castro and sophomore outside
hitter Margaret Connett got on the court for the first time this
season, while junior defensive specialist Gabby Litwin played libero
for the first time in the second set in place of junior Amy Nettles,
who has played every set at the position since midway through her
freshman season. In addition, freshman outside hitter Kiana Peroff, who
has played sparingly in the first two tournaments, played the third
set. Returning defensive specialists Katelyn Labhart, Amy Houser,
Victoria Arenas rounded out the list of 18 players to see action during
the match.
Shandong took advantage of A&M's makeshift
lineup in the second set, jumping out to a 13-4 lead. The Chinese went
on to build their biggest lead at 22-10 before Connett got two kills
and twice teamed with Blake to spark a 5-1 rally that put the Aggies
within 23-15. It would be the closest A&M would get before Shandong
capped the set with a kill and an ace.
The Aggies held a
brief 4-3 lead in the third set before Shandong reeled off four points
to go up, 7-4. A&M managed to tie the score at 7-7 before Shandong
began to pull away. The Chinese later used a 5-1 spurt to separate from
the Aggies, building a 22-15 advantage. A&M was unable to narrow
the gap, and Shandong closed out the 25-17 win to complete the sweep.
"They
all have their strengths," Corbelli said when asked which of her
players stood out. "That is why it has been so challenging with 23
(players on the roster). They all do something that does stand out and
could possibly, as it gets better and better, it would enhance our
team. Just off of tonight, I would say the outsides did a nice job, the
ones who rarely play from Amanda Heller to Margaret Connett. Hollann is
brand new out there now. She played the spring here but in the middle
the whole time, and she has gotten in a few matches but I'd say the
outsides. I needed to see some others do some things. I think those
primarily are the ones that stand out. I like watching Lexi Lopez play.
As a little setter coming in from Austin, she's got a great, fighting
spirit. She is a great worker. She is willing to demand from her team,
and just a real serious competitor."
Corbelli, who added praise for Nettles' defensive play in the back row, also complimented the visiting team.
"(They
have) size and athleticism and some of the most beautiful arm swings
you will see around the world. They all look the same: they are smooth,
they hit high, they hit hard, they hit fast. They have some of the
quickest arm swings, and I remember trying to go up against them, and
it's not easy. They teach the game so well in China. It is such a big
sport there, and all of those kids have been playing for years and
years and years.
"It is unbelievable how tall they are.
They are very well-proportioned kids, well-coordinated. It's
incredible. It's a great team to play against. They have great
fundamental skills, which the Asian countries always bring. They always
bring some of the finest, basic fundamental skills: passing, serving,
just being a good individual player. And then you put it all together
and it is pretty easy."
Tonight's match was a quick
turnaround for the Maroon and White, who got back into town Sunday
evening after going 1-2 at the Puerto Rico Clasico last weekend to move
to 3-3 on the season.
"It fell at a really tough time,"
Corbelli said about the match against Shandong, "but I really did want
the opportunity, and I just hope the team enjoyed it and got something
out of it."
The match marked Texas A&M's first local
appearance of the 2016 season, as the Aggies don't make their Reed
Arena home debut until Friday, Sept. 16 when they play host to
second-ranked Wisconsin. The match against the Chinese team could not
be played on the Aggies' home court, because Reed Arena was occupied by
a career fair on the only date compatible for both teams.
Texas
A&M, currently ranked 16th in the AVCA Top-25 Coaches Preseason
Poll and the preseason favorite to win the Southeastern Conference
championship, returns to the road this weekend, traveling to Las
Cruces, New Mexico to take on Arizona and New Mexico State both on
Friday and then taking on UTEP in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday.
Shandong,
which previously swept both UTSA and Southwestern, continues its U.S.
tour later this week, taking on UNLV in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
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