Page 10/The Battalion/Monday, October 14, 1985
Sports
Spikers’ upset win
over Purdue ranks
high in Ag history
By CHAREAN WILLIAMS
Assistant Sports Editor
Incredible. Awesome. Unbelievable.
Although the 1 exas A&M football team’s win over Houston was a big
one, those three words can only be used to describe the No. 17 Aggie volley
ball team’s upset of No. 9 Purdue Saturday night in G. Rollie White Col
iseum.
The spikers' 12-15, 15-12, 15-9, 9-15, 17-15 upset ranks right up there,
along with the football team’s 37-12 upset of Texas last year, as one of the
greatest wins in A&M sports history.
In fact, the only thing missing in this one was the orange and white uni
forms.
“This ranks right up there with San Diego State (the Ags upset the Az
tec s last \ ear),” said a hoarse A&M Coach Terry Condon. “They are ranked
No. 9 and hadn’t lost to anyone but (No. 13) Illinois. We really needed this
one This is a turning point for us.”
But in the fifth and deciding game, it appeared A&M would fall to the
Boilermakers just as No. 7 Texas had the night before.
Behind the blocking and spiking of Marianne Smith and Linda Reichl,
Purdue had a 14-7 advantage, just one point shy of the match.
However, the Aggies’ outside hitters, Margaret Spence and Stacey
Gildnei, took control.
While slowly but surely chipping away at the deficit, A&M held off
match point after match point. In fact, it held off eight in all.
With the partisan crowd of at least 1,750 on their feet, yelling with the
Dunn Hall Bleacher Bums, Chris Zogala served an ace to put the Aggies
within one at 14-13. After fending off match point No. 7, a Gildner kill
knotted the game at 14.
Purdue outside hitter Kim Corwin got one point back for the Boilers
and suddenly, they have match point No. 8.
But \&M middle blocker Sherri Brinkman drove the ball past the tall
Boilei maker front line, giving the Ags yet another chance.
Aggie setter Lesha Beakley, playing with a fractured hand, served
A&M’s 15th point. After the Boilers got the side out, Gildner got the ball
back with a dink, and served an ace to give the Ags their first match point.
Although they didn’t take it the first time or the second time, the Aggies
had worked too hard to let this one slip away.
file third match point was a charm. When a Purdue spike touched out
of bounds, Gildner slumped to the floor in disbelief as her teammates and
A&M fans rushed onto the court.
"It does happen,” Condon said, “but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone
come back after being down 14-7 to a team like Purdue. To tell you the
truth, I didn't think we would do it. They just believed in themselves.”
It was similar to a football team being down by 14 points with two min
utes left in the game and no timeouts.
1 m possible.
“I don't think we've ever been under that much pressure,” Beakley said.
‘ 1 bis has to be one of the top matches of all time. It was one of the most
exciting, tense and had the most pressure situations.”
Just as the Dallas Cowboys pulled the incredible comebacks behind
Roger Staubach. the Aggies performed their version of the Hail Mary just
as well.
A&M’s quarterback came in the form of Beakley, an unlikely leader at 5-
forn-5. and it’s version of Drew Pearson came in 5-8 Gildner, a first year
starter who had seen little playing time before this year.
"Lesha and Chris did a great job setting the ball,” Condon said. “Lesha
did a tremendous job quarterbacking this team. Stacey Gildner played espe-
cially well. They were keying on Sherri, so Stacey helped lake some of the
pressure off of her.”
Both teams had their All-Americans and both played as such.
Brinkman had a superb night with 27 kills and a .323 hitting percentage
for the Aggies.
“Sherri played well,” Condon said. “She has to deal with six against one
any time we play. Any team we play, they think if they stop Sherri they stop
the Aggies. I think we proved tonight we aren’t like that. Sherri hit some
outside sets tonight that I’ve never seen her hit. before. That’s nice to see.”
And the Boilermakers got 32 kills and a .288 percentage from their All-
American, Smith, who seemed almost unstoppable.
“Purdue is an exciting team,” Condon said. “They had people putting
the ball away almost at will.”
What Purdue lacked was what A&M possessed — the Gildner factor.
Gildner, never before mentioned in the same breath as All-America,
certainly looked like one Saturday.
Her 23 kills, .353 hitting percentage and 20 digs was the difference be
See Ag Spikers, page 12
A&M to play for all the marbles
Photo by JOHN MAKELY
Texas A&M’s Jimmie Hawkins celebrates on his A&M’s 43-16 win over Houston Saturday. lodd
way to a 32-yard TD after an interception in Howard (73) provides Haw kins w ith an escort.
By BRANDON BERRY
Sports Writer
“We’re good enough to be in the
Top 20,” Texas A&M Coach Jackie
Sherrill said after the Aggies de
feated Houston 43-16 Saturday at
Kyle Field. “Every game from now
on just gets bigger and bigger.
“When we play Baylor next Satur
day it will be a very, very big ball
game. It’s going to be for all the mar
bles.”
Against the Cougars, the Ags
seemed to be playing against them
selves.
Would they score more than 50
points? Would A&M fullback Roger
Vick earn his third consecutive game
of more than 100 yards rushing?
Would the defense hold the Hous
ton veer offense to negative yardage
for three full quarters?
After the first quarter, the final
outcome was never a question.
“We went out there and weren’t
really ready, mentally,” Vick said.
“But we never panicked, and even
tually things started going our way.”
Forty-three points their way.
Houston opened the game after
fielding a short kickoff from A&M
placekicker Scott Slater on their own
38 yard line. They proceeded on a
62-yard, 12-play touchdown drive,
which culminated in a four-yard TD
run by sophomore Winston Wil
liams.
On their ensuing first possession,
the Aggie offense scored, but for the
wrong team.
A&M quarterback Kevin Murray
misfired on a lateral pass to Vick,
which was ruled a fumble. Murray
pitched the ball out of the back of
the endzone for a safety rather than
give the Cougars a chance for the
touchdown.
After a short Todd Tschantz
punt, the Cougar offense went back
to work only 53 yards from another
score.
Houston, behind shifty Gerald
Landry at quarterback, drove to the
A&M 14-yard line in three plays be
fore fumbling the ball away to the
Aggies on a great defensive play by
Aggie outside linebacker Todd
Howard.
The A&M defense then didn’t al
low the Cougars another first down
until the last moments of the first
half and held Houston to minus 5
yards offense for the next two quar
ters.
“I don’t know if (the fumble) was
the turning point,” Sherrill said,
“but, even tf we would have fallen
behind 16-0, we feel very good about
our offense’s ability to move the ball
and put points on the board.
“But what you saw out there was a
total defensive effort. There’s no
question that our defense dictated
what happened out there — we kept
putting them in the holel”
And kick returner Jimmie Hawk
ins kept making them pay for it.
The senior from San Antonio re
turned five Robert Myers’ punts 87
yards, returned a Chip Browndyke
kickoff 32 yards and, for good mea
sure, returned a Landry intercep
tion 32 yards lor a touchdown.
About the only ball Hawkins
didn’t return was the game ball
awarded him by the A&M coaching
staff.
“When Houston kicks, they
usually kick it from left to right,”
Hawkins said. “We just practiced all
our returns from the right and it
paid off.”
For the game, the Aggies rolled
up 185 return yards, compared to
just 52 total return yards for the
Coogs. When the A&M offense did
score, they had to move the ball an
average of only 38 yards.
"Everything just came together to
day,” Hawkins said. “I think we had
a few things go wrong at the begin
ning of the game, but we just started
playing our game.”
Howard said, “Our defense is
really getting a feel for what we are
doing. We have a lot of poise and
character.
“We really have confidence in our
offense this season because we know'
they are going to move the ball no
matter what.”
Either forward or backward.
The A&M offensive line was pe
nalized 1 I times for 68 yards.
"It wasn’t a very productive
game," offensive tackle Doug Wil
liams said. "It was the same old
things— 1 1 penalties for 68 yards.
“Me, as an of fensive lineman, will
take the blame for 49 rushes for 162
yards. We didn’t perform like a top
of fensive line is supposed to play.”
But senior f ullback Anthony To
ney, the Ags’ leading rusher with 77
yards on I 7 carries, disagreed.
"1 think Doug just got a little car-
i ied away,” Toney said. “How can
you complain? I thought we moved
the ball well. Doug just overreacted.”
Like little boys are prone to do,
playing for all the marbles.
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