Sports
The Battalion
Page 1B • Thursdaty, October 10, 2002
No. 25 Aggies fall to ‘Horns in close match
By True Brown
THE BATTALION
AUSTIN - Blown leads plagued the Texas
A&M volleyball team Wednesday night,
as the University of Texas came from
behind three times to claim a 33-31, 24-30,
30-19, 23-30, 15-1 1 win in front of a crowd
of 3,171-
After forcing a fifth game, A&M (11 -5. 3-
4 Big 12) led 11-9 before collapsing as the
Longhorns ran off six straight points and
stretched their unbeaten streak to five.
UT (13-3, 5-2) took advantage of a big
blocking performance by its front row, finish
ing the match with 15 blocks.
“We’re not playing smart when we need
to," said A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli.
“Texas did a good job with their blocking and
strategy. I think we still should have been able
to find our way out of it."
A&M wasted a 6-1 lead in game one and
7-3 in game three as Mira Topic, Bethany
Howden and Kathryn Wilson combined for
51 of the Homs' 69 kills.
In game one, A&M fell behind for the first
time after a kill by UT’s Kathy Hahn. Hahn
recorded a game-high eight kills, including
the game clincher.
The Aggies evened things up in game two,
building a 12-9 lead after a dig by Melissa
Munsch led to a big kill by Tara Pulaski.
After earning a 27-23 advantage, A.D.
Achilefu rattled off the Aggies’ last three kills
to clinch the game.
A&M limited Hahn, who led UT with a
.395 hitting percentage in the match, to just
two kills in the game. A&M failed to hold the
momentum, however. Leading 7-3 in the third
game, the Aggies let Texas go on an 18-6 run
to take a commanding lead.
The 30-19 score marked the second-worst
game performance this season by the Aggies.
"We totally disappeared in game three,”
Corbelli said. "Don't ask me where (we) went
... I have no idea.”
The Aggies managed to find some life in
the fourth game by mounting a comeback of
their own. A&M rallied from a 16-11 deficit
after Corbelli put in reserve Kendra Felder.
Felder tied the match at 19-19, and
added (wo more kills to put A&M on top
for good.
“Thank goodness we came back and
proved ourselves in game four and got a little
confidence,” Corbelli said. "We showed that
we can come back, and that’s important for a
young team that’s trying to figure out their
identity and who they are."
Pulaski led the Aggies with season-high 20
kills and .484 hitting percentage.
UT’s win snapped a string of six straight
matches the Aggies had won against the
Longhorns, including the last two in Austin.
A&M has not won on the road since Sept. 7
when it beat Illinois State.
The loss left the Aggies still searching for
consistency, something they have lacked this
season, especially in close matches.
"We were really looking to get past our
poison that has been engulfing us lately,"
Corbelli said. “We were so close. We need to
find a different path to get through these
times. We’re really perplexed as to how we get
so far but still can’t finish.”
Outside hitter Laura Jones spikes the ball between Greichaly Cepero and
Amber Holmquist against Nebraska.
G. Guerrieri, more than just a coach
COURTESY OF TEXAS A&M MEDIA RELAT IONS
Texas A&M women’s soccer coach G. Guerrieri gives the Aggie soccer
team final instructions prior to a match at the Aggie Soccer Complex.
By Troy Miller
THE BATTALION
Ten years ago, Texas A&M decided to
upgrade its women’s soccer program from
varsity II status to a full-blown varsity sport.
A national search began to find the right
candidate for head coach and ended about
three hours north in Richardson, Texas.
At Richland College, head coach G.
Guerrieri had proven himself to be a winner,
and the Aggies wanted him to bring that
winning persona to their upstart program.
Before Richland College, Guerrieri
worked with soccer on every level. After his
goalkeeping days at the University of Tulsa,
where he set most of the school’s team and
individual defensive records, Guerrieri start
ed his coaching career at Tulsa as an assis
tant coach. He went on to coach at Rollins
College, University of North Texas, Hardin-
Simmons and Richland from 1986-1993. He
also coached the Sting Under-19 club team
as well as seven Olympic Development
Teams.
"One of the things that I was looking at
was if I could get myself into a program that I
could just concentrate on one thing and just
concentrate on just coaching one team and all
the things that need to be done to the best pos
sible ability,” Guerrieri said. “I was fortunate
enough to be able to do that here at A&M.”
On March 31, 1993, Guerrieri was given
his wish. The A&M women’s soccer pro
gram was his to run, and he ran it well. In
A&M’s inaugural season, the team finished
with a 15-3-1 record.
"Recruiting is the lifeblood of any pro
gram,” Guerrieri said. "We were fortunate in
that the girls who were playing on the varsi
ty II team were capable of playing at a
decent college level.”
Among the players Guerrieri brought to
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A&M that year was Yvette Okler, who still
holds the team record for goals in a game
when she scored four against the University
of Texas on Oct. 31, 1993.
In 1994, the team’s record improved to
15-2-2 overall. The following year, with a
mark of 18-6-0, the Aggies made their first
appearance in the NCAA Championship
Tournament. The Aggies advanced to the
second round by beating Clemson
University, 4-1, before losing to Southern
Methodist University, 2-1.
In 1996, A&M entered the newly formed
Big 12 Conference and in 1997, the A&M
women’s soccer team won its first of now
three Big 12 Championships. It was also the
first Big 12 Conference championship for
any Aggie athletic team.
See Guerrieri on page 3B
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