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Page 5 • Friday, November 22, 2001
Soccer team prepares for Sweet Sixteen action
A ggies traveling to California to tangle with UCLA
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A&M goalie Kati Jo Spisak makes
AUSSA HOLLIMON* THE BATTALION
a save in the Aggies second round game.
By Troy Miller
THE BATTALION
The No. 4 Texas A&M women’s soc
cer team (19-4-1) looks to avenge its last
trip to California as the team travels to
Los Angeles to face No. 3 UCLA (18-3-
0) in the third round of the NCAA
Championship Tournament. On their pre
vious trip to California this season, the
Aggies dropped two 1-0 decisions to
Stanford and the University of California.
This time is different for the Aggies.
After those early season struggles, A&M
reeled off 15 wins and one tie before
dropping to Nebraska 1-0 in the Big 12
Tournament Final.
Now the Aggies are playing for a
chance to get back to the Elite Eight, the
benchmark for the program after advanc
ing that tar in the 2001 season. Ironically,
that landmark win for the A&M program
came in California against Stanford.
“Mentally we’ve prepared for every
game this season like it’s a championship
game,” said senior Andrea Starns.
“We’ve gone on the road and won some
tough games at Oklahoma and at
Nebraska. We’re ready and excited to
still be in the playoffs.”
The Aggies most likely will not play
another match this season at the Aggie
Soccer Complex, where the team went
12-0-0.
UCLA, on the other hand, has suffered
all three of its losses at the friendly con
fines of Drake Stadium.
“There are a lot of things that are sim
ilar to playing here,” said A&M head
coach G. Guerrieri. “The surface is the
same, the weather is the same as the
weather we’ve had in Aggieland, this
week has been identical to Los Angeles.
“We’ve been on the road a lot this sea
son. We’ve played a lot of top-ten teams
on the road, and this is just another big
game at a different venue.”
This match brings together two of the
hottest teams in women’s soccer. UCLA
is on a current nine-game winning streak
which includes a 1-0 double-overtime
win over the University of Southern
California in the second round to earn the
right to play the Aggies.
A&M has picked up where it left off
after having its 16-game unbeaten streak
snapped. In their last two victories the
Aggies outscored their opponents 9-1.
Sophomore Emma Smith is a large part of
the offensive output, as she has scored a
point in 10 of the last 1 1 games.
"I just finally calmed down and decid
ed to play my game,” Smith said. “I went
out there and had so much fun, took play
ers on, and did what I love to do.”
The Aggies will need big games from
Smith and sophomore Linsey Woodard
if they wish to advance past a tough
UCLA squad.
“They have great balance in attack and
defense,” Guenieri said. “They’re incredible
See Sweet 16 on page 8
Volleyball team ready to take on Tech
By True Brown
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M volleyball
!coach Laurie Corbelli says she
woke up Thursday morning
thinking about Lubbock and
[the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
That may explain why her
practice later that afternoon took
on an intense physical tone and
was full of defense, running and
| threats to let her team know she
meant business before Saturday’s
road match with Tech.
“I think we’re really trying
to work on our fight and our
do-or-die attitude,” Corbelli
said, following Thursday’s
practice, which concluded with
her players running a hefty set
of line drills. “It’s going to
come down to our fighting atti
tude and our spirit, and when I
don’t see it, I just want them to
remember what it feels like.”
The Aggies (18-8, 10-7)
will need all the fighting spirit
they can muster against the
Red Raiders this weekend.
Tech (12-14, 7-10) will be
playing with a chip on its
shoulder against the Aggies.
The Red Raiders lost an 1 1 -
7 lead in the fifth game at G.
Rollie White Coliseum in mid-
October. A&M rallied for a 15-
12 win to claim the match.
Corbelli wants her team to
be ready for war in Lubbock.
“It has got to be there or we
are history,” Corbelli said. “I
really believe that. I know
(Tech) has it, and if we don’t
have, it more, we will have a
tough time.”
The Aggies are coming off
their worst home loss in six
years. The Kansas State
Wildcats swept A&M on
Wednesday, ending the Aggies’
five-match winning streak.
Sophomore outside hitter
Melissa Munsch said that loss
added a sense of urgency to
A&M’s practice.
“It makes everything more
urgent,” Munsch said. “We
need to do what we need to
readily. Sometimes we’ve had
trouble coming into matches
with intensity, but these drills
help pick that up.”
Adding more fuel to Tech’s
fire is the fact that the Red
Raiders just managed something
the Aggies did not: a win on the
road against Colorado.
Tech swept the Buffaloes on
Wednesday, while CU pulled
RANDAL FORD • THE BATTALION
See Tech on page 8 A&M junior Tara Pulaski spikes the ball as her teammates look on.
GIG the TIG
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Calling all Aggie fans in or near Houston over the Thanksgiving
holiday weekend! Your men’s college basketball team leads off
a basketball triple- header Saturday, November 30 at the
spectacular new Reliant Stadium. Support your Aggies
against the Tigers of LSU at 1:30 pm. Then stick
around for two more top college matchups:
@4:00pm vs
Seton Hall
@7:00pm vs
Uof Houston
Tickets start at only $12 for admission to all three games.
WM 4.% M-
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NOVEMBER 30
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www.spacecityhoops.com