Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 2003)
NAIIOS ‘TlALifji Sports The Battalion Page IB • Thursday, December 4, 2003 li leteriteti ledwlifm 'uctiven!;: ? subsi® iuction: fires. ■ So far,: weniy-;;; [he i)la;: ; Firefish .nmates: ;ned nsl: ervice d ecoiid !r demasi: rrowtli 5 ss. he;;, ii direci rethinl : i iniera an inieiii! isnoua estryp'55 'iseoDsir. [he fires S nia. Ail years, "onere"': for [hie money I ie taSsi nifies. I itermine! Aggies like home court advantage in NCAA playoffs By Michael Crow THE BATTALION There is no place like home for the Texas A&M volleyball team. The Aggies are 10-3 inside the friendly con fines of G. Rollie White this season, with their only losses coming against the top-ranked University of Southern California and conference lead ers Nebraska and Kansas State. And, having received its 11th consecutive at-large berth to the NCAA Championship tourna ment, A&M (21-9, 13-7 Big 12) will have the benefit of playing in College Station for the first two rounds of play. The NCAA selection committee announced Sunday that the Aggies will host the first and second rounds start ing Friday night. “We were definitely excited when we saw College Station, Texas, up on the board,” said A&M coach Laurie Corbelli. “Being at G. Rollie means so much to becoming victorious. We are hoping to get a great crowd out there as we go for the Sweet 16 and the Elite Eight.” The Aggies enter the tourna ment as the No. 16 seed of 64 total teams, the third highest seeding of six Big 12 teams in the bracket. They will play their first match Friday, squaring off against Nicholls State University (18-14). The Colonels will be making their first NCAA appearance after winning thd Southland Conference tournament. NSU coach M.J. Engstrom said her team had been anxious ly awaiting word On its tourna ment seeding. “The girls were excited lead ing up to the announcement” she said. “(A&M) finished fourth in the Big 12 and are a traditionally strong team. Their strength has always been in the middle. We will have to play a great game, but they are a beat able team.” Nicholls State will likely look for leadership from senior Caley Carter, who was recently named the Southland Conference’s Player and Newcomer of the Year. She was only the second athlete in SLC volleyball history to receive both honors in the same season. Carter was one of five Colonels players to record double-digit kills and digs in the conference championship match against regular-season champion Texas State University. Meanwhile, A&M will depend on some award winners of its own. Melissa Munsch was named to the Big 12 first team for the second straight season. Munsch led the Aggies in multiple statistical categories during conference play, includ ing hitting percentage (.305) Se^ Home on page 4B CORBELLI Aggies enjoy record turnout JP Beato III • THE BATTALION Texas A&M senior forward Lynn-Classen goes up against Arkansas-Little Rock's Abra Motley in the Aggies 54-45 win Wednesday night. Classen finished the game with a career-high five blocked shots. Blair thrives in first Reed game By Rob Phillips THE BATTALION Texas A&M women’s basketball head coach Gary Blair asked for fan support at Wednesday night’s regular season home open er against Arkansas-Little Rock, and the “Reed Rowdies” delivered in record-setting fashion. The 1,802 fans who attended the Aggies’ hard-fought 54-45 win over the Trojans set a Reed Arena record for a women’s basketball opening-day game and were the second- largest.crowd ever at A&M. The largest-ever women’s attendance was 2,534 in 1995. “I was really pleased with the fans,” Blair said. “If I have to go out and walk those neighborhoods every ballgame I’ll do it, but eventually if people will come back and stay after the game and meet my kids in a one-on- one situation, then they’re going to realize those kids are more than basketball players.” The Aggies won the first of their seven- game home stretch thanks in large part to senior guard Toccara Williams’ near-triple- double of 17 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. In 2001, Williams notched the only triple-double in A&M history and the fourth-ever in the Big 12. The Aggies held Little Rock freshman guard Heather Morris, the Trojans’ leading scorer, to 13 points, including only three in the second half. “I think a big difference was containing their scorers and we went to the boards pret ty tough,” Williams said. A&M’s sporadic full-court press forced just 12 turnovers and did little to fluster Little Rock’s freshmen backcourt tandem of Morris and Samantha Anglin. Blair said he utilized the press to take Little Rock out of its offense. “We tried to take 15 seconds off (the clock each play),” Blair said. “You wear out a motion team (that way). They might not turn the ball over, but we’re still controlling them.” The Aggies dominated the glass for the first time all season, out-rebounding the Trojans 49 to 32. A&M senior Janae Derrick led the Aggies with 11 boards and reserve forward Tamea Scales added eight. Senior forward Lynn Classen tied a career- high with five blocked shots, moving into sec ond place on A&M’s career blocks list with 93. “It felt pretty good,” Classen said. “It seemed like they were showing (the ball) right there before they shot it, so as long as you can get it, go ahead and try.” Both teams entered halftime tied at 28 and shooting under 40 percent from the field, but Little Rock’s 80-percent shooting from three-point range helped it erase an early eight-point deficit. The Aggies mixed in a zone defense and regained a nine-point advantage midway through the second half before both teams went cold, totaling just three field goals in the last 10 minutes. Little Rock trimmed the lead to 47-42 with 8:52 remaining before going scoreless for almost eight minutes and allowing the Aggies to pull away. buted since I* leans, indusii)! on loblf ; to fi? jne, OIM s com* r moi* ..Thefi has a? lisped* • s from i as add a tnea* iwed in tribui^ travel in# tit tagoi# iving 3 ? Y RE Istjfe I style* pjt*# li^j Sell it on half.com and get more out of it than you did all semester. Get a better return on your textbooks by selling them direct to buyers on half.com. Just click on "sell your stuff." It's easy, and you'll never have to stand in line. Remember, half.com is not just a great place to sell textbooks, it's also a great place to buy holiday gifts! nLyiT.com by e8yV For a limited time, first-time buyers Save an additional $ 5 on purchases of *50 or more! Simply use this code: GOA&M Holiday gifts at half prices. Great deals on all the hottest gifts, including the latest DVDs, CDs, video games and more! Copyright 2003 Half.com, Inc. Half.com and the Half.com logo are service marks of Half.com, Inc. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their owners. Quantities, pricing and availability are not guaranteed and will vary due to supply and demand. Coupon is for first-time buyers only. Limited time offer; excludes shipping and handling; offer subject to change or termination without prior notice.