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Sports
The Battalion Page IB • Thursday, December 4, 2003
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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.
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