Sept. 6, 2008
Final Stats
Siena lost both of its matches on the final day of the Texas A&M Invitational Saturday, dropping straight set decisions to the host Aggies and American University. Junior Burgandy McCurty was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Texas A&M defeated Siena (0-5), 25-17, 26-24, 25-16 in the first match of the day at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Mary Batis led the Aggies with 14 kills and tied Jennifer Banse for team-high honors with nine digs. Sarah Ammerman pitched in 12 kills, and Kelsey Bryant had a match-high six blocks to lead A&M to an 8-3 advantage in blocks.
A&M, which never trailed in the opening set, used a five-point run to pull away from a 2-2 tie early in the set. Setter Kristen Schevikhoven led the Aggies on another five-point run later in the set, posting back-to-back aces during the rally to give A&M its biggest lead at 18-7. The Saints never got closer than six points before Bryant put down a kill to end the set.
In the second set, Siena used a six-point rally to take an early 7-3 lead. A&M came back to tie the score, 8-8, and then the teams began trading points. At 13-13, Siena got a kill and A&M had consecutive kill errors as the Saints built a three point lead. The Aggies, however, continued to chip away, and a kill by Ammerman knotted the score at 19-19. A&M tied the score again at 20-all following a kill by Banse and then took its first lead since 3-2 on a Batis kill.
Siena was whistled for a ball handling error on the next play, and Banse got a kill to put the Aggies up, 23-21. Siena tied the score for the 11th time in the set at 23-23 and again at 24-all before Batis notched her eighth kill of the set and then teamed with Bryant for a block to end the set and give the Aggies a 2-0 lead going into the break.
A&M reeled off five unanswered points early in the third set to build a 6-2 advantage.
The Aggies ran off strings of points several times, taking their biggest lead at 21-9. With A&M up 24-16, Ammerman got a kill from the back row to clinch the victory for the Aggies.
A&M out-hit Siena, .272 to .130, for the match, holding the Saints to a match-low .069 in the final set.
Siena was led by Burgandy McCurty, who had 12 kills. The Saints conclude the tournament with a 4:30 p.m. match against American (1-4).
In the second match of the night, American put the pressure on Siena early and never let up in a 25-16, 25-14, 25-21 victory. In the first set the AU offense cruised, connecting on 12 of 29 attempts and committing just three errors. Senior Rubena Sukaj would lead the attack with five kills on 10 attempts while sophomore Katerina Cinkova chipped in four kills in five attempts in her first action of the season.
The American defense also began the match hitting on all cylinders combining for five total blocks and limiting the Siena attack to a .067 hitting percentage. Holding a 16-14 lead at the midway point, the Eagles would go on a 9-2 run to close out the set, 25-16.
In the second set senior Christina Nash guided American to a .636 hitting percentage with 14 kills on 22 attempts and zero attack errors. Nash would finish the frame with 11 assists.
The Eagles could not pull away from the Saints in the third set and held on to a slight 16-15 lead heading into the stretch, before a 6-2 run put the match away. American recorded four total blocks in the set led by one solo and two assisted by junior Claire Recht.
American finished the match with a season-high .414 hitting percentage and 42 kills. Nash totaled 30 assists to guide the offense and recorded five kills of her own to go with two aces and five block assists. Sukaj led the team with 15 kills and a .444 hitting percentage. Heath notched 11 kills and five digs while Cinkova hit a team best .700 with seven kills in 10 attempts and also scoring four aces.
McCurty led the Saints with 10 kills in 21 attacks.
