Laurie Corbelli talks Aggies' 4-1 start, cracking the top 25

Texas A&M Volleyball Coach Laurie Corbelli

On her team's attitude after the victory over Wichita State to open the Texas A&M Invitational...

"The team was so on fire, I think not only because of the win but also because of the performance. We attacked at a clip that maybe we haven't in a long, long time. Our blocking was there, our serving was there, all the things we took away from our opening weekend against Stanford and Minnesota. Got in the gym, worked hard, they are very quick learners and they made the changes they needed to make. It was just such a nice, rewarding feeling that all of the work that we had to do quickly came to fruition."

On how the Aggies adjusted to playing without seniors Angela Lowak and Shelby Sullivan...

"Yeah, I thought I was a challenge. We have some players returning on the court: Jazz Babbers, Emily Hardesty and Steph Aiple. Those were all returning starters and those three stepped up their game and leadership.

"It was a question mark on how it was going to go, honestly. After we saw the start and the way that the team was gelling and making the adjustments we had to make minus those players, I was encouraged that, yes, they aren't only just talented kids but they also get it. They know it is going to require each of them in different ways and they were able to fulfill that."

On her reaction to the overall performance this past weekend, in which A&M went 3-0 to move to 4-1 on the season...

"Well, I was a really proud coach. To look out at my floor and see mostly sophomores and freshmen, and yes, a junior in Hardesty, Arenas and a junior in Babbers, those guys have been in the gym and in a starting roll for a couple of years. The freshmen and sophomores are just now pretty much new on the court in terms of McGee and Nettles and Blake. They just got out there and really competed and really brought what they needed to bring.

"There are many times with young players where the home opener weekend is nerve-wracking with parents, family and the fans there waiting to see what they bring to Aggieland, and I thought they just did a beautiful job. They got themselves mentally ready, they are physically at the top and they just did beautiful jobs."

On being in the top 25...

"It's a nice recognition. In our eyes we feel like we play at that level a lot. Whether we get recognized for that or not, we have no control over — so when we did get the recognition, it feels good. We really just try to stay focused on how good are we in our own eyes and where we need to improve, because we want to continue to improve in our minds and continue to get much higher than 25."

On what the team is working on this week before heading to Iowa for the Iowa Comfort Suites Challenge...

"I think getting all our kids healthy would be really nice, but at the same time we have a lot of things still that we need to clean up. Blocking is such an important part of the game and yes, we had a great blocking weekend, but we do have weekends when it's not so pretty. We do have to continue making our blocking consistent and a really strong part of our game.

"Our serving and passing determines who we are and our passing our opening weekend wasn't very sharp, to tell you the truth. This weekend it was much better, so we are cleaning up our serve-receive, we are cleaning up our blocking and we are constantly cleaning up and making our offensive plays much more effective."