Mary Batis glanced down at the stat sheet after a victory over then-No. 6 Nebraska and blurted, "Holy cow, she's a baller."
Batis' commentary spoke volumes for the respect she and the rest of the senior-laden Aggies have for libero Tori Mellinger, who has come in as a freshman and routinely put up stats like the 21 digs she had in Texas A&M's first win over the Cornhuskers in a decade.
"Definitely, Sarah [Ammerman] and Mary, all our seniors, they are great, and to see that they respect me as a player that can play on their level is awesome," Mellinger said. "They are just tremendous competitors, and the fact they think I can compete with them is incredible."
Mellinger's teammates aren't the only ones impressed with what the 5-foot-9 Lake Highlands graduate has shown since walking on at A&M.
"The first week of two-a-days we were wide-eyed after practice, and at a coaches' meetings we were saying, 'She is good, we've got to give her a chance,'" A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "When you've got them in your gym up against the kids you know it's really easy to see."
By the fifth match of the season, Mellinger was in the starting lineup. Five matches later, after a 3-0 victory over Texas Tech, Mellinger had earned a scholarship.
"We saw she was a strong player, and we say to [walk-ons] if you come in and establish yourself as a necessity on this team we will certainly reward that," Corbelli said. "And we said it, and she deserves it, and I don't want another libero right now. That's who I want for four years."
As a senior, Mellinger was the District 9-5A MVP after leading the district in kills, but at 5-foot-9 it's difficult to be an effective outside hitter in the Big 12.
Even though she had never played libero before this fall, Mellinger quickly gained Corbelli's confidence with her receive of serve, defensive skills and how well she caught on to the nuances and strategies of the game.
"I still sometimes think about how surprised I am at what she can do because I saw her as an outside hitter in club [volleyball]," Corbelli said. "She did some backcourt stuff, but never did I think she could bring this kind of consistency [defensively]. She is never in a position where she is headed one direction and can't go back the other way if it gets deflected. That's a good sign of a disciplined defensive player, like a goalie, she is ready to make a move to wherever she needs to go."
Mellinger leads the team in aces (13) and digs (193, or 3.51 per set). And she's proven she can perform against the best, as her average has gone up in conference play to 4.03 digs a set, good for eighth in the Big 12.
Mellinger is the first Aggie among the top 10 in the Big 12 in digs since 2005, when Holly Clay finished fourth at 3.97 a set. And it's not just the amount of digs, it's what she does with them that has impressed Corbelli and opposing coaches.
"In the course of a rally when the ball comes very fast at her she doesn't just react by banging it and trying to get it up, she can get it up to the height and the spot it needs to go. It's just so rare," Corbelli said. "I've had other coaches comment on it. They will start off going at her because they've never seen her [live] and then you don't see them go at her after Game 1."
Mellinger is usually positioned in the left back corner, where the big hitters love to go. She's not intimidated at all, even though there have been times she believes she's being tested by the best veteran outside hitters in the conference.
"One that I'll always remember in the Nebraska game was in the first set, we had this one rally and they just kept coming to me," Mellinger said. "Every time the ball came over it came to me and it was such a hard hit it would knock me back so I'd get right back on my feet again and have to dig one again. That was a fun one, and fun one to rewatch."
There have been other memorable points, most notably the ones when Mellinger -- who describes herself as being uncordinated -- twists her body one way and reaches in another direction to get the ball up.
"She has, maybe more than any other girl I've ever had, held her own on setter dumps, second-ball surprises," Corbelli said. "Anything can come her way on the court and she can cover it. She's incredible."
Mellinger, a third-generation Aggie, wanted to attend Texas A&M all along, but there were other schools that did offer her scholarships.
"It was a really big decision because I didn't know if that was something I wanted to do, but I went with my gut instinct just to come to the school I really wanted to go to," Mellinger said. "It's been an absolute blast. I'm having so much fun, the volleyball, everything is great, the teammates, coaches. I knew it would be fun, but never could have imagined it be as great as it has been."
TEXAS A&M VOLLEYBALL
* Wednesday's match: Oklahoma (12-6, 5-4 Big 12) at Texas A&M (13-4, 6-3), 6:30 p.m.