Texas A&M Concludes Road Swing at Mississippi State

Texas A&M Aggies (18-6 11-2 SEC) vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs (14-13, 3-10 SEC)
Sunday, Nov. 15, 1 p.m.
Newell-Grissom Bldg., Starkville, Miss
SEC Network +

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Texas A&M, riding a nine-match win streak and tied with Kentucky for first place in the Southeastern Conference standings, concludes a two-match road swing Sunday as the Aggies take on Mississippi State. First serve against the Bulldogs is at 1 p.m. at the Newell-Grissom Building in Starkville, and the match will be broadcast on SEC Network +.

A&M (18-6, 11-2 SEC) is coming off a 3-2 (26-24, 17-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-12) victory at upset-minded Ole Miss on Friday. With the win, the Aggies moved into first place with Kentucky, which had a bye on Friday. A&M also equaled its longest conference win streak since it joined the league in 2012, when the Aggies closed out their inaugural SEC season with nine consecutive conference wins.

Mississippi State (14-13, 3-10 SEC) is in 12th place in the SEC and is aiming to snap a seven-match conference losing skid after falling to Auburn, 3-2 (24-26, 18-25, 25-23, 25-16, 15-11) Friday in Starkville.

A&M IN THE SEC

This marks A&M's fourth season as a member of the SEC.
The win at Ole Miss on Friday marked A&M's 50th victory as a member of the SEC.
The Aggies are 5-1 in away SEC matches in 2015 with wins at Auburn, South Carolina, No. 20 Kentucky, Tennessee and Ole Miss. The one loss was at defending SEC champion and then-No. 17 Florida on Oct. 9.
The Aggies are 6-1 in home SEC matches this year. Since suffering its only home loss of the season in the SEC opener to Arkansas on Sept. 27, A&M has won each of its last six home matches in three-set sweeps, having shut out Ole Miss, Alabama, Mississippi State, LSU, Missouri and most recently Georgia to mark the most consecutive SEC home wins since joining the league in 2012.
A&M is 50-19 (.725) all-time in SEC matches, including 26-9 (.743) in home SEC matches and 24-10 (.706) in away SEC matches.
Last year, A&M went 13-5 in SEC play, going 7-2 in conference home matches and 6-3 in SEC away matches to tie Alabama for fourth place.
A&M's best SEC finish was in 2012, its inaugural season in the conference. The Aggies went 16-4, winning the SEC Western Division and placing second overall.
The Aggies are picked to finish fourth in the SEC in 2015 according to a preseason vote of the league's head coaches. Florida, the 2014 SEC champion after posting a perfect 18-0 record in conference play, is picked to defend its title.
Aggie senior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan was named to the nine-member Preseason Volleyball All-SEC Team for the second consecutive year. She was an All-SEC Team selection at the conclusion of each of the last two seasons and she was the 2014 SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year.

A&M-STATE ALL-TIME SERIES

A&M leads the all-time series, 5-0, against the Bulldogs, including 2-0 in matches played in Starkville.
All five matches have been as SEC foes.
The teams last met Oct. 18, 2015, at Reed Arena in College Station, where Shelby Sullivan and Jazzmin Babers combined for 19 kills and a .586 hitting efficiency to lead the Aggies to a 25-19, 25-18, 25-15 victory. As a team, A&M outhit the Bulldogs, .410 to .198. Babers hit 1.000, going 9-for-9 in attack attempts, and seven A&M players posted at least three kills apiece in the match with Stephanie Aiple directing the balanced offense with 31 assists. A&M libero Amy Nettles led all players with 14 digs. Alex Warren led the Bulldogs with 11 kills.
A&M all-time records/results vs. Mississippi State:

Overall: 5-0 H: 3-0 A: 2-0 N: 0-0 SEC: 5-0

Oct. 7, 2012 H W 25-8, 25-14, 25-10
Oct. 11, 2013 H W 25-19, 25-21, 25-16
Nov. 8, 2013 A W 25-17, 25-21, 25-15
Nov. 26, 2014 A W 25-14, 25-18, 25-10
Oct. 18, 2015 H W 25-19, 25-18, 25-15

TEXAS A&M QUICK HITS

A&M is 10-1 in home matches, 6-4 in away matches and 2-1 at neutral sites for the full season.
A&M, which has won its last nine SEC matches, will set a school record for consecutive SEC wins with a win against the Bulldogs.
A&M reached another season high in the NCAA RPI this week, climbing three spots to No. 16. A&M, which was No. 38 in the first released RPI of the season on Oct. 5, was No. 22 in the 2014 final RPI.
For the second consecutive week, the Aggies are receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 Poll and are listed 28th, up four spots from last week.
A&M moved up one spot to No. 15 in this week's PrepVolleyball.com (PVB) College Top 50 Rankings, and the Aggies moved up three spots to No. 21 in PVB's Top 25 Composite Poll.
A&M entered the weekend 12th in the nation and second in the SEC with a .279 hitting efficiency.
The Aggies also entered the weekend ranked 26th in the nation and second in the SEC in kills (14.14) per set and 28th in the nation and first in the league with 13.17 assists per set for the full season.
In SEC matches only, A&M leads the conference in assists (13.53) and kills (14.53) per set and is second in hitting percentage (.283).
A&M is last in the league in aces per set (0.91) and 10th in opponent hitting percentage (.214) for the full season.
A&M is the only team in the SEC that has two starters hitting above .400 in SEC matches only: middle blocker Jazzmin Babers (.440), who ranks second in the league in hitting efficiency in SEC matches only, and middle blocker Shelby Sullivan (.418), who ranks fourth. For the full season, they are third and fifth, respectively, in the league with Babers hitting .418 and Sullivan hitting .394.
During its nine-match win streak, A&M is outhitting its opponents, .281 to .171, while averaging 14.81 kills per set to opponents' 11.84 kills per set. A&M is also outdigging its opponents 14.22 to 11.12 per set during the nine-match stretch.
A&M is 17-0 when leading its opponent in attack percentage, 15-0 when leading in points, 14-0 when leading in kills, 13-0 when leading in blocks and 8-0 when leading in aces.
The Aggies are 17-1 when winning the first set and 1-5 when dropping the first set.
A&M is 5-0 in five-set matches.
A&M has won each of its last six home matches in three-set sweeps. The last time A&M notched at least six consecutive home sweeps in a single season was 1996 when the Aggies won 10 consecutive 3-0 decisions at home.
In home matches only this season, A&M is outhitting its opponents, 308 to .167, while also leading in kills per set, 14.90 to 11.72.
At away matches only, A&M is narrowly outhitting its opponents, .271 to .266, and opponents lead in kills per set, 13.97 to 13.53.
A&M's win at Kentucky on Oct. 30 marked the only time this season the Aggies won despite being outhit (.230 to .194). A&M, 1-6 when being outhit, also won its first match when hitting below .200, improving to 1-2.
The Aggies hit .429 in the sweep against Alabama on Oct. 16 and .410 in the 3-0 win against Mississippi State on Oct. 18, marking the first time since the first two matches of the 2009 season that hit above .400 in back-to-back matches. A&M, which hit above .400 only once in 2014, has hit above .400 six times overall this season, including a season-high .500 at Florida A&M, marking the third highest hitting percentage in school history. A&M hit .481 at Auburn and .470 against Wichita State, which also rank in the top 10 in program history.
After using 10 different starting lineups over the first 12 matches, A&M has used basically the same starting lineup over the last 12 matches with the only difference being a defensive specialist – either freshman Amy Houser or junior Katelyn Labhart – starting in the back row for sophomore opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor. Setter Stephanie Aiple, outside hitters Emily Hardesty and Kiara McGee and middle blockers Jazzmin Babers and Shelby Sullivan have all been in the starting lineup in each of the last 12 matches.
A&M is 3-3 against teams in this week's Top 25, including victories against current No. 4 Minnesota, No. 13 Colorado State and No. 18 Kentucky. A&M also has a win against Missouri, which is receiving points and is listed 33rd.
A&M's season schedule includes 10 matches against teams that reached at least the second round of the NCAA Championship tournament and were ranked in the top 25 or received votes in the final 2014 AVCA Division I Coaches Poll.

TEXAS A&M PLAYER QUICK HITS

Redshirt junior middle blocker Jazzmin Babers was named the SEC Player of the Week for the second time this season and received SEC Defensive Player of the Week recognition for the third time on Monday, and sophomore Stephanie Aiple earned her fourth consecutive SEC Setter of the Week honor, sharing the accolade with Alabama's Sierra Wilson.
Babers hit .528 in sweeps against Missouri and Georgia last week and led A&M with 4.00 kills, 1.83 blocks and 5.08 points per set. Aiple averaged a combined 14.75 assists per set and also averaged 3.25 digs per set for the week, second-best on the team.
Against Missouri, Aiple set an A&M Reed Arena record for assists in a three-set match with 47. Her 47 assists is the most by an A&M player in a three-set match this season, and it also ranks second among SEC players this year. Aiple also had 10 digs against the Tigers to notch her team-leading fifth double-double of the season.
Middle blocker Shelby Sullivan is one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award for volleyball. The Senior CLASS Award recipient will be announced during the 2015 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship in December. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. Voting goes through Dec. 7 at http://bit.ly/20MT88z
Jazzmin Babers entered the weekend ranked ninth in the nation and second in the SEC with a .432 hitting efficiency for the full season. Babers tied the A&M all-time record for season hitting percentage last year after hitting .400 for the full season.
Babers also entered the weekend ranked 23rd in the nation and third in the SEC with 1.37 blocks per set for the full season.
In SEC matches only, Babers is second in the league with a .440 hitting efficiency. She is second in the conference with 1.33 blocks per set, fifth with 4.16 points per set and sixth with 3.42 kills per set in SEC play.
Babers has started every match of her career (85) and is hitting .370 for her career.
Babers, who has posted double-figure blocks twice this season and has led or tied for the team lead in blocks in 18 of 24 matches this season, ranks sixth in the A&M all-time career records with 347 block assists. She also ranks eighth in the career records for total blocks with 395.
Sophomore setter Stephanie Aiple entered the weekend ranked 11th in the nation and second in the SEC with 11.55 assists per set for the full season. Aiple, who is averaging 12.00 assists during A&M's nine-match win streak, also is second in the conference with 11.57 assists per set in league play.
After missing two matches with a foot injury suffered against No. 15 Colorado State on Sept. 15, Aiple returned to the court in the second set against Arkansas on Sept. 27. Aiple returned to the starting lineup in the sweep against Auburn on Sept. 30, directing the Aggie offense to a .481 hitting percentage, the fifth highest team hitting percentage in program history and setting an A&M record for highest hitting percentage in a three-set SEC match.
Senior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan is hitting .394 this season and .382 for her career, putting her on pace to shatter the A&M record for career hitting percentage (.342) held by Sherri Brinkman (1983-85).
Amy Nettles is the only player to have appeared in all 89 sets -- all at the libero position -- and Babers is the only player to have started all 24 matches. Meanwhile, sophomore setter Stephanie Aiple (foot), senior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan (knee) and senior outside hitter Angela Lowak (ankle, knee), all returning starters from last year, have missed multiple starts at some point in the season due to injuries.
Sophomore outside hitter Kiara McGee, who is second on the team among active players with 2.91 kills and 3.21 points per set for the full season and 3.14 kills per set in SEC matches only, is averaging a team-best 3.48 kills while hitting at a .274 clip in home matches only.
Jazzmin Babers is averaging 4.09 points and 1.62 blocks per set in home matches only.
During A&M's nine-match win streak, sophomore opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor is hitting .281 with 2.42 kills and 2.76 points per set. For the season, Reasor is hitting .210 with 2.01 kills and 2.41 points per set.
Sophomore libero Amy Nettles has led or tied for the team lead in digs in all but two matches this season. She is averaging a team-high 3.74 digs per set for the full season, ranking ninth in the SEC. She is first on the team and 10th in the league with 3.64 digs per set in conference matches only. In home matches only, Nettles is averaging 4.15 digs per set.
Nettles and has posted double-figure digs in a team-leading 20 matches, including each of the last nine matches to tie her career high for consecutive matches with double-digit digs set earlier this season.
Nettles is the only player to reach 20 or more digs in a match this season, posting a season-high and tying her career high with 27 in the 3-2 win against No. 15 Colorado State and notching 20 digs in a 3-1 win against Milwaukee.
Sophomore setter Stephanie Aiple leads A&M with six double-doubles, including three in the last five matches. Junior outside hitter Emily Hardesty has three double-doubles.
The athletic and versatile Kaitlyn Blake has started seven matches as either an opposite hitter or middle blocker and also has subbed in as an outside hitter. The freshman has appeared in 19 matches overall and is hitting .251 and averaging 1.91 kills and 0.68 blocks per set for the season.
Junior setter Kaysie Shebeneck made her first three starts of the season at No. 18 Florida State, at Florida A&M and at home against Arkansas after Aiple suffered a foot injury in the second set against Colorado State. Shebeneck, who led the Aggies to a 3-2 victory against the Rams, is averaging 8.39 assists per set and directed the Aggie offense to a .500 hitting percentage against Florida A&M, marking the third highest hitting percentage in program history. Shebeneck started four matches at setter last season. As a freshman, she started five at the opposite hitter position.
Outside hitter Angela Lowak is out indefinitely after suffering a knee injury (dislocated patella) at Florida State on Sept. 19. The senior co-captain posted double-figure kills in four consecutive matches leading up to the FSU match, and she was leading the team with 3.22 kills per set before suffering the injury.
Freshman 6-7 outside hitter/middle blocker Montse Castro spent two weeks competing for Mexico at the Women's U20 World Championship in Puerto Rico in September. Castro, believed to be the tallest player in the history of the A&M program, has yet to appear in a match.
Four players -- Jazzmin Babers, Katelyn Labhart, Angela Lowak and Shelby Sullivan -- each received their Aggie Ring on Sept. 25, celebrating one of the most revered and symbolic traditions at Texas A&M. The tradition began with the Class of 1889.

SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE

Mississippi State is 14-13 overall and in 12th place in the SEC with a 3-10 record.
Most recently, the Bulldogs let a 2-0 set lead slip away and fell to Auburn, 2-3 (24-26, 18-25, 25-23, 25-16, 15-11) on Friday at the Newell-Grissom Building. Auburn outhit State, .189 to .140 and led in blocks, 13-6.
Eva Grace Singleton led the Bulldogs with 13 kills but was held to a minus .049 hitting efficiency. Libero Payton Harris had 34 digs
The Bulldogs are 8-5 in home matches only, including 2-4 in home SEC matches.
MSU entered the weekend ranked second in the SEC and 59th in the nation with 1.46 aces per set. The Bulldogs are third in the league with 1.35 aces per set in SEC matches only.
Outside hitter Evie Grace Singleton, a junior transfer from Central Arkansas, entered the weekend ranked first in the SEC and is 11th in the nation with 0.48 aces per set for the full season. She is third in the league with 0.38 aces per set in conference matches only.
Singleton leads the Bulldogs with 3.42 kills and 4.05 points per set.
Libero Peyton Harris is averaging 4.27 digs per set, ranking sixth in the SEC full season stats.
The Bulldogs are under the direction of first-year head coach David McFatrich (Arkansas, 1986).

TEXAS A&M RECENT RESULTS

Texas A&M extended its win streak to nine and climbed back into a tie for first place in the Southeastern Conference standings after holding off a pesky Ole Miss team, 26-24, 17-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-12, Friday night at the Gillom Sports Center in Oxford, Miss.
The Aggies improved to 12-0 in the all-time series against the Rebels.
For the fourth time in A&M's five visits to Ole Miss, the match was decided in a fifth set. The Rebels had used a 3-0 run to take a 7-6 lead in the final stanza and held an 8-7 advantage when the teams changes sides. A&M managed to tie the score twice before a block by Jazzmin Babers and Ashlie Reasor returned the lead to A&M, 10-9. Ole Miss countered with a kill and a block to regain the lead and maintained the one-point advantage at 12-11 before the Aggies reeled off four unanswered points. Junior outside hitter Emily Hardesty began the run and evened the score at 12-12 with a kill, and Reasor swiped a kill off the Rebels block to give the Aggies a 13-12 lead. Ole Miss' next attack sailed long, and libero Amy Nettles aced her serve to close out the victory.
Sophomore outside hitter Kiara McGee led the Aggies with 19 kills, one shy of her career-high. Senior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan added 13 kills while hitting .417, and she tied her career high with seven blocks. Redshirt junior middle blocker and reigning SEC Player of the Week Jazzmin Babers, who entered the match leading the SEC in hitting percentage, also reached double-figure kills with 12 but was held to a .179 hitting efficiency.
Sophomore Stephanie Aiple, the four-time reigning SEC Setter of the Week, tallied her team-leading sixth double-double with 50 assists and 10 digs for the Aggies. Nettles and Hardesty tied for team-high honors in digs with 13 apiece, and junior defensive specialist Katelyn Labhart tied her season-high with 10 digs.
Nakeyta Clair led the Rebels with 17 kills and also tallied a team-high six blocks as Ole Miss outblocked A&M, 15-10.

UPCOMING

A&M concludes its regular season home slate next week with a rematch against Kentucky on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 9 p.m., and against defending champion Florida, Sunday, Nov. 22, at 1 p.m.
Both matches will be televised on the SEC Network.
The Florida match also will be the Aggies' "Senior Day", and Angela Lowak and Shelby Sullivan will be honored following the match.

Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M volleyball team on Facebook and on Twitter and Instagram by following @AggieVolleyball.

VOTE here for Texas A&M's Shelby Sullivan for the Senior CLASS Award

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Stephanie Aiple

Jazzmin Babers

Kaitlyn Blake

Montse Castro

Emily Hardesty

Amy Houser

Katelyn Labhart

Angela Lowak

Kiara McGee

Amy Nettles

Ashlie Reasor

Kaysie Shebeneck

Shelby Sullivan

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