Volleyball Hosts Arkansas Sunday in SEC Opener

Texas A&M (7-4, 0-0 SEC) vs. Arkansas (11-2, 1-0 SEC)
Sunday, Sept. 27, 1:30 p.m.
Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
SEC Network +

Texas A&M-Arkansas All-Time Series Record: A&M leads 4-1
A&M Home: A&M leads 2-1| Away: A&M leads 2-0| Neutral: 0-0
Last Meeting: A&M won, 3-1 (25-17, 25-19, 19-25, 25-20), Nov. 19, 2014, Barnhill Arena, Fayetteville, Ark.
Streak: A&M won 1

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The Texas A&M volleyball team kicks off its fourth season in the Southeastern Conference on Sunday as the Aggies play host to the Arkansas Razorbacks. First serve is slated for 1:30 p.m. at Reed Arena, and the match will be broadcast on SEC Network +, available on WatchESPN.com.

The Aggies went 7-4 in non-conference play -- including 4-0 in home matches -- and are coming off a 3-0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-14) drubbing over Florida A&M on Saturday, Sept. 19 in Tallahassee, Fla.

Arkansas has won nine of its last 10 matches and is riding a three-match win streak, which includes a 3-2 victory against No. 11 Wisconsin as well as a 3-2 victory at LSU on Wednesday to open SEC play.

Both A&M and Arkansas are receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association's Top 25 Poll and are listed 32nd and 33rd, respectively.

TEXAS A&M in the SEC

A&M is 3-0 all-time in SEC season openers.
All three of A&M's SEC conference openers were played at Reed Arena with the Aggies winning all three matches in three-set sweeps.
In 2012, its inaugural season in the SEC, A&M defeated Ole Miss, marking A&M's first SEC victory in any sport.
A&M has dominated in its SEC opener over the last three years, outhitting its opponents a combined .354 to .143. Below is the hitting breakdown in the Aggies' three SEC season openers:

2012                      K - E - TA     Pct.
Texas A&M (3)      49-14-113     .310
Ole Miss (0)          41-18-114     .202

2013                      K - E - TA     Pct.
Texas A&M (3)      47-12-105     .333
Georgia (0)            30-21-107     .084

2014                      K - E - TA     Pct.
Texas A&M (3)      48-11-84       .440
Auburn (0)             26-15-79       .139

A&M has yet to play an SEC opener away from home.
Last year, A&M went 13-5 in SEC play, tying 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.
A&M is 39-17 all-time in SEC matches
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.
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-ARKANSAS ALL-TIME SERIES

A&M leads the all-time series, 4-1, including 2-1 in matches played in College Station.
Neither team has posted a sweep in the series, with the first meeting going five sets and the last four being decided in four sets.
The Aggies won the first three meetings, and Arkansas picked up its first win in the series with a 20-25, 25-12, 25-21, 27-25 upset over 20th-ranked A&M last year, at Reed Arena.
In the first four meetings, the team that won the first set lost the match. A&M broke that streak with a 25-17, 25-19, 19-25, 25-20 victory in Fayetteville in the most recent meeting (Nov. 19, 2014).
In the most recent meeting, Jazzmin Babers had 13 kills while hitting a career-high .765 and also added eight blocks to lead A&M to the win at Barnhill Arena. A&M outhit the Razorbacks, .331 to .189.
Last year at Reed Arena, Arkansas outhit A&M .265 to .178 and was led by then-senior Meredith Hayes' 23 kills.
A&M's all-time record/results vs. Arkansas:

H: 2-1 A: 2-0 N: 0-0 SEC: 4-1

Oct. 12,    2012     A     W         21-25, 25-15, 25-16, 23-25, 15-3
Nov.   4,   2012     H     W         23-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-17
Oct. 25,    2013     H     W         27-29, 25-20, 25-23, 25-22
Oct. 15,    2014     H     L          25-20, 12-25, 21-25, 25-27
Nov. 19, 2014     A     W         25-17, 25-19, 19-25, 25-20

TEXAS A&M RECENT RESULTS

Texas A&M went 1-1 last weekend in Tallahassee, Fla., falling at No. 18 Florida State, 3-1 (25-20, 25-12, 21-25, 25-16), and thumping Florida A&M, 3-0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-14), in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
A&M was trying to post its second consecutive top-20 victory against the Seminoles following its 3-2 victory over No. 15 Colorado State earlier in the week.
Already playing without the services of sophomore setter Stephanie Aiple, who suffered a foot injury against the Rams, the Aggies lost senior co-captain and outside hitter Angela Lowak to a knee injury (dislocated patella) in the first set against the Seminoles. Lowak, who is out indefinitely, leads the Aggies with 3.22 kills per set.
Junior setter Kaysie Shebeneck made her first start of the season in place of Aiple, and sophomore outside hitter Kiara McGee came off the bench to replace Lowak.
Junior outside hitter Emily Hardesty led the Aggies in kills in both matches with 12 against FSU and 9 against FAMU.
All available 14 players saw action against the Rattlers, including freshman outside hitter Margaret Connett, who her made her first court appearance in the maroon and white and posted her first career kill.
A&M hit .500 against the Rattlers, marking the third highest hitting percentage in program history.

TEXAS A&M QUICK HITS

Freshman outside hitter Margaret Connett will be celebrating her 19th birthday on Sunday, when the Aggies host the Razorbacks.
A&M has used eight different starting lineups over 11 matches. Sophomore setter Stephanie Aiple, senior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan and senior outside hitter Angela Lowak all have missed multiple starts due to injuries.
The Aggies finished non-conference play with a 3-0 victory at Florida A&M on Saturday, Sept. 19, defeating the Rattlers despite playing without the services of both Aiple and Lowak.
Redshirt junior middle blocker Jazzmin Babers has started every match of her career (72) and is hitting .356 for her career.
Babers, who enters the weekend third in the SEC and 35th in the nation with 1.33 blocks per set, has led or tied for the team lead in blocks in 10 of 11 matches this season.
Babers, who posted double-figure blocks for the second time this season with 10 against No. 15 Colorado State, ranks ninth in the A&M all-time career records with 293 block assists. She needs six more block assists to move into seventh place.
Senior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan is hitting .358 this season and .377 for her career, putting her on pace to shatter the A&M career record for hitting percentage (.342) held by Sherri Brinkman (1983-85).
Outside hitter Angela Lowak had posted double-figure kills in four consecutive matches prior to the Florida State match.
Sophomore libero Amy Nettles has led or tied for the team lead in digs in every match this season. She is averaging a team-high 3.84 digs per set, ranking ninth in the SEC.
Nettles, who has posted double-figure digs in a team-leading nine matches, is the only A&M 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.
The versatile freshman Kaitlyn Blake has started seven matches as either an opposite hitter or middle blocker. She is hitting .263 and averaging 2.06 kills and 0.88 blocks per set for the season. The Allen High School product had a career-high and team match-high 14 kills while hitting .321 in the loss to Iowa State.
Junior setter Kaysie Shebeneck made her first two starts of the season at No. 18 Florida State and Florida A&M, replacing sophomore starter Stephanie Aiple, who 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 9.27 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.
Aiple is ranked 20th in the nation with 11.28 assists per set.
Freshman 6-7 outside hitter/middle blocker Montse Castro has returned to the team after spending the last two weeks competing for Mexico at the Women's U20 World Championship in Puerto Rico.
A&M is 3-0 in five-set matches.
Texas 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.
Seven of A&M's matches are against teams ranked in the top 25 in this week's AVCA Top 25 Poll: No. 8 Stanford, No. 17 Florida State and No. 19 Colorado State, as well as two matches each against No. 5 Florida and No. 24 Kentucky.
Four players -- Jazzmin Babers, Katelyn Labhart, Angela Lowak and Shelby Sullivan -- each received their Aggie Ring on Friday, Sept. 25, celebrating one of the most revered and symbolic traditions at Texas A&M. The tradition began with the Class of 1889.

SCOUTING ARKANSAS

Arkansas is 11-2 overall and 1-0 in the SEC after a hard-fought 3-2 (25-23, 26-28, 26-24, 20-25, 15-9) victory at LSU on Wednesday to open conference play.
The Razorbacks have won their last three matches, with all three being decided in five sets.
Included in that streak is a 3-2 victory against No. 11 Wisconsin on Sept. 19.
Against LSU, outside hitter Pilar Victoria, a junior transfer from Texas, erupted for 30 kills, and setter Adrien Wohlschlaeger dished out 65 assists as the Razorbacks led the Tigers in kills, 79-58 and outhit LSU, .269 to .203.
Victoria is second in the SEC and 17th in the nation in both kills (4.46) and points (4.98) per set.
Senior middle blocker Chanell Clark-Bibbs, a preseason All-SEC selection, had 17 kills while hitting .367 against LSU. She leads Arkansas and is fourth in the SEC and 15th in the nation with a .433 hitting percentage.
Clark-Bibbs was named espnW National Player of the Week on Wednesday after hitting .443 with 3.85 kills per set and 1.31 blocks per set at the Creighton Classic.
Freshman libero Okiana Valle was named the SEC Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week on Monday.
Arkansas sophomore defensive specialist Kori Ortiz and Aggie freshman defensive specialist Paige Panter were teammates at Southlake Carroll High School in Southlake, Texas.
Arkansas associate head coach Carol Price-Torok is Texas A&M Class of '04. She played middle blocker and right side for Aggie coach Laurie Corbelli from 2000-03. A&M reached at least the NCAA second round every year during Price-Torok's career, reaching the regional finals in 2001 and the regional semifinals in 2003. Price-Torok also lettered in basketball in 2003-04, Gary Blair's first year as head coach of the A&M women's basketball team.
Robert Pulliza (Ball State, 1996) is in his eighth season as head coach of the Razorbacks.

UPCOMING
The Aggies hit the road Wednesday to take on Auburn. First serve at Auburn Arena in Auburn, Ala., will be at 8 p.m., and the match will be televised by ESPNU.

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Stephanie Aiple

Jazzmin Babers

Kaitlyn Blake

Montse Castro

Margaret Connett

Emily Hardesty

Katelyn Labhart

Angela Lowak

Kiara McGee

Amy Nettles

Paige Panter

Kaysie Shebeneck

Shelby Sullivan

Footer

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Event: Volleyball versus TCU on Apr. 3, 2026 at 3:30 PM

Upcoming Event: Volleyball at Rice on Apr. 3, 2026 at 5:30 PM

Upcoming Event: Volleyball versus Baylor on Apr. 11, 2026 at 11:30 AM

Upcoming Event: Volleyball versus SMU on Apr. 11, 2026 at 5:30 PM

Upcoming Event: Volleyball versus Oklahoma on Apr. 18, 2026 at 1:30 PM