September 05, 2000
The 18th-ranked Texas A&M volleyball team makes its home debut Wednesday as the Aggies play host to former Southwest Conferrence-foe Houston at G. Rollie White Coliseum. Match time is 7 p.m. The Internet radio broadcast of the match can be heard at WTAW.com and live scoring can be found at www.AggieAthletics.com.
The Aggies, who went 16-0 in home matches last season, are riding a 20-match home winning streak dating to Nov. 5, 1998. They must win their first five home matches this season to break the record of 24 consecutive home victories spanning Oct. 8, 1981 to Nov. 17, 1982.
Although A&M went 1-2 in the season-opening Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic last weekend in Honolulu, the Aggies moved up one spot to No. 18 in the first regular- season Top 25 Poll. A&M battled both No. 5 Hawaii and No. 1 UCLA before falling in four- game matches and swept Iowa to take third place. Junior outside hitter Michelle Cole, who posted double-doubles against Hawaii (15 kills, 12 digs) and Iowa (19 kills, 15 digs), was named to the all-tournament team.
The Cougars are 2-0, defeating Texas-Arlington in four games in the season opener on Friday and then downing the Mavericks in three games on Saturday. Senior Jennifer Wittenburg, who transferred from UCLA prior to the 1999 season, posted a team-high 11 kills in the opener and then pounded out 33 kills in the four-game victory to average an impressive 7.33 kills per game.
Houston leads the all-time series against the Aggies, 29-27, but A&M has won the last five meetings, all in three games. The teams last met Sept. 15, 1998, in College Station where the Aggies won 15-6, 15-6, 15-5. The Cougars' most recent victory against the A&M was Nov. 20, 1994, in the championship match of the Southwest Conference tournament.
The Aggies have won their last 10 home openers, including every home opener since coach Laurie Corbelli took the helm in 1993. Overall, A&M is 18-4 in its home debuts since 1978.
Corbelli is 170-62 in her eighth season at A&M and 270-168 in the 15th season of her head coaching career. In addition, Corbelli sports a 7-4 record against the Cougars.
This weekend, the Aggies travel to Austin to participate in the Longhorn Classic. A&M faces Washington on Friday at 5 p.m. and Eastern Washington on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Gregory Gym. The matches represent A&M's final tune-up for its Big 12 Conference opener at Missouri on Wednesday, Sept. 13.