October 20, 2000
The 25th-ranked Texas A&M volleyball team (12-5, 7-3 Big 12) begins the second half of conference play Saturday as the Aggies play host to the 24th-ranked Missouri Tigers (17-2, 8-2 Big 12). First serve is at 7 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
The match offers A&M an opportunity to move up in the Big 12 Conference standings, as Missouri, which upset A&M in Columbia, Mo., in the conference opener last month, is in second place in the league with an 8-2 record, while A&M is tied for third with Kansas State and one win behind the Tigers with a 7-3 league mark.
A&M is coming off a 15-9, 16-14, 14-16, 16-14 win against Texas on Wednesday. The victory snapped a 24-match losing skid to the Longhorns in Austin and marked the Aggies' first win against the Longhorns in the capitol city since 1979. In addition, the triumph gave Laurie Corbelli her 181st win, making her the winningest coach in the 26-year history of the Aggie volleyball program.
The Aggies set all-time records with 109 kills and 104 assists against the Longhorns, and junior setter Jenna Moscovic set an A&M record and tied a Big 12 record with 88 assists in the win. Junior right-side hitter Brandi Mount also broke into the record books with her 30 kills, the most kills by an A&M player in a four-game match.
For the season, A&M is outhitting its opponents .267 to .204. Senior middle blocker Heather Marshall, who had a career-high 23 kills against Texas, leads the starters with a .336 hitting percentage and 1.37 blocks per game. Junior outside hitter Erin Gibson leads the team with 3.96 kills and 4.23 digs per game. Moscovic is averaging 13.45 assists per game.
Missouri, under the direction of first-year head coach Susan Kreklow and her husband, associate head coach Wayne Kreklow, is in the midst of its most successful season in the history of the Big 12. The Tigers, who have already set a school record for conference wins halfway through the season, are riding a five-match winning streak, including a 3-0 sweep at home against Colorado on Wednesday. They have four players hitting over .300 and as a team, Missouri is outhitting its opponents, .301 to .186. Middle blockers Krista Johnson and Christi Myers lead the team, hitting .376 and .366, respectively. Myers also is averaging a team-high 1.43 blocks per game. Outside hitter Lisa Morris leads the Tigers with 4.30 kills and 3.15 digs per game.
A&M is 10-2 all time against the Tigers and had won nine consecutive matches against Missouri until getting swept, 15-12, 15-8, 15-8, on Sept. 13 in Columbia, Mo. The Aggies were held to a season-low 39 kills, 35 assists and a .083 hitting percentage in the loss and no A&M players reached double figures in kills. Morris and Kristen Johnson rallied the Tigers to the conference-opening win with 13 kills each as the Tigers hit .241.
The Aggies are looking to extend their record-setting 26-match home winning streak, which began with a 15-10, 15-11, 15-5 victory against Missouri on Nov. 5, 1998. Not only are the Tigers winless in four visits to G. Rollie, they have not been able to take a game on the Aggies' home court.
A&M returns to the road next week with a match against the Kansas Jayhawks, Wednesday, Oct. 25 in Lawrence, Kan. The match will be televised tape delay by Fox Sports Net.