April 12, 2002
The Texas A&M volleyball team continues its spring exhibition season at the Santa Barbara Spring Tournament on Saturday in Santa Barbara, Calif.
The Aggies, 5-2-1 in the spring season, play four matches during the one-day tournament. They open against the host Gauchos at 10:15 a.m. (PDT) followed by Cal State Fullerton at 11:30 a.m. At 2 p.m. A&M faces Pepperdine, who advanced to the 2001 NCAA regional semifinals, and concludes the tournament against the University of San Francisco at 3:15 p.m.
All matches will be played at the Thunderdome on the UCSB campus. Each match will be two games to 30 points, rally scoring with no cap. The libero rule, which has been approved by the NCAA for the 2002 season, will be in place. A libero is a designated back-row player, primarily with a defensive and passing role, who can make unlimited substitutions into a game but is not permitted to attack, block or serve.
The Aggies wrap up their spring competition schedule at G. Rollie White Coliseum on April 18. Start time and teams will be announced next week.
A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli is looking to replace five seniors from last year's team that went 26-6 and was ranked No. 11 in the final poll after advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight for the second time in school history.
The Aggies are slated to open the 2002 schedule on August 30 with a home tournament which features Alcorn State, Louisiana State and Texas-San Antonio.
Spring Results
Baylor Spring Tournament, March 23, Waco, Texas
Southwest Texas 14 16
Texas A&M 30 30
SMU 16 25
Texas A&M 30 30
Baylor 24 33 15
Texas A&M 30 31 11
Rice 31 20 15
Texas A&M 29 30 11
ASU Spring Tournament, Tempe, Ariz.
Texas A&M def. Arizona State, 2-0
Texas A&M def. Arizona, 2-0
Texas A&M and Texas Tech tied, 1-1
Texas A&M def. Western Arizona, 2-0