May 16, 2002
Three tournaments, as well as the constantly challenging Big 12 Conference slate, highlight the 2002 Texas A&M volleyball schedule, announced today by Aggie coach Laurie Corbelli.
A&M is scheduled to play a total of 30 matches -- 16 matches at home and 14 matches on the road -- during the regular season, including 14 contests against teams who participated in the 2001 NCAA tournament. In addition, eight of the matches are against opponents who were ranked in the final USA Today/AVCA Top 25 Poll.
"This is a year in which the schedule fits our team very well and will allow us to see a lot of success, " Corbelli said. "We return a group that is somewhat unknown not in terms of the people but in terms of what the team can do, and that presents an exciting new challenge. As the year goes on, we will continue to improve, build confidence and chemistry and develop more consistency within our system, and this schedule allows us to work with that growth."
The Aggies, who return only two starters -- middle blockers Melissa Munsch and Tara Pulaski -- from last year's squad that advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight and finished with a 26-6 record and a No. 11 national ranking, kick off the season at home against Alcorn State, Texas-San Antonio and Southeastern Conference rival LSU in the Texas A&M Invitational to be played Aug. 30 and Sept. 1 at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Following a match at Southwest Texas State on Sept. 3, A&M travels to Madison, Wis., for the InnTowner Invitational. The Aggies will face the University of Montreal, Illinois State and the revenge-minded Wisconsin Badgers, who were ousted by the underdog Aggies in the 2001 NCAA regional semifinals.
A&M then returns home to host Sam Houston State, Louisiana-Lafayette and perennial power BYU in the Aggies' second home tournament on Sept. 13-14. The tournament represents A&M's final tune-up before beginning Big 12 Conference.
"Our pre-conference schedule is exactly the type of schedule we need to play," Corbelli said. "We will see some middle-ranked teams and some upper-ranked teams, such as Wisconsin and BYU, which will give us a full plate and allow us to see all the different levels that we need to see. It is the perfect preparation for our team for Big 12 competition."
The Aggies, who finished second in the Big 12 with a 16-4 mark last season, open league play at home against Kansas on Sept. 18. Other home contests against potential Top 25 teams in the competitive Big 12 include an Oct. 6 tilt against Final Four participant and four-time defending Big 12 champion Nebraska, as well as matches against 2001 NCAA participants Texas Tech (Oct. 16), Baylor (Oct. 23), Colorado (Nov. 2), Missouri (Nov. 8), Kansas State (Nov. 17) and the regular-season home finale against rival Texas on Nov. 27.
"We have the best Big 12 schedule we have ever had in terms of the distribution of the strength of teams," Corbelli said. "But every year the Big 12 seems to get more competitive, and it is a constant challenge. The biggest plus for our conference strength is that it definitely prepares you in the most complete way for the postseason play. We don't have to worry about if we have seen the top caliber teams that we will see in the NCAA tournament."
The 64-team NCAA tournament begins Dec. 6 with the championship match slated for Dec. 21 in New Orleans, La.
The following is the complete 2002 Aggie volleyball schedule:
DATE DAY OPPONENT SITE TIME (Central)
Aug. 30 - Fri.-Sun. TEXAS A&M VOLLEYBALL INVITATIONAL COLLEGE STATION
Sept. 2 (Alcorn State, LSU, UTSA, Texas A&M)
Fri. Alcorn State vs. UTSA 9 a.m.
UTSA vs. LSU 12 p.m.
Texas A&M vs. Alcorn State 2 p.m.
LSU vs. Alcorn State 5 p.m.
Texas A&M vs. UTSA 7 p.m.
Sun. Texas A&M vs. LSU 2 p.m.
Sept. 3 Tues. at Southwest Texas State San Marcos, Texas 7 p.m.
Sept. 6-7 Fri-Sat. Wisconsin InnTowner Invitational Madison, Wis.
(Illinois State, Univ. of Montreal, Texas A&M, Wisconsin)
Fri. vs. Montreal 4:30 p.m. Sat. vs. Illinois State 10 a.m.
vs. Wisconsin 7 p.m.
Sept. 13-14 Fri-Sat. TEXAS A&M VOLLEYBALL INVITATIONAL COLLEGE STATION
(BYU, Louisiana-Lafayette, Sam Houston State, Texas A&M)
Fri. BYU vs. Louisiana-Lafayette 5 p.m.
Texas A&M vs. Sam Houston State 7 p.m.
Sat. Sam Houston State vs. BYU 11 a.m.
Texas A&M vs. Louisiana-Lafayette 1 p.m.
Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Sam Houston State 5 p.m.
Texas A&M vs. BYU 7 p.m.
Sept. 18 Wed. *KANSAS COLLEGE STATION 7 p.m.
Sept. 21 Sat. *at Colorado Boulder, Colo. TBA
Sept. 25 Wed. *at Missouri Columbia, Mo. TBA
Sept. 27 Fri. *IOWA STATE COLLEGE STATION 6 p.m.
Oct. 2 Wed. *at Oklahoma Norman, Okla. 7 p.m.
Oct. 6 Sun. *NEBRASKA COLLEGE STATION 2 p.m.
Oct. 9 Wed. *at Texas Austin, Texas 7 p.m.
Oct. 16 Wed. *TEXAS TECH COLLEGE STATION 7 p.m.
Oct. 19 Sat. *at Kansas State Manhattan, Kan. 7 p.m.
Oct. 23 Wed. *BAYLOR COLLEGE STATION 7 p.m.
Oct. 26 Sat. *at Nebraska Lincoln, Neb. 7 p.m.
Oct. 30 Wed. *OKLAHOMA COLLEGE STATION 7 p.m.
Nov. 2 Sat. *COLORADO COLLEGE STATION 7 p.m.
Nov. 6 Wed. *at Baylor Waco, Texas 7 p.m.
Nov. 8 Fri. *MISSOURI COLLEGE STATION 7 p.m.
Nov. 13 Wed. *at Kansas Lawrence, Kan. TBA
Nov. 17 Sun. *KANSAS STATE COLLEGE STATION 3 p.m.
Nov. 23 Sat. *at Texas Tech Lubbock, Texas 7 p.m.
Nov. 27 Wed. *TEXAS COLLEGE STATION 7 p.m.
Nov. 30 Sat. *at Iowa State Ames, Iowa 7 p.m.
Dec. 6-7 Fri-Sat. NCAA First & Second Rounds, Campus Sites
Dec. 13-14 Fri-Sat. NCAA Regionals, Campus Sites
Dec. 19 Thurs. NCAA Semifinals, New Orleans, La.
Dec. 21 Sat. NCAA Championship, New Orleans, La.
*Big 12 Conference game
All dates and times are subject to change.
updated 5/16/02