August 29, 2002
No. 17 Texas A&M begins its 2002 campaign as the Aggies welcome Alcorn State, LSU and Texas-San Antonio to the McDonald's/Texas A&M Invitational I Friday, Aug. 30 and Sunday, Sept. 1 at G. Rollie White Coliseum. Tournament action gets underway at 10 a.m. Friday with UTSA facing Alcorn State. A&M makes its season debut at 3 p.m. against Alcorn State and then faces UTSA at 6 p.m. The Aggies conclude the tournament against LSU at 2 p.m. on Sunday...Live scoring of all matches will be provided on the Internet at www.AggieAthletics.com.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
- Friday, August 30
10 a.m. UT-San Antonio vs. Alcorn State
1 p.m. LSU vs. UT-San Antonio
3 p.m. Texas A&M vs. Alcorn State
6 p.m. Texas A&M vs. UT-San Antonio
8 p.m. LSU vs. Alcorn State
Sunday, September 1
2 p.m. Texas A&M vs. LSU
PROMOTIONS
Friday: Verizon/Texas A&M magnetic schedules
Sunday: $2 admission with ULL football ticket stub; The A&M volleyball team will host a free instructional clinic for all youths in attendance.
THE 2002 OUTLOOK
Texas A&M, ranked 17th in the preseason USA Today/AVCA Top 25 Poll, returns 10 letterwinners from last year's team that went 26-6 and ranked 11th in the final poll after advancing to the NCAA regional finals for only the second time in school history. In addition, 10th-year head coach Laurie Corbelli brings in a touted freshman class, including Big 12 Conference preseason Freshman of the Year Laura Jones, a 6-2 outside hitter from Arlington, Texas. Sophomore Melissa Munsch. a starting middle blocker as a freshman who is expected to start on the outside this season, leads the list of returners, along with senior A.D. Achilefu and junior Tara Pulaski who shared starting duties in the middle last year. Sophomore Lexy Beers is tabbed to fill the setting vacancy created when four-year starter and AVCA first-team All-American Jenna Moscovic completed her illustrious career last season...The Aggies, who have made nine consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament, are picked to finish second in the Big 12 Conference behind four-time defending league-champion Nebraska.
LOOKING BACK AT 2001
Led by five senior returning starters, Texas A&M advanced to the regional finals of the NCAA tournament for only the second time in school history and ranked No. 11 in the final 2001 Top 25 Poll after finishing with a 26-6 record. In addition, the Aggies placed second in the Big 12 with a 16-4 mark, tying the 1999 squad for the best conference record since the league began in 1996...Led by AVCA first-team All-American setter Jenna Moscovic and All-Central Region outside hitter Michelle Cole, the Aggies ranked second in the nation in both assists (15.97) and kills (17.5) per game and were listed sixth in the country with 19.21 digs per game.
OPPONENT PROFILES
ALCORN STATE second-year coach Millicent Sylvan returns five starters from last year's team that went 27-3 and placed first in the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference with a 7-1 mark. The Lady Braves are picked to win the SWAC East title again this year according to a preseason poll of the league coaches...Leading the list of returners is senior outside hitter Latoya Washington, who has been tabbed the league's preseason Player of the Year after leading the Lady Braves with a .333 hitting percentage and averaging a team-best 4.17 kills per game last season. Junior outside hitter Andrea Horska and junior middle blocker Tosin Fadeyi also were named to the preseason all-SWAC first team, while senior middle blocker was named to the second team...Although located in Alcorn State, Miss., ASU lists four players from Texas: Randi Coulon (Dallas), Smith (Fort Worth), Washington (Nacogdoches) and Brittany Ward (Beaumont).
LSU returns three starters and six other letterwinners from last year's squad that went 16-11 overall and tied for second in the Southeastern Conference West Division with a 10-5 mark. The Tigers are picked to finish third in the SEC West behind defending West champion Arkansas and Alabama...Leading the list of returners is Jennifer Hampton, a senior outside hitter who led the Tigers with 3.24 kills and 3.17 digs per game last year. Starting setter Katie Kubena, a junior, also returns, as does sophomore outside hitter Kyra Lancon, who was in the starting lineup as a freshman and averaged 2.94 kills per game...Fran Flory (Texas '84) is 63-59 entering her fifth season at the helm of the Tigers. The Baton Rouge native served as an assistant at Texas A&M in 1987 under former Aggie head coach Al Givens.
UT-SAN ANTONIO is under the leadership of first-year head coach Laura Groff (Texas '86). The former UTSA assistant coach replaces the late Katrinka Jo Crawford, who succumbed to a 17-month battle with renal cancer in November...The Roadrunners return four starters and two other letterwinners from last year's team that went 13-16 overall and placed sixth in the Southland Conference with an 11-9 record. Leading the list of returners is two-time all-conference middle blocker Charlsie Heifrin, who led the Roadrunners with 0.96 blocks per game and a .290 hitting percentage and was second on the squad with 3.37 kills per game...Formerly Laura Neugebauer, Groff served as an assistant coach at A&M from 1991-92 under former head coach Al Givens. She is cousin to former Aggie volleyball player Beth Weynand, and her husband, Dwayne Groff, and A&M athletics director Wally Groff also are cousins.
SERIES RECORDS
Texas A&M holds a combined 24-10 record against the tournament field since 1976.
The Aggies and Alcorn State will be meeting for the first time.
Texas A&M is 5-0 against UT-San Antonio. The teams last met Sept. 4, 2001, with the Aggies sweeping the Roadrunners, 30-10, 30-20, 30-27 in A&M's home opener...A&M is 2-0 against UTSA in matches played at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
A&M holds a 19-10 advantage in the all-time series against LSU, but holds a narrow 5-4 edge in matches played in College Station...The Aggies have won the last two matches, including a 15-5, 15-5, 17-15 victory against the Tigers in the most recent meeting, Sept. 11, 1998, en route to the championship trophy at the AllSport Challenge in Ann Arbor, Mich.
A&M RANKED 17TH IN PRESEASON POLL
Texas A&M is ranked 17th in the USA Today/AVCA Top 25 Preseason Poll. Four of the 11 Big 12 teams -- Oklahoma State does not have a volleyball team -- are ranked in the Top 25, and four others received votes. Final Four participant and four-time defending Big 12-champion Nebraska leads the league with a No. 2 ranking. A&M is the second-highest ranked team in the league, followed by Colorado and Kansas State at No. 22 and No. 23, respectively. Texas, Missouri, Baylor and Texas Tech each received points and are listed 28th, 34th, 38th and 43rd, respectively...Stanford, who downed A&M in the regional finals en route to the 2001 national title, is No. 1 in the preseason poll. Nebraska, USC, Hawaii and Long Beach State round out the Top 5...A&M non-conference opponents ranked in the Top 25 are No. 10 Wisconsin, who the Aggies upset in the Sweet Sixteen last year, and No. 23 BYU.
AGGIES PICKED SECOND IN BIG 12
The Texas A&M volleyball team is picked to finish second in the Big 12 Conference, according to a preseason vote of the league coaches. In addition, Aggie Laura Jones, a 6-2 outside hitter, has been tabbed the league's preseason Freshman of the Year. ...Four-time defending Big 12 champion Nebraska has been selected as the preseason favorite to win the Big 12 title, garnering every first-place vote possible. The polling was based on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system, with a first-place vote receiving 10 points. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team...The Aggies, who equaled their best finish with a 16-4 mark and placed second in the standings for the third consecutive year last season, are followed by Missouri and Colorado, who tied for third. Kansas State, Texas, Baylor and Texas Tech are listed fifth through ninth, respectively, and Iowa State and Oklahoma tied for 10th...Nebraska setter Greichaly Cepero was voted the preseason Player of the Year, and Missouri outside hitter Shen Danru was selected the preseason Newcomer of the Year. Cepero is joined by teammates Amber Holmquist and Laura Pilakowski on the six-member Big 12 preseason team. Stevie Nicholas (Baylor), Mira Topic (Texas) and Elizabeth Gower (Colorado) round out the preseason team.
RULES CHANGES FOR 2002
The NCAA adopted several new rules for the 2002 season, the most notable being the libero (pronounced LEE-bah-ro) position. The libero is a designated back-row player intended to be used as a ball-control specialist. The libero, wearing a contrasting uniform from her teammates, is allowed to replace any player in the back row without counting as one of 12 team substitutions. The libero may not serve, attempt a block or attack a ball that is completely above the net. The libero also has restrictions on setting the ball to a teammate for an attack. There is no limit to the number of libero replacements a team is allowed. The libero and the player on the court exchange places between the attack line and the end line with no referee action is required. However, this replacement can only take place at the end of a rally before the whistle for the next service. When the libero is replaced, she must remain on the bench for one rally before re-entering for a back-row player. A different libero can be designated for each game of the match.
Another significant change is the "pursuit rule" which allows a player to retrieve a ball that crosses to the area outside the opponent's court after her team's first contact or block, as long as the ball's path is over or outside the antenna. To remain in play, the ball must be returned to the player's court by traveling over or outside the antenna on the same side.
NOTES AND TIDBITS
- The Aggies are 17-9 in season openers since 1976 and 5-4 in openers under head coach Laurie Corbelli...Last year A&M defeated Samford, 30-15, 30-19, 30-18, in the season opener en route to the championship title at the Crowne Plaza/Rice Invitational in Houston.
- LSU head coach Fran Flory (Texas '84) and UTSA head coach Laura Groff (Texas '86) both served as assistant coaches at Texas A&M under former Aggie head coach Al Givens. Flory was an assistant at A&M in 1987 as the Aggies went 15-22. Groff was at A&M from 1991-92 as the Aggies compiled a 37-33 mark...Groff and Flory -- formerly Neugebauer and Teeter, respectively -- both played at Texas and were teammates on the 1982 and 1983 Southwest Conference championship teams and helped lead the Longhorns to the NCAA regional semifinals both years.
TEXAS A&M COACH LAURIE CORBELLI
Laurie Corbelli is in her 10th season at Texas A&M and is the winningest coach in Aggie volleyball history in both total victories and winning percentage with a 215-75 (.741) record...The 1999-2000 Texas A&M Student-Athlete Advisory Committee's Coach of the Year according to a vote of the Aggie student-athletes, the 1995 District VI Coach of the Year and the two-time SWC Coach of the Year has directed A&M to a historic nine consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament, including the school's two NCAA Elite Eight appearances (1999, 2000) and an all-time high No. 9 ranking in the final '99 AVCA Top 25 Poll...Corbelli, who posts a 315-181 (.635) career record, began her coaching career in 1986 at the University of San Francisco. Following a four-year stint at the helm of the Lady Dons, Corbelli was hired at Santa Clara University. In 1992, her final season at Santa Clara, Corbelli directed the Broncos to the West Coast Conference Championship, and she earned WCC and West Region Coach of the Year accolades as the Broncos made their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance...The former Laurie Flachmeier was a silver medalist as a member of the 1984 USA Olympic Volleyball Team and received the Flo Hyman All-Time Great Player Award by USA Volleyball in 1998...A 1988 graduate of the University of San Francisco with a degree in physical education, Corbelli is married to A&M associate head coach John Corbelli...Corbelli-coached players have earned 10 All-America citations, and former Aggie standout and two-time AVCA second-team All-American Stacy Sykora was the starting libero for Team USA at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.