September 05, 2002
No. 17 Texas A&M (4-0) continues its four-match road swing as the Aggies participate in the Wisconsin InnTowner Classic Fri. - Sat. in Madison, Wis. A&M opens the tournament against Montreal on Friday at 4:30 p.m. at the Wisconsin Field House. On Saturday, the Aggies face Illinois State (2-1) at 10 a.m. and then play their biggest match thus far in the early season as A&M meets No. 16 Wisconsin (2-1) at 7 p.m. The Badgers will be out for revenge after the Aggies pulled off the biggest upset in the 2001 NCAA tournament by sweeping Wisconsin in the regional semifinals in Palo Alto, Calif...The Aggies are undefeated with a 4-0 record after sweeping Southwest Texas State on Tuesday. Illinois State and Wisconsin each won their first two games of the season but then fell in the championship match of their respective tournaments last weekend.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, September 6 4:30 p.m. No. 17 Texas A&M vs. Montreal 7 p.m. No. 16 Wisconsin vs. Illinois State Saturday, September 7 10 a.m. No. 17 Texas A&M vs. Illinois State 12 p.m. No. 16 Wisconsin vs. Montreal 4:30 p.m. Illinois State vs. Montreal 7 p.m. No. 16 Wisconsin vs. No. 17 Texas A&M
Live scoring for all matches will be available UWBADGERS.COM. Click on the Game Day link on the left-hand column to access live stats.
RECENT RESULTS
The Aggies opened the season by capturing their own McDonald's Texas A&M Invitational I last weekend, sweeping both Alcorn State and Texas-San Antonio and then coming back from a two-game deficit to defeat LSU to clinch the title. Freshman Laura Jones began her collegiate career by posting 22 kills before committing her first attack error. The outside hitter finished the tournament leading the Aggies in kill average (3.50), hitting percentage (.541) and points (44)...On Tuesday, A&M began its four-match road swing with a three-game victory at Southwest Texas State. Senior middle blocker A.D. Achilefu celebrated her 22nd birthday by recording a match-high 14 kills as the Aggies downed the Bobcats, 30-22, 30-24, 30-25 in San Marcos.
Jones continues to lead the team with a .469 hitting percentage and 3.31 kills per game entering the InnTowner Invitational...Junior middle blocker Tara Pulaski is hitting at a .368 clip, and senior middle blocker A.D. Achilefu also is hitting above the .300 mark at .325 as A&M is outhitting its opponents, .272 to .097...Achilefu leads the team in blocks with a 1.0 average...Sophomore setter Lexy Beers is averaging 11.43 assists per game...As a team, A&M is averaging 15.64 kills, 13.57 assists, 2.5 aces, 14.57 digs and 2.25 blocks per game. Opponents are averaging 10.36 kills, 9.71 assists, 0.93 aces, 12.5 digs and 1.57 blocks per game.
OPPONENT PROFILES
Illinois State is 2-1 after sweeping Florida State in the season opener, defeating Marshall in four games and then falling to Alabama in the championship match of the Barker GMC Volleyball Classic at Redbird Arena last weekend...Senior middle blocker Jenny Kabbes and sophomore setter Kelly Rikli were named to the all-tournament. Kabbes hit .333 and averaged 2.55 kills and a team-high 1.18 blocks per game. Rikli averaged 9.82 assists per game as the Redbirds outhit their opponents .355 to .187 in the tournament...Illinois State returns three starters from last year's team that went 16-14 last season and finished fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference with an 11-7 mark...Sharon Dingman (Northern Michigan '84) is 37-25 in her third year at the helm of the Redbirds and 226-128 in the 12th year of her coaching career.
Wisconsin also enters the tournament with a 2-1 record, having swept St. John's in the season opener and then downing New Mexico State before dropping a four-game match to unranked North Carolina in the championship match of the Carolina Classic last weekend. With the loss, the Badgers fell from 10th in the preseason top 25 Poll to 16th in the first Top 25 Poll of the regular season...Senior outside hitter Erin Byrd and senior middle blocker Amy Hultgren, who transferred from the University of Texas prior to the 2001 season, were named to the all-tournament team. Both are tied for the team lead with 3.91 kills per game. Hultgren is hitting an impressive .493 and also leads the Badgers with 0.73 blocks per game. Byrd is hitting at a .327 clip as the Redbirds are outhitting their opponents, .318 to .152...Wisconsin returns three starters from last year's team that went 27-4 and won the Big Ten title with a 19-1 record...The Badgers are without two-time first-team All-American middle blocker Sherisa Livingston and two-time second-team All-American setter Lizzy Fitzgerald, who both completed their collegiate careers last year...The Badgers, who fell to Nebraska in the 2000 NCAA Championship match, are coached by Pete Waite (Ball State '81). Waite is 86-17 in his fourth year at Wisconsin and 352-119 in the 15 year of his coaching career.
SERIES RECORDS
Texas A&M and Montreal will be meeting for the first time.
Texas A&M holds a narrow 6-5 lead in the all-time series against Illinois State...The Aggies, who are 3-3 against the Redbirds at neutral sites, have won the last two meetings, including a 15-4, 15-1, 15-8 victory in their most recent meeting, Sept. 13, 1996, at the Post Oak Mall Lady Aggie Invitational in College Station. ISU last defeated A&M on Sept. 11, 1986, at the San Diego State Tournament, 15-13, 15-11, 15-12...The teams first met in 1977 with the Redbirds winning, 8-15, 15-9, 15-4.
Wisconsin leads the series against A&M, 2-1...The teams first met on Sept. 5, 1992, at the Asics Tiger Classic in Baton Rouge, La., where the Badgers held on to defeat A&M 14-16, 15-13, 8-15, 15-10, 15-7...The teams had another five-game thriller at the 1996 InnTowner Invitational as the 17th-ranked Badgers overcame a two-game deficit to defeat A&M, 12-15, 11-15, 15-11, 15-8, 16-14, to capture the tournament title. The Aggie loss overshadowed junior outside hitter Kristie Smedsrud's record-setting performance of 35 kills, a record that still stands...A&M defeated Wisconsin for the first time on Dec. 7, 2001, in the NCAA regional semifinals. The 15th-ranked Aggies pulled off the biggest upset of the NCAA tournament by downing the sixth-ranked Badgers, 30-21, 30-19, 30-20, to advance to the Elite Eight for the second time in three years...A&M middle blocker Tara Pulaski led the Aggies with 13 kills and a .545 hitting percentage.
UPCOMING
The Aggies return home next weekend for the McDonald's Texas A&M Invitational II, Fri.-Sat. at G. Rollie White Coliseum. A&M opens the tournament Friday night against Sam Houston State. On Saturday, the Aggies meet Louisiana-Lafayette at 1 p.m. and then conclude the tournament against BYU at 7 p.m. The Cougars, who were ranked 23rd in the preseason poll, dropped out of the Top 25 after losing a five-game match to Nevada and then getting swept by host Washington State...The tournament is a final tune-up for A&M as the Aggies begin Big 12 Conference play at home against the Kansas Jayhawks, Wednesday, Sept. 18. Match time is 7 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.