October 08, 2002
No. 25 Texas A&M (11-4, 3-3 Big 12) travels to Austin to face rival Texas (12-3, 4-2 Big 12) on Wednesday. First serve is at 7 p.m at Gregory Gym. Live scoring and audio will be provided on the Internet at texassports.com...A&M, which has won the last six meetings against the Horns, is tied with Colorado for sixth place in the Big 12 with a 3-3 mark after dropping a four-game match to No. 5 Nebraska Sunday in College Station...The Longhorns, who are riding a four-match winning streak in which they haven't dropped a single game, are alone in third place in the Big 12 with a 4-2 record after sweeping Kansas Saturday in Austin.
TEXAS A&M AGGIES
The Aggies are coming off a 1-1 week in which they captured their first Big 12 road win of the season with a three-game sweep at Oklahoma and then had their 17-match home win streak snapped in a four-game loss to No. 5 Nebraska. Despite the loss, A&M remained ranked No. 25 for the second consecutive week to extend its streak to 111 consecutive appearances in the Top 25.
A&M is led by Melissa Munsch, who leads the team in kills (3.75), aces (0.59), digs (3.3) and points (4.59) per game. The sophomore outside hitter has reached double figures in kills - including a career-high 25 kills at Colorado - in 12 of 15 matches...Freshman outside hitter Laura Jones, who had a career-high 24 kills against Nebraska, sports a team-best .326 hitting percentage and is second on the squad with 3.69 kills, 0.54 aces and 4.46 points per game...Setter Lexy Beers is ranked second in the Big 12 with 12.64 assists per game in conference games only...Junior middle blocker Tara Pulaski is averaging a team-leading 1.05 blocks per game, including a 1.24 average in Big 12 games only.
As a team, A&M is hitting .250 and averaging 15.63 kills, 2.0 aces, 15.98 digs and 2.43 blocks per game for the full season. Opponents are being held to a .169 hitting percentage and are averaging 13.63 kills, 1.0 aces, 14.95 digs and 1.72 blocks per game...In Big 12 matches only, A&M is hitting .239 and averaging 15.59 kills and 15.23 digs per game. In addition, the Aggies are ranked second in the league with 2.7 blocks per game and a .178 opponent hitting percentage.
A&M, picked to finish second in the league according to a preseason poll of the conference coaches, placed second with a 16-4 mark last year to tie the 1999 Aggies for the school's best record and equal A&M's highest finish. A&M has never finished lower than fourth place (1997, 1998) in the final Big 12 standings.
TEXAS LONGHORNS
Texas, which dropped matches to Missouri and Nebraska to begin Big 12 play, has rebounded and is now riding a four- match winning streak after sweeping Oklahoma, Kansas State, Baylor and Kansas...The Horns, who are receiving points and are listed 29th in this week's USA Today/AVCA Top 25 Poll, are 1-1 against Top 25 opponents, upsetting then-No. 9 Ohio State in three games on Sept. 14 and dropping a three-game match to No. 5 Nebraska on Sept. 21. Texas was in the Top 25 for one week, coming in at No. 24 on Sept. 16, but then fell out the next week after dropping the match to Missouri...The Horns are led by middle blocker Kathy Hahn, who is hitting .353 and averaging 1.02 blocks per game. The 6-2 sophomore is second on the squad with 3.64 kills per game...Sophomore outside hitter Mira Topic, a member of the preseason all-Big 12 team, is hitting .287 and leads Texas and is ranked second in the league with 4.62 kills and 5.44 points per game...Freshman setter Caron Blotch is third in the Big 12 with 12.44 assists per game...As a team, Texas is hitting .271 and is holding opponents to a .154 hitting percentage, which ranks second in the league. The Horns also are second in the Big 12 with 2.02 aces per game for the full season...Texas is 8-2 in matches played at Gregory Gym. The only losses have been to San Diego on Aug. 31 and Missouri in the Horns' Big 12 opener on Sept. 18...Jerritt Elliott (Cal State Northridge '91) is 29-17 in his second season at the helm of the Longhorns.
SERIES RECORD
Texas holds a commanding 48-19 lead in the all-time series against A&M since 1976, but the Aggies have won the last six meetings against the Longhorns...Prior to this six-match winning streak, A&M had not won consecutive matches against the Longhorns since defeating Texas in seven straight matches from 1976 to 1979...A&M downed Texas three times last year, defeating the Longhorns in four games in Austin for the second consecutive year and then sweeping Texas twice in College Station, once in a Big 12 regular-season match and the last one in the second round of the NCAA tournament...Texas is 24-4 at home against the Aggies, but A&M has won the last two meetings in Gregory Gym...A&M holds a 7-5 lead in Big 12 contests against Texas.
NEWS & NOTES
- A&M is 2-3 in away matches, including 1-2 at away Big 12 matches. The Aggies have defeated both Southwest Texas State and Oklahoma in three games each on the road, but have fallen at No. 16 Wisconsin, Colorado and Missouri.
- In Big 12 matches only, Texas leads the league with 15.11 assists per game, while A&M leads the conference by holding opponents to a Big 12-best 12.77 assists per game.
- The 25th-ranked Aggies are 0-4 against opponents who have been ranked for at least one week during the regular season, while the Longhorns are 2-2. A&M has fallen to No. 5 Nebraska and No. 16 Wisconsin in four games each. Colorado and Missouri, who have appeared in the Top 25 poll but were unranked when A&M faced them, also have wins over the Aggies. A&M did defeat BYU, who was ranked 23rd in the preseason poll but fell out of the rankings falling the first week of play...Texas, who was in the poll for one week at No. 24 on Sept. 16, swept No. 9 Ohio State and also has defeated Kansas State. The Longhorns have suffered losses to No. 5 Nebraska and to now-No. 23 Missouri.
- The setback to Nebraska marked the first time this season A&M suffered a loss despite leading its opponent in kills. The Aggies, who posted 64 kills to Nebraska's 63, are 11-1 when leading their opponent in kills.
- Sophomore outside hitter Melissa Munsch has reach double figures in kills in 10 of the last 11 matches and leads the team with 3.75 kills per game. Freshman outside hitter Laura Jones has posted double digits in kills in nine of the last 11 matches.
UPCOMING
Texas A&M is idle this weekend and then returns home to play host to Texas Tech, Wednesday, Oct. 16. First serve is at 7 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum...A&M is 38-22 all-time against the Red Raiders, including 9-3 since Big 12 play began in 1996. In addition, the Aggies have won the last two matches and are 17-7 all-time against the Red Raiders in College Station.