December 04, 2002
TEXAS A&M AGGIES (20-9)
vs.
No. 23 UTAH UTES (25-8)
Friday, December 6, 5 p.m. (7 p.m. CST)
Lyon Recreation Center (1,200)
Los Angeles, Calif.
TV: None
INTERNET AUDIO: www.AggieAthletics.com
LIVE SCORING UPDATES: www.AggieAthletics.com
RANKINGS: Utah is No. 23 in the USA Today/Top 25 Poll; Texas A&M is receiveing votes and listed 36th
SERIES RECORD: Texas A&M leads, 3-1
LAST MEETING: Texas A&M won, 3-2 (16-14, 6-15, 15-17, 15-13, 15-10) in Salt Lake City, Utah (Oct. 28, 1995)
NCAA TOURNEY HISTORY: Texas A&M earned its 10th consecutive and 14th overall trip to the NCAA touranment, bringing with it a 16-13 mark in NCAA play. Utah is making its fifth straight appearance after making the tournament for the first time in 1998.
AGAINST THE FIELD: The Aggies are 2-7 this season against teams that earned an NCAA berth, while Utah has gone 3-4.
THE COACHES: Laurie Corbelli is 235-84 (.737) in her 10th season as head coach at Texas A&M and 335-190 (.638) in the 17th year of her head coaching career. Beth Launiere is 253-161 (.611) in her 13th season at Utah and in her head coaching career.
CORBELLI vs. UTAH: 1-0
LAUNIERE vs. A&M: 0-1
UP NEXT: The winner of Friday's A&M-Utah match-up will advance to the NCAA Second Round and meet the winner of San Diego-USC on Saturday at 7 p.m. (9 p.m. CST) at the Lyons Recreation Center on the USC campus.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE (all times Pacific)
- FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6
5 p.m. - Texas A&M (20-9) vs. No. 23 Utah (25-8)
7 p.m. - No. 25 San Diego (25-7) vs. No. 1 USC (25-1)
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7
7 p.m. - A&M-Utah winner vs. USD-USC winner
The Texas A&M volleyball team (20-9) received its 10th consecutie at-large bid and its 14th overall berth to the NCAA Championship. The Aggies, who have never lost a first-round match under head coach Laurie Corbelli, open postseason action against No. 23 Utah (25-8), which received an automatic bid by winning the Mountain West Conference tournament...The teams meet Friday, Dec. 6 at 5 p.m. (7 p.m. CST) at the Lyon Recreation Center on the University of Southern California campus in Los Angeles. The winner will take on the winner of the San Diego-USC match on Saturday at 7 p.m. (9 p.m. CST) also at the Lyon Center...The winner of the second-round match will advance to regionals, to be played Dec. 12-15 at a site to be determined...Audio of A&M matches, as well as scoring updates, will be available on A&M's official Web site, www.AggieAthletics.com.
The Aggies enter the tournament riding a two-match winning streak after defeating both Texas and Iowa State in four games each last week to finish fifth in the Big 12 standings with a 12-8 mark...Utah, making its fifth consecutive NCAA appearance, swept BYU in the championship match of the Mountain West tournament. The Utes then concluded the regular season by dropping a three-game match to No. 2 Hawaii and then upsetting No. 12 Arizona in four games in Salt Lake City....USC, coached by former Texas and USA Olympic coach Mick Haley, is the No. 1 seed in the 64-team tournament field. The Women of Troy (25-1) are making their 20th all-time appearance in the NCAA tournament after earning an automatic berth by winning the Pacific-10 Conference title with a 17-1 mark...No. 25 San Diego (25-7) is making its fifth trip to the "Big Dance" in the last six seasons. The Toreros are an at-large selection after placing third in the West Coast Conference with a 10-4 mark.
TEXAS A&M IN THE NCAAs
Texas A&M is making its 10th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament and its 14th overall appearance * 1981, '82, '85, '86, '93, '94, '95, '96, '97, '98, '99, 2000, '01 and '02) ? since the inception of the tournament in 1981...The Agies, one of 33 teams to receive an at-large berth to the 64-team single-elimination tournament, sport a 16-13 (.552) all-time record in NCAA tournament play, including a 10-2 mark in first-round matches (A&M received a first-round bye in 1995)...A&M advanced to the regional finals in both 1999 and 2001 to mark the Aggies' best finish in school history. Last year, A&M swept both Texas-Arlington and Texas in College Station and then upset No. 6 Wisconsin in three games at the regional in Palo Alto, Calif., before being eliminated by host and eventual national champion Stanford in the round of eight...A&M is 2-7 this season against teams participating in the NCAA tournament. Other than a four-game loss at No. 16 Wisconsin, all other matches were against teams in the Big 12 Conference, which has five teams in the tournament this year...No. 4 Nebraska earned the Big 12's automatic bid for the fifth consecutive and sixth overall by going 20-0 in league play for the third straight year.
TEAM PROFILES
TEXAS A&M finished the 2002 regular season with a 20-9 record to reach the 20-victory milestone for eight consecutive years and nine overall during coach Laurie Corbelli's 10-year tenure at A&M....After equaling their best finish in Big 12 competition in 2001 with a second-place 16-4 record, the Aggies slipped to 12-8 and a fifth-place finish this year after losing five senior starters from the '01 squad...A&M closed out the regular season with a 3-1 home victory against rival Texas to finish 14-2 at home, and then improved its road record to 5-7 with a 3-1 win at Iowa State...The Aggies are led by Big 12 Freshman of the Year Laura Jones and sophomore outside hitter Melissa Munsch, who joined Jones on the all-Big 12 first team. Jones is hitting at a .272 clip and averaging a team-best 3.79 kills, 0.38 aces and 4.44 points per game. Munsch, who posts a team-leading 19 double-double performances, is averaging a team-high 3.48 digs per game and is second on the squad with 3.61 kills, 0.37 aces, and 4.25 points per game..Sophomore setter Lexy Beers is averaging 12.83 assists, and her 1,424 assists ranks fifth in the A&M all-time season records...Junior middle blocker Tara Pulaski sports a team-high .315 hitting percentage and also leads the team with 1.09 blocks per game...As a team, the Aggies are hitting .245 and averaging 15.96 kills, 1.59 aces, 16,88 digs and 2.42 blocks per game. Opponents are being held to a .193 hitting percentage and are averaging 14.31 kills, 1.1 aces, 15.45 digs and 1.86 blocks per game.
UTAH (25-9) is making its fifth consecutive and fifth overall appearance in the NCAA tournament. Last year the Utes advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time before being eliminated by eventual national champion Stanford in four games...Utah received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament by winning its second straight Mountain West Conference Tournament, sweeping BYU in the championship match...Junior middle blocker Kim Turner was named the MWC tournament MVP for the second consecutive year. Sophomore Kelsie Kartchner was named the top setter, and junior libero Jackie Morrill was named top defensive specialist. Senior Sylva Strzinkova also was named all-tournament...The Utes then completed the regular season by dropping a three-game decision to No. 2 Hawaii and then upsetting No. 12 Arizona in four games. Turner led the Utes with 14 kills, a .367 hitting efficiency and seven blocks as Utah outhit the Wildcats, .385 to .169, and outblocked them, 13.5 to 9.0...Turner is hitting a team-high .290 for the full season along with a team-best 3.84 kills and 1.64 blocks per game. Morrill leads the squad with 3.15 digs per game, and Kartchner is averaging 10.89 assists per game...As a team, the Utes are hitting .229 and averaging 15.30 kills, 1.77 aces, 13.51 digs and 3.36 blocks per game. Opponents are hitting .151 and averaging 13.07 kills, 1.11 aces, 12.73 digs and 2.4 blocks per game...The Utes are 3-4 against the '02 NCAA tournament field...Beth Launiere (Aquinas '85) is 253-161 (.611) in her 13th season atUtah and in her head coaching career.
USC (25-1) is the top ranked team in the nation and the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Women of Troy received an automatic berth by winning the Pacific-10 Conference title with a 17-1 mark. Their only loss was a five-game setback to then-No. 6 Sanford on Nov. 2...USC advanced to the Elite Eight last year and reached the Final Four in 2000...After winning AIAW national championships in 1976, 1977and 1980, the Women of Troy won the inaugural NCAA tournament in 1981 and finished runner up in 1982...USC, which also has two third-place finishes, is making its 12th consecutive appearance and 20th overall NCAA appearance and is 33-18 all-time in NCAA tournament competition...The Women of Troy are led by four 2002 all-Pac 10 first-team selections: junior outside hitter April Ross (3.70 kpg, 3.07 dpg), junior middle blocker Katie Olsovsky (2.63 kpg, 1.23 bpg), sophomore outside hitter Keao Burdine (3.23 kpg, 3.0 dpg) and sophomore middle blocker Emily Adams (3.13 kpg, 1.3 bpg)...In last week's national statistics, USC was ranked second in kills and assists per game, ninth in hitting percentage and 14th in blocks per game...Mick Haley (Ball State '65), who coached the University of Texas to an AIAW title in 1981 and a NCAA championship in 1988 during his 17 years (1980-96) at the helm of the Longhorns and went on to coach the USA Team at the 2000 Olympic Games, is 50-5 in his second season as head coach at USC.
SAN DIEGO (25-7) is making its second consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament and its fifth appearance in the last six years. The Toreros, who placed third in the West Coast Conference with a 10-4 mark, have advanced to the second round in their last four appearances. Last year, USD defeated Santa Barbara in five games before being eliminated by Final Four-bound Long Beach State...The Toreros are led by Noel Frohman (4.90 kpg, 3.39 dpg) and Devon Foster((4.44 kpg, 3.50 dpg), who were both named to the All-WCC first team for the second consecutive year. Senior iddle blocker Debra Robertson (.336, 3.21 kpg, 1.03 bpg) also was named to the first team. Setter Lindsey Sherburne was named WCC Co-Freshman of the Year and is averaging 13.67 assists per game..The Toreros have not played since sweeping Loyola Marymount in the regular-season finale on Nov. 23.
THE SERIES RECORDS
Texas A&M holds a 3-1 lead in the all-time series against the Utah, including a 2-0 mark in matches played at a neutral site. The teams last met Oct. 25, 1995, with the 19th-ranked Aggies escaping the Utes' home court with a 16-14, 6-15, 15-17, 15-13, 15-10 victory...A&M has won the last three meetings...Utah's only victory over the Aggies was a 10-15, 15-2, 15-11, 15-11 win in the inaugural meeting on Sept. 4, 1980 in Salt Lake City.
USC is 3-0 all-time against the Aggies. The teams last met in the second round of the 1998 NCAA tournament with the Women of Troy defeating A&M, 15-8, 8-15, 15-5, 15-5, in Los Angeles...The teams first met in 1978 with USC defeating A&M, 15-2, 15-8. In the only other meeting, USC downed the Aggies, 15-12, 15-11, on Nov. 4, 1983.
Texas A&M and San Diego have never met.