September 10, 2003
| "It would be so amazing that I can't even imagine it right now." "It," according to Texas A&M volleyball senior Rebecca Wynalda, is a packed G. Rollie White Coliseum.
"It" is something that's never been done before. "It" is also something that the team, coaches and the Athletics Department is shooting for when the Aggies host defending national champion and No. 1-ranked USC Saturday at G. Rollie. First serve is set for 7 p.m. If you haven't seen a volleyball match at the "Holler House," you need to make it out Saturday. It is perhaps the loudest venue on campus, with fans literally right on top of the action. With one-level seating straight up into the rafters and a seating capacity of 7,800, noise travels straight down onto the court and stays there. The effect of the Aggie Band, Yell Leaders and the loud, boisterous student section becomes even larger as more people pile into the venue. Since Head Coach Laurie Corbelli took over the A&M program in 1993, the Aggies have won 86 percent of their matches played in the friendly confines of G. Rollie White Coliseum. In the last four seasons, the Aggies have gone 53-6 at home emerging victorious at a 90 percent clip. "When you have your own fans cheering for you and you're in your own gym, somewhere where you're comfortable playing in, you just have that extra advantage," junior setter Lexy Beers said. "I'm really excited and I think that all the fans will see a really good show." Texas A&M has great fan support, consistently ranking in the top 20 nationally in attendance each season. However, three schools--Hawai'i (7,309), Nebraska (4,390) and Wisconsin (3,527)--averaged more last season than the Aggies have ever played in front of at home. USC coach Mick Haley, who is very familiar with the atmosphere in Aggieland after spending 17 seasons at the helm at Texas, was on the sidelines for the largest volleyball crowd in G. Rollie White Coliseum history--3,500 on Nov. 20, 1985. He should see another record crowd Saturday night. Saturday will mark just the second time a top-ranked volleyball team has come to A&M. On Nov. 8, 2000, the Aggies took the first game from Nebraska and battled in game three before dropping the match, 3-1.
Texas A&M has in the past shown propensity to knock off high-ranked teams. The Aggies' defeated No. 1 Stanford on the road to start the 1997 season. The Huskers also stand as the highest ranked team A&M has ever beaten at home, as the Aggies defeated then 3rd-ranked Nebraska in 1998. Fans that come to the match can participate in the new . It's a program designed to reward and recognize Aggie fans that attend numerous events throughout the year. In addition, the first 1,000 fans Saturday night will receive a free Aggie Volleyball T-shirt courtesy of Cingular Wireless. Both teams are off to hot starts. The Aggies are 5-1 after competing in tournaments at Duke and at Michigan on each of the previous two weekends. The Women of Troy are 6-0, including wins over four top-10 teams. The tough competition will really be nothing new to Corbelli and this A&M volleyball squad. First and foremost, the Aggies play in the rugged Big 12 which, outside of the Pac-10, is arguably the toughest league in the nation. The team has made 10 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Elite Eight twice in the last four seasons. Each of the last two seasons, A&M has been eliminated from the postseason by the eventual national champions on their home courts--in 2001 by Stanford, and last season by this same USC squad. "I'm really looking forward to some great volleyball," Corbelli said. "I've looked over the match we played at USC in December (in the NCAAs) and we got hurt on the serve receive end. They were serving some balls at us that you literally couldn't get to. We don't really have that problem this year. Our passing has been one of the strongest parts of our game. "When we pass we can break up the blockers. These blockers are going to be 6-4, 6-5 coming at us, and that means that you have to be much smarter on attack, you have to be well balanced at the net, and I think that's what we're capable of doing." There are two matches for the Aggies to play, however, before they battle USC on Saturday night. A&M hosts Southwest Missouri State to open the Aggies' play in the McDonald's/Texas A&M Invitational on Friday at 6 p.m. and will meet Centenary on Saturday at Noon. "The first match that we're thinking of is our home opener against SMS," Corbelli said. "They are receiving votes in the top 25, they are a program that's never really had the recognition that they want, and they have an opportunity to play a program that has gone to the NCAAs every year and excelled quite a bit. It's a chance to get an upset and I know that's what's on their mind." |
