September 16, 2003
The Texas A&M volleyball team (7-2) begins Big 12 Conference play against five-time defending league-champion and eighth-ranked Nebraska (8-1) Wednesday in Lincoln. First serve is at 7 p.m. at Nebraska Coliseum...The Aggies are coming off a second-place finish at their own McDonald's/Texas A&M Invitational after getting swept by No. 1 USC in the final match to finish with a 2-1 mark...The Cornhuskers also are coming off a second-place showing at their own tournament after falling to then-No. 10 Georgia Tech in five games to finish 2-1.
The 2003 AGGIES
Texas A&M (7-2) took second place at a tournament for the second consecutive week after falling to No. 1 USC in three games in the final match of the McDonald's/Texas A&M Invitational...Sophomore outside hitter Laura Jones was named to the all-tournament team for the third straight week, and senior outside hitter Beth Skypala made her first all-tournament appearance...Jones, who has led the Aggies in kills in eight of nine matches this season, is hitting .301 and leads the team with 4.84 kills, 3.55 digs, 0.32 aces and 5.45 points per game...Junior middle blocker Melissa Munsch, who posted a career-high 14 blocks against Southwest Missouri State, is the team leader in blocks (1.57) per game...Junior setter Lexy Beers is averaging 10.12 assists per game, and sophomore setter Kari Kelley is averaging 8.22 assists per game...As a team, A&M is outhitting its opponents, .249 to .191, and is averaging 16.94 kills to opponents' 14.84 kills per game...Entering last week's tournament, the Aggies were ranked eighth in the nation and led the Big 12 Conference in both assists (15.81) and kills per game (updated Big 12 and national statistics were not available at press time)...A&M, which is picked to finish tied for fourth with Missouri in the Big 12, received points in the this week's USA Today/AVCA Top 25 Poll and moved up two spots to 26th.
A LOOK AT NEBRASKA
Nebraska (8-1) slipped three spots to No. 8 in the USA Today/AVCA Top 25 poll after falling to then-No. 10 Georgia Tech in the final match of the U.S. Bank/Arby's Classic, 30-23, 30-25, 26-30, 29-31, 16-14. The loss was Nebraska's first regular-season loss at home since Kansas State defeated the Cornhuskers in five games on Sept. 22, 1999...Nebraska is 6-1 in Big 12 season openers and is picked to repeat as conference champions according to a preseason poll of the league coaches...The five-time defending conference-champion Huskers have won 39 consecutive Big 12 matches at home and 70 straight Big 12 matches overall... Nebraska's most recent conference match loss was Oct. 24, 1999, when Texas defeated the Huskers in five games in Austin, Texas...Fourth-year head coach John Cook has never lost a Big 12 match...Sophomore 6-2 middle blocker Melissa Elmer leads the Huskers with a .315 hitting percentage and 1.71 blocks per game...Senior outside hitter Anna Schrad is averaging a team-best 3.71 kills per game, and senior libero/defensive specialist Jenae Dowling leads the squad with 3.79 digs per game...As a team, Nebraska is outhitting its opponents, .247 to .105, averaging 16.03 kills to opponents' 12.29. In addition, the Huskers are averaging 3.19 blocks per game while opponents are averaging only 1.65 stuffs per game...Nebraska, which has sold out 30 consecutive matches at the Coliseum, ranks second in the nation in home attendance with an average crowd of 4,157.
SERIES RECORDS
Nebraska holds a 17-6 lead in the all-time series against Texas A&M, including a 12-2 mark since Big 12 play began in 1996...The Cornhuskers, who have won the last seven meetings against A&M, are 10-0 against the Aggies in matches played at Nebraska Coliseum...In 1998, A&M broke a 10-match losing skid against the Huskers and handed Nebraska its only conference loss of the season as the Aggies stunned No. 3 Nebraska in five games in College Station. Nebraska lost its second consecutive match against the Aggies in 1999 as A&M once again took advantage of playing on its home court to defeat the No. 8 Huskers in another five-game battle. Since then, Nebraska has gone on a 7-0 roll against A&M, including a 30-28, 30-26, 30-20 victory in the most recent meeting, Oct. 26, 2002, in Lincoln. Anna Schrad and Amber Holmquist led the Huskers with 13 kills apiece, while Tara Pulaski and Melissa Munsch reached double figures for the Aggies with 13 and 11 kills apiece, respectively. As a team, Nebraska outhit A&M, .328 to .195, and outblocked the Aggies, 8-6.
NOTES AND TIDBITS
- The Aggies are 5-3 in Big 12 season openers, including a 2-2 mark when opening on the road. Last year, A&M swept Kansas in the conference opener in College Station. The last time the Aggies opened Big 12 play on they road, they held off Missouri in five games on Sept. 22, 2001.
- A&M associate head coach John Corbelli served as an assistant coach at Nebraska in 1981 under former Huskers coach Terry Pettit. The Huskers were both the Big Eight Conference regular season and tournament champions that year.
- Texas A&M's Laurie Corbelli and Colorado's Pi'i Aiu are the only current Big 12 coaches to have ever beaten Nebraska. Corbelli is 2-11 all-time against the Huskers, having defeated them in five-game matches in both the 1998 and 1999 contests held in College Station.
- Sophomore outside hitter Laura Jones recorded the first 20-20 performance of her career with career highs of 29 kills and 23 digs in the five-game victory over Southwest Missouri State. The Arlington, Texas, native has led the Aggies in kills and reached double figures in kills in eight of nine matches. In addition, Jones has recorded double digits in digs in five matches and has led the team in points in six matches.
- Junior middle blocker Melissa Munsch posted the first triple-double of her career with 24 kills, 12 digs and a career-high 14 blocks against Southwest Missouri State. The performance marked the first triple-double by an A&M player since 2001 when former All-American setter Jenna Moscovic tallied her nation-leading fifth triple-double of the season with 13 kills, 55 assists and 11 digs in a five-game match at Kansas State on Nov. 17, 2001.
- Melissa Munsch tied the A&M single-match record with 12 block assists against Southwest Missouri State. In addition, Munsch's 14 total blocks against the Bears ranks second in the A&M records.
- Senior middle blocker Tara Pulaski needs 13 block assists to give her 272 in her career and move into 10th place in the A&M career records. She currently has a .309 career hitting percentage, which ranks fourth in the A&M career annals.
- Junior setter Lexy Beers needs 19 assists to move into seventh place in the A&M career records with 1,826. She will surpass Krista Hierholzer, who posted 1,825 assists from 1987-90.
- A&M is scheduled to play a total of 30 matches - 13 matches at home and 17 matches on the road - during the regular season. Twelve of the matches are against teams who participated in the 2002 NCAA tournament, including the home battle against defending national champion USC. A&M plays a total of seven matches against opponents who were ranked in the final 2002 USA Today/AVCA Top 25 Poll and two others who received points.
UPCOMING
The Aggies have a non-conference match at former Southwest Conference foe Houston on Sunday, Sept. 21. Match time is 2 p.m. at Hofheinz Pavilion...The Cougars enter the week with a 2-7 mark and riding a six-match losing skid. They play at Rice on Tuesday and host Mississippi on Friday before meeting A&M...The Aggies return home Wednesday, Sept. 24 with a televised match against Colorado. Match time is 8 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.