September 30, 2003
The No. 22 Texas A&M volleyball team (10-3, 2-1 Big 12) heads to Austin Wednesday to take on the rival Texas Longhorns (7-5, 2-1 Big 12). First serve is at 7 p.m. at Gregory Gym...The meeting between the two teams also pits two sisters on opposing sides of the net as Longhorn all-Big 12 junior middle blocker Kathy Hahn and Aggie freshman middle blocker Christi Hahn face each other for the first time...A&M and Texas are tied with Kansas for third place in the Big 12 Conference standings with a 2-1 mark in league play.
TEXAS A&M NEWS AND NOTES
Texas A&M (10-3, 2-1), which was picked to finish tied with Missouri for fourth place according to a preseason poll of the league coaches, moved up three spots to No. 22 in this week's USA Today/AVCA Top 25 Poll after defeating Colorado in five games and Missouri in four games in College Station last week...A&M enters the Texas match riding a three-game winning streak.
FELDER ON FIRE: In her first year as a starter, junior Kendra Felder is beginning to catch fire. The 6-2 middle blocker posted double figures in kills in each of the last three matches and hit .456 during that span. Felder began the streak by posting career highs with 14 kills and a .440 hitting percentage against Houston and then bettered her personal bests in the ensuing match with 16 kills and a .500 hitting efficiency against Colorado, committing only one error in 30 attempts. Most recently, Felder tallied 12 kills and a .417 hitting efficiency against Missouri...She has posted double figures in kills in five matches this season and is hitting .408 when recording 10 or more kills.
DIGGIN' IT: A&M leads the Big 12 in digs per game for both the full season (16.68) and in Big 12 matches only (16.71). Individually, senior outside hitter Beth Skypala leads the Aggies and the league in digs per game in conference matches only with a 4.56 norm. She is ranked third in the Big 12 for the full season with 3.68 digs per game.
KEEPING UP WITH JONES: Sophomore outside hitter Laura Jones, who earned all-tournament honors in all three tournaments that A&M participated in this season--including MVP honors at the Duke Invitational--has led the Aggies in kills in nine of 13 matches. She has posted double-figure kill performances in all but one match (seven kills in two games against Centenary) and has recorded 20-plus kills four times, including a career-high 29 against Southwest Missouri State. Jones also added a career-high 23 digs against the Bears to post the first 20-20 performance of her career...The Arlington, Texas, native leads A&M with 4.45 kills and 5.12 points per game, as well as seven double-doubles.
MUNSCH TIME: Junior middle blocker Melissa Munsch tied the A&M single-match record with 12 block assists against Southwest Missouri State. In addition, Munsch's career-high 14 total blocks against the Bears ranks second in the A&M records...Munsch also added 24 kills and 12 digs against SMS to posted the first triple-double of her career and A&M's first triple-double since 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...Against Colorado, the Columbus, Texas, native tied a personal and A&M record with six service aces...Munsch is the team leader in both blocks per game (1.31) and aces per game (0.38) and is second on the squad with 3.71 kills and 4.79 points per game.
QUICK STARTS: The Aggies are 8-0 when they win the first game...Sophomore Laura Jones, a 2002 AVCA all-Central Region selection, already has seven double-doubles this season. She totaled 10 double-doubles throughout the entire 2002 season.
TEXAS NOTES
Texas, which was picked to finish second in the Big 12 preseason poll, is 7-5 overall and tied with A&M and Kansas for fourth place in the Big 12 standings with a 2-1 mark...The Longhorns, who are 6-3 in home matches, are riding a two-match winning streak--equaling their longest winning streak of the season--after sweeping both Oklahoma and Houston last week...Texas is 0-4 against ranked opponents, having been swept by No. 8 Nebraska, No. 9 UCLA and No. 21 Notre Dame and losing in four games to No. 16 Long Beach State...Texas will be without the services of Big 12 preseason newcomer of the year Dariam Acevedo, who suffered a season-ending torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee in the loss to the Huskers...Junior All-American outside hitter Mira Topic leads the Horns and is second in the Big 12 with 4.57 kills per game for the full season, and junior outside hitter Bethany Howden is contributing 4.10 kills per game...Freshman middle blocker Brandy Magee is hitting a team-leading .354 and also leads the Horns with 1.17 blocks per game.
SERIES RECORD
Although Texas owns a lopsided 49-20 record against the Aggies since 1976, A&M holds a 9-6 advantage since Big 12 play began in 1996, including a 3-0 second-round victory in the 2001 NCAA tournament...The Longhorns, however, are 5-2 against the Aggies in matches played in Austin since the formation of the Big 12... The teams split the season series last year with each team winning on its home floor...On Oct. 9 in Austin, Texas snapped a six-match losing skid against the Aggies with a 33-31, 24-30, 30-19, 23-30, 15-10 come-from-behind victory. A&M had an 11-9 lead in the decisive fifth game before the Longhorns rattled off six consecutive points. Five of the six final points were courtesy of the block as Texas tallied 15 blocks for the match, a season high by an A&M opponent. Kathy Hahn led a group of four Longhorns to reach double figures in kills with 19 and posted a match-high seven blocks. Tara Pulaski led the Aggies with a career-high 20 kills...A&M avenged the loss and won its fifth consecutive home match against the Longhorns with a 23-30, 30-25, 31-29, 30-27 victory in the Aggies' final home match of the season. Melissa Munsch led a contingent of five Aggies to post double figures in kills with 16. Hahn once again led Texas, posting a career-high 27 kills in the loss.
UPCOMING
The Aggies return to College Station for a two-match home stand. A&M plays host to No. 12 Kansas State Saturday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum. A&M concludes the home stand on Wednesday, Oct. 8 as the Aggies play host to Texas Tech. First serve is at 7 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.