October 23, 2003
No. 21 Texas A&M (15-5, 7-3 Big 12) begins the second half of Big 12 Conference action as the Aggies play host to rival Texas (10-9, 5-5 Big 12) Friday at G. Rollie White Coliseum. First serve is at 6 p.m. Live stats and audio will be available at AggieAthletics.com, and live video streaming of the match will be available to Aggie Ultimate Access subscribers.
In addition to the volleyball match, approximately 250 members of the acclaimed Prairie View A&M band will be in attendance to entertain the crowd with their energizing musical talents.
The Aggies, who are in fourth place in the Big 12 standings and only two wins out of first place, are riding a season-high five-match winning streak after defeating Baylor, 3-1, in Waco on Wednesday. A&M is outhitting its opponents, .265 to .172, and outblocking them, 3.05 to 1.66, during the five-match stretch.
Junior middle blocker Kendra Felder leads the Aggies and the Big 12 with a .372 hitting percentage in conference matches only. Beth Skypala is the league leader with 4.12 digs per game but is questionable for the Texas match because of a shoulder injury. The senior outside hitter did not play against Baylor and was replaced in the starting lineup by Carrie Moreira, who posted the first double-double of her career with a personal-high 10 kills along with 10 digs against the Bears.
Texas, which overcame a two-game deficit to defeat the Aggies in five games in Austin earlier this month, is tied with Colorado for sixth place in the Big 12 race after falling to Kansas in five games in Lawrence. Junior outside hitter Bethany Howden recorded her fourth double-double of the year with a career-high 29 kills and 13 digs in the loss.
Junior outside hitter Mira Topic, who is this week's Big 12 Player of the Week, posted 21 kills against the Jayhawks. She and Howden are averaging 4.41 kills apiece for the full season to lead the Longhorns and rank second in the Big 12.
The Longhorns own a lopsided 51-20 record against the Aggies since 1976, but A&M is 8-7 against the Horns in conference matches since Big 12 play began in 1996. In addition, the Aggies are riding a five-match winning streak against Texas in matches played at G. Rollie White Coliseum and are 7-1 against Texas in home matches since 1996, including a 3-0 victory over the Horns in the second round of the 2001 NCAA tournament.
The teams have split the season series the last two years with each team winning on its home court.
Earlier this season, Texas battled back to upend then-No. 22 Texas A&M, 29-31, 24-30, 30-21, 31-29, 18-16, in Austin. Topic led the Horns with 22 kills and Howden added 20. Junior middle blocker Kathy Hahn, the older sister to A&M freshman middle blocker Christi Hahn, also reach double figures in kills with 13 while hitting a team-high .400. Freshman setter Jenny Andrew had a career-high nine blocks as the Horns tallied 15 blocks - a season high by an A&M opponent - while holding the Aggies to only four blocks.
Five Aggies posted double figures in kills with Melissa Munsch recording a team-high 18. Carol Price recorded her season high with 17 kills, and Laura Jones contributed 15. Felder and Skypala added 13 and 12 kills, respectively.
Following Friday's volleyball match, the No. 7 A&M soccer team takes on No. 22 Nebraska at 8 p.m. at the Aggie Soccer Complex. Fans can use their volleyball ticket stub to get into the soccer match for $2.