November 11, 2003
No. 18 Texas A&M (18-6, 10-4 Big 12) begins a two-match road swing Wednesday with a crucial match at Colorado (17-8, 9-6 Big 12). First serve is at 7 p.m. MST (8 p.m. CST) at the Coors Events Center in Boulder...The Aggies are in third place in the Big 12 standings. Colorado is 1 1/2 matches behind the Aggies and tied with Missouri for fourth place in the league race...A&M is coming off an 1-1 week in which the Aggies had their season-long seven-match winning streak snapped by No. 10 Nebraska and then rebounded by defeating Oklahoma...Colorado is riding a two-match winning streak after sweeping both Baylor and Texas Tech last week...Live statistics and audio of the match will be available at www.CUBuffs.com. Live video also will be available at www.CUBuffs.com for "Buffs Backstage Pass" subscribers.
TEXAS A&M NEWS AND NOTES
- Texas A&M jumped three spots to No. 18 in the USA Today/American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll, released Monday by the AVCA. The ranking is the Aggies' highest since a No. 17 showing on Sept. 16, 2002...The Aggies had been ranked No. 21 for the past three weeks.
- Junior Melissa Munsch needs 15 kills to become the 13th player in A&M history to record 1,000 kills in her career. She needs a total of 54 kills to break into the A&M career top 10. Kelli Kellen (1986-89) currently holds down the No. 10 spot with 1,038 kills during her four-year career.
- Munsch has had career performances against the Buffaloes at the Coors Events Center. As a freshman middle blocker, Munsch set an A&M conference record and a Big 12 record with 13 blocks in the Aggies' three-game victory. She played outside hitter as a sophomore and posted a career-high 25 kills and 30.0 points in a five-game loss to the Buffs... Munsch is hitting at a .387 clip and averaging 4.13 kills, 3.25 digs, 1.88 blocks and 5.81 points per game in her two appearances at the Coors Events Center. Her 25 kills remains her personal best. Her Big 12-record 13 blocks has been tied twice, and the performance still stands alone as an A&M record for a three-game Big 12 match.
- Munsch, who tied an all-time A&M record and a career record with six aces against Colorado earlier this season in College Station, leads the Big 12 with a 0.48 ace average in league matches...She has 26 aces in 54 conference games and needs four more to break the A&M season record of 29 set by Farah Mensik in 72 games in 1997...Munsch had three aces against Nebraska last week to give her 51 aces in her Big 12 career, breaking A&M's previous record of 49 aces set by A.D. Achilefu in 178 games from 1998-2002.
- Colorado and A&M are listed first and second, respectively, in the Big 12 statistics for kill and assist average for the full season. The Buffs are averaging a league-leading 16.42 kills and 15.03 assists per game, while the Aggies are right behind with 16.37 kills and 15.01 assists per game.
- Texas A&M continues to lead the Big 12 in digs for both the full season (17.23) and in conference matches only (17.58)...Colorado leads the league for digs by opponents, allowing 13.20 per game for the full season and 13.54 in Big 12 matches.
- Five of A&M's 14 conference matches have gone five games...Last year A&M had a record five five-game matches for the entire Big 12 season. The Aggies, who were 3-2 in conference five-game matches last year, are 3-2 in Big 12 five-game matches this season, including a five-game victory over Colorado in College Station...In their only non-conference five-game match this season, the Aggies came back after dropping the first two games to defeat Southwest Missouri State in the opening night of the McDonald's/Texas A&M Invitational.
- A&M has won eight of its last nine matches and is outhitting its opponents, .250 to .188, during that span. The Aggies also are averaging 2.74 blocks while holding opponents to 1.74 blocks over the last nine matches.
- The Aggies are 6-3 in away matches, including a 4-2 mark at away Big 12 matches...Both Big 12 road losses have been in five games as A&M dropped back-to-back conference road games to begin the Big 12 season. The Aggies fell to then-No. 8 Nebraska in the conference opener in Lincoln on Sept. 17 and then let a two-game lead slip away in a 3-2 setback at rival Texas on Oct. 1.
- The Aggies are 8-3 in home matches and 127-22 (.852) at G. Rollie White Coliseum since Laurie Corbelli became head coach of the Aggies in 1993. Nineteen of the home losses have been to ranked opponents. Colorado and Texas Tech, who has won twice at G. Rollie, are the only unranked teams to win in College Station during Corbelli's tenure...A&M's three home losses this season were to No. 1 USC, No. 10 Nebraska and No. 12 Kansas State.
- The Aggies are ranked seventh in the nation with a 1,926 home attendance average...An all-time record 3,778 watched A&M sweep Texas at G. Rollie White Coliseum on Oct. 24.
- Junior middle blocker Kendra Felder leads the Aggies with a .293 hitting percentage and 1.11 blocks per game for the full season...Sophomore outside hitter Laura Jones is the team leader with 3.90 kills per game, and senior outside hitter Beth Skypala sports a team-best 3.69 digs per game for the full season...Junior middle blocker Melissa Munsch takes team-high honors with 4.60 points and 0.42 aces per game. Setters Lexy Beers and Kari Kelley are averaging 8.55 and 7.29 assists per game in A&M's 6-2 offensive scheme.
- Junior setter Lexy Beers is ranked seventh in the A&M career records with 2,271 assists. She needs 39 assists to move into sixth place and surpass current A&M assistant coach Genny Wood-Volpe, who tallied 2,309 assists during her four-year (1990-93) A&M playing career.
- Senior middle blocker Tara Pulaski posted four block assists against Oklahoma to give her 289 block assists for her career and move her into sixth in the A&M career records...Pulaski needs three total blocks to reach 332 and surpass Kristie Smedsrud (1994-97) for 10th place in the career records...In addition, Pulaski is currently ranked fourth in the career books with a .308 career hitting percentage.
- With an 18-6 record, A&M is two wins away from reaching the 20-victory milestone for the ninth consecutive year and the 10th time overall during Laurie Corbelli's 11-year A&M coaching career.
COLORADO NOTES
Colorado (17-8, 9-6 Big 12) went 2-0 last week to move into a tie with Missouri for fourth place in the conference race...The Buffs swept Baylor in Boulder and then swept Texas Tech in Lubbock and are 1 1/2 games behind the third-place Aggies...Colorado will be looking for its 10th Big 12 win of the season which would surpass the Buffs' entire Big 12 win total from its 9-11 record in 2002...Nicole Carr and Monique Gerlach posted double figures in kills for the Buffs in the win against the Red Raiders with 12 and 11, respectively. Carr also added a team season-high 21 digs to record her Big 12-leading 14th double-double...Colorado hit .310 for the match and posted 14.5 blocks while holding Tech to a .100 hitting efficiency...The Buffs are averaging 2.8 blocks per game over the last five matches...Colorado is 8-1 in home matches this season. Its only home loss was a four-game setback to then-No. 7 Kansas State on Nov. 1...Colorado is 0-6 against ranked opponents...The Buffs last win over a ranked team was against then-No. 17 A&M last year in Boulder...Senior middle blocker Monique Gerlach leads Colorado in hitting percentage (.322), as well as kill (3.43) and blocking (0.89) average. She needs six kills to move into fourth place in the Colorado career records with 1,359...Ashley Nu'u, voted the Big 12 preseason freshman of the year by the league coaches, has returned to action after missing the early part of the season * including the first match against the Aggies * due to a back injury...Pi'i Aiu is in his seventh season at the helm of the Buffs and sports a 130-75 record.
SERIES RECORD
Texas A&M leads the all-time series against Colorado, 12-4, including 5-3 in matches played at the Coors Events Center. The Buffaloes, however, are 3-3 overall against the Aggies in the past six matches...Four of the last five meetings have been decided in five games, including each of the last three matches in which the home team has prevailed...Earlier this season (Sept. 24) in College Station, Kendra Felder tallied a career-high 16 kills and Melissa Munsch tied a school record with six service aces to lead No. 25 Texas A&M to a 24-30, 30-28, 30-28, 26-30, 15-13 victory over Colorado at G. Rollie White Coliseum. Allie Griffin led a group of five Colorado players to post double figures in kills with a career-high 27 as the Buffs tallied 88 kills while hitting at a .290 clip. The Aggies managed 68 kills and were held to a .209 hitting percentage, but they tallied a season-high 13 service aces and outblocked Colorado, 11-6...Colorado held an 8-7 lead in the decisive fifth game when A&M rallied for four unanswered points. The Buffs cut the lead to one, 13-12 following a Monique Gerlach kill, but Laura Jones put down her 16th kill of the game to put the Aggies at match point. Gerlach answered with another kill before Carol Price registered a kill to give A&M the win in a match that was nationally televised by CSTV...The teams last met in Boulder on Sept. 21, 2002. Munsch recorded a career-high 25 kills and a match-high 17 digs but it wasn't enough as the 17th-ranked Aggies fell to Colorado, 23-30, 30-22, 30-28, 28-30, 15-11. Gerlach led Colorado with 19 kills and six blocks as the Buffs outblocked A&M, 12-6.
UPCOMING
A&M concludes its two-match road stand as the Aggies face Texas Tech in Lubbock on Saturday. Match time is at 7 p.m. at the United Spirit Arena...A&M swept the Red Raiders, 30-21, 30-25, 30-21, when the two teams met in College Station on Oct. 8. The match was the start of A&M's season-long seven-match winning streak.