November 18, 2003
No. 21 Texas A&M (19-7, 11-5 Big 12) returns home Wednesday to play host to the Baylor Bears (12-18, 4-12 Big 12). First serve is at 7 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum...The Aggies are in third place in the Big 12 standings, 3 1/2 games behind second-place Nebraska and one game ahead of Colorado and Kansas, who are tied for fourth...Baylor is in eighth place, one game ahead of Oklahoma and three games behind Texas...A&M is coming off an 1-1 week in which both road matches were decided in five games. The Aggies fell at Colorado and then held off Texas Tech...Baylor is looking to end a two-match losing skid after falling at SMU, 3-1, in a non-conference match, and then getting swept by Texas in Waco on Saturday...Live statistics and audio of the match will be available at www.AggieAthletics.com. Live video also will be available at www.AggieAthletics.com for "Aggie Ultimate Access" subscribers.
TEXAS A&M NEWS AND NOTES
Texas A&M slipped three spots to No. 21 in the USA Today/American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll, released Monday by the AVCA. The Aggies, who fell at unranked Colorado and then held off Texas Tech both in five game matches, was ranked No. 18 last week, the Aggies' highest ranking since a No. 17 showing on Sept. 16, 2002.
MUNSCH NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Texas A&M middle blocker Melissa Munsch has been named the Big 12 Volleyball Player of the Week, the conference office announced Monday... The honor is a first for Munsch, and it marks the second time this season an Aggie has garnered the award. Teammate Laura Jones was named the league's player of the week following the first week of the season...Munsch earned the honor after leading A&M with a .416 hitting percentage and 4.3 kills, 1.8 blocks and 5.3 points per game as the Aggies went 1-1 last week...The Columbus, Texas, native posted a team-high 18 kills at Colorado to give her 1,003 kills for her career and become the 13th player in Texas A&M history to reach the 1,000-kill milestone. Munsch also hit a team-high .375 in the match and tied for the team lead with seven blocks as A&M tallied a season-high 19 blocks against the Buffs... Munsch followed that performance by recording the second triple-double of her career. The junior tied her career high with 25 kills and added 13 digs and a match-high 11 blocks in the five-game victory at Texas Tech...Munsch completed the week with 43 kills and only six errors in 89 attempts.
JOLLIE ROLLIE: 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.
AGGIES RANKED 8TH IN ATTENDANCE: Texas A&M is ranked eighth in the nation in average home attendance. The Aggies are averaging 1,926 in 12 home matches...Last year A&M averaged 1,292 in 16 home matches...Hawaii leads the nation with a 7,214 average home attendance, followed by Wisconsin (4,289), Nebraska (4,277) and Penn State (2,843). Florida is fifth with a 2,653 average attendance, followed by Minnesota (2,342) and Kansas State (2,088).
TAKE FIVE: Seven of A&M's 16 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 4-3 in Big 12 five-game matches this season...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...The A&M record for most five-game matches in a full season is nine in 1988.
MUNSCH JOINS 1,000-KILL CLUB: Junior middle blocker Melissa Munsch became the 13th player in A&M history to reach 1,000 kills in a career when she posted 18 kills at Colorado to give her 1,003. Following a 25-kill performance at Tech, Munsch now has 1,028 for her career and needs 11 more kills to surpass Kelli Kellen (1986-89) and move into 10th in the Aggie career annals.
TRIPLE THREAT: Melissa Munsch recorded the second triple-double of her career and the Aggies' second of the season in the five-game victory at Texas Tech on Saturday. The Columbus, Texas, native tied her career high with 25 kills and added 13 digs and 11 blocks in the win...Munsch posted her first career triple-double in a five-game victory over Southwest Missouri State earlier this season with 24 kills, 12 digs and a career-high 14 blocks. It marked A&M's first triple-double performance 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.
MUNSCH ON THIS: Melissa Munsch, who tied an all-time A&M record and a career record with six aces in a three-game win against Texas and again in a five-game victory over Colorado, has 26 aces in 64 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 No. 10 Nebraska on Nov. 5 to give her 51 aces in her Big 12 career, breaking A&M's previous Big 12 career record of 49 aces set by A.D. Achilefu in 178 games from 1998-2002. Munsch, who leads the Aggies with 0.47 aces per game, continues to build on the career record and now has 54.
MUNSCH TIME: Melissa Munsch has totaled 22 kills and no errors in 27 attempts (.815) in the first game only of the last three matches...In the last three matches overall, Munsch is hitting .427 and averaging 4.29 kills and 1.71 blocks per game.
BLOCK PARTY: A&M had a season-high 19 blocks at Colorado and followed that match with its second-best blocking performance of the season with 17 at Texas Tech...The Aggies have reached double figures in blocks in the last three matches, starting with 13 in a four-game victory over Oklahoma...A&M, which ranks second in the Big 12 with 2.69 blocks per game for the full season, is averaging 3.50 blocks per game over the last three contests while holding opponents to 1.79 blocks per game.
BEERS WITH THE ASSIST: Junior setter Lexy Beers had 45 assists against the Red Raiders to move into sixth in the A&M career records with 2,345. She surpassed current A&M assistant coach Genny Wood-Volpe, who had 2,309 in her four-year career (1990-93)...Beers is averaging 8.43 assists per game in A&M's 6-2 offensive scheme.
DIG THIS: Texas A&M continues to lead the Big 12 in digs for both the full season (17.15) and in conference matches only (17.40)...Senior Beth Skypala leads the Aggies and is ranked fifth in the Big 12 with a 3.52 dig average for the full season and a 3.57 average in conference games only.
KILLER INSTINCT: Texas A&M leads the Big 12 with 16.28 digs per game for the full season. Sophomore Laura Jones leads the Aggies and is ranked seventh in the league with 3.91 kills per game for the full season, while Melissa Munsch is the team leader in conference matches only with a 3.66 average.
HIGH SCHOOL REUNION: A&M's Beth Skypala and Baylor's Tisha Schwartz were teammates on Amarillo High School's 1998 Texas state championship team.
MORE MISCELLANEOUS NOTES:
- With a 19-7 record, A&M is one win 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.
- Junior middle blocker Kendra Felder has 111 blocks assists for the season and needs one more to tie Page White (1996) and Heather Marshall (2000) for ninth in the A&M season records...Melissa Munsch also is nearing the top 10 with 108 blocks assists. Felder and Munsch each are averaging a team-leading 1.10 blocks per game.
- Senior middle blocker Tara Pulaski is ranked sixth in the A&M career records with 296 block assists. She needs three more to pass Sherri Brinkman, who had 298 from 1983-85...Pulaski needs three total blocks to move into ninth in A&M career total blocks with 340.
BAYLOR NOTES
Baylor (12-18, 4-12 Big 12) is riding a two-match losing skid after losing a non-conference match at SMU, 3-1, and then getting swept at home by Texas on Saturday...The Longhorns outhit Baylor, .327 to .169, and outblocked the Bears, 9-2...Baylor ranks last in the league in hitting percentage by opponents (.227)...The Bears, who are in eighth place in the Big 12, are 5-7 at away matches ' including 2-5 in away conference matches ' and 1-4 against Top 25 opponents. Their one win against a Top 25 team was a four-game victory over league-leader and then-No. 9 Kansas State in Waco, marking the biggest win in the history of the program'Senior Stevie Nicholas, a fearsome outside hitter who led the Big 12 in kill average in 2001 and 2002, returned to the front row against SMU after being relegated to playing libero following last year's season-ending knee injury. She led the Bears with 20 kills against the Mustangs and had a team-high 14 kills against Texas. Nicholas leads Baylor with 3.16 digs per game...Senior outside hitter Tisha Schwartz leads the Bears and is ranked fifth in the Big 12 with 4.18 kills per game'Freshman Desiree Guilliard-Young is the team leader in hitting percentage (.312), and her team-leading 1.20 blocks per game ranks second in the conference...Baylor, which finished 10th in the Big 12 with a 2-18 mark last year, was picked to finish eighth this season, according to a preseason poll of the league coaches...Head coach Brian Hosfeld (Long Beach State, '91) is 129-128 in his seventh season at the helm of the Bears.
SERIES RECORD
Texas A&M has won the last eight meetings against Baylor and owns a 48-7 record against the Bears since the teams first met in 1976. In addition, the Aggies are 20-1 against the Bears in matches played at G. Rollie White Coliseum and own a 12-3 mark against Baylor since Big 12 play began in 1996...All three of A&M's Big 12 losses were at the Ferrell Center in Waco...A&M defeated Baylor in four games earlier this season in Waco...Melissa Munsch led the Aggies with 17 kills and a .441 hitting percentage as A&M outhit Baylor, .305 to .268. Laura Jones added 12 kills and Kendra Felder posted 10. In addition, Carrie Moreira, who started in place of an injured Beth Skypala, recorded a career-high 10 kills for the Aggies, and Carol Price posted a team-high six blocks as A&M outblocked the Bears, 13-7...The Bears, who ended a 17-game losing skid to the Aggies by winning the second game, were led by Tisha Schwartz's 25 kills. Andrea Vakulya added 15 kills, and Stevie Nicholas led Baylor in digs with a match-high 22.
UPCOMING
A&M hits the road for a crucial match against the surging Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday in Lawrence...First serve is at 7 p.m. at the Horejsi Family athletics Center...The Jayhawks enter the week with an 18-9 record overall and a game behind A&M with a 10-6 Big 12 mark...The Jayhawks, who are 9-4 in home matches, play at No. 10 Nebraska on Wednesday...A&M faces No. 5 Kansas State next Wednesday and concludes the regular season at home against Iowa State on Nov. 29.