September 14, 2004
No. 12 Texas A&M (4-2) opens Big 12 Conference play against Iowa State
(6-1) Wednesday in Ames, Iowa. First serve is at 7 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum, and live stats will be available at www.cyclones.com.
The Aggies went 2-1 last week and are coming off their biggest win since the 2001 season after defeating No. 8 California, 3-0, in Berkeley on Saturday to take second place at the Golden Bear Invitational. Iowa State won its first four matches of the season before falling to Rice, 3-1, in the opener of the UTSA Roadrunner Invitational in San Antonio. The Cyclones closed out the tournament by sweeping Prairie View A&M and defeating UTSA, 3-2.
A&M, which tied Colorado and Kansas for third place in the Big 12 last season with a 13-7 mark, is picked to finish fourth in the conference this year according to a preseason vote of the league coaches.
Iowa State is coming off its best finish in the eight-year history of the league after tying Baylor for eighth place with a 4-16 record. The Cyclones, who return four starters, were picked to finish 10th this season according to the coaches? vote.
THE 2004 AGGIES
Texas A&M moved up two spots to No. 12 in the USA Today/CSTV Top 25 Poll, released by the AVCA on Monday. A&M?s No. 12 ranking is its highest since a No. 11 ranking in the 2001 final poll. The Aggies, who are approaching the school?s highest all-time AVCA ranking of No. 10 held from Oct. 15 Nov. 5, 1996, have not been ranked as high as No. 12 in a regular-season poll since a two-week stay at No. 12 starting Oct. 14, 1997.
The Aggies are 5-3 in Big 12 openers. All three losses have been on the road as A&M is 2-3 when opening conference play on the road. Last year, the Aggies fell to No. 8 Nebraska in five games in Lincoln.
Junior outside hitter Laura Jones, who had a season-high 22 kills against No. 8 Cal, leads the Aggies with 4.44 kills and 5.33 points per game. Senior All-American middle blocker Melissa Munsch leads the team with a .413 hitting percentage and 2.28 blocks per game and is second on the squad with 3.67 kills, 2.89 digs and 5.17 points per game. Senior outside hitter Carrie Moreira, who had a career-high 14 digs against Cal, sports a team-best 3.07 digs per game, and junior setter Kari Kelley is averaging 11.29 assists per game.
Texas A&M has led its opponent in blocking in every match and is averaging 3.50 blocks per game while holding opponents to a 2.0 average. Melissa Munsch, who led the nation with 2.78 blocks per game after the first week of play, leads the Big 12 with a 2.28 block average.
Munsch had 11 digs in a 3-0 loss to No. 13 UC Santa Barbara on Thursday to give her 1,004 for her career and become the seventh player in A&M history to surpass both 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career. She enters the Iowa State match ranked eighth in the A&M career records with 1,175 kills and needs 23 more to move into seventh place.
Laura Jones and Melissa Munsch made their second consecutive appearance on an all-tournament team, receiving the honor at both the McDonald?s/Texas A&M Invitational and the Golden Bear Invitational. Junior middle blocker Kendra Felder also was named to the all-tournament team at the Golden Bear Invitational, marking the first time in her career to be named to an all-tournament team.
Texas A&M coach Laurie Corbelli is 263-97 in her 12th season at the helm of the Aggies and 363-203 in the 19th year of her head coaching career.
Assistant coach Robyn Romansky, whose hiring was announced in July, is making her first trip with the team. Romansky was formerly the technical coordinator for USA Volleyball and was in Athens, Greece for the 2004 Olympic Games. The A&M team manager from 1999-2001 and a 2004 graduate of A&M, Romansky completed her commitment to USA Volleyball last week.
IOWA STATE
With a 6-2 mark, the Cyclones are off to their best start since they went 8-0 to open the 1997 season; however, Iowa State has not been successful in Big 12 openers as the Cyclones have never won their first conference match of the season in the eight-year history of the league.
The Cyclones, who enter league play riding a two-match winning streak, are led by Katie Kruenegel, who is averaging 3.33 kills per game. Ashlie McWee is averaging a team-leading 1.48 blocks per game, and Katie Churm leads ISU with 4.31 digs per game.
As a team, Iowa State is hitting .219 and is averaging 14.81 kills, 2.12 aces, 17.92 digs and 2.79 blocks per game. Opponents are being held to a .109 hitting efficiency and are averaging 12.58 kills, 1.42 aces, 18.15 digs and 2.15 blocks per game.
Linda Crum is 37-114 in her sixth season as coach of the Cyclones. She is 144-203 in the 12th year of her coaching career.
SERIES RECORDS
Texas A&M is 18-1 all-time against the Cyclones and has won the last 17 meetings. The Aggies improved to 16-0 against Iowa State in Big 12 matches only last year, defeating the Cyclones, 3-1, in Ames and 3-0 in College Station.
A&M also is 8-0 in matches played at Iowa State. The Aggies? only loss to the Cyclones was a 3-1 setback at the 1989 Buckeye Invitational.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The Aggies return home Friday to play host to No. 24 Kansas. First serve is at 6 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
The Jayhawks, who are making their first appearance in the AVCA Top 25 Poll since the poll began in 1982, are 7-0 entering a non-conference match-up against Missouri-Kansas City on Tuesday. Their conference opener is against the Aggies, who Kansas defeated for the first time last season in Lawrence.
A&M is 16-1 all-time against the Jayhawks, including 9-0 in matches played at G. Rollie White Coliseum. The Aggies held off Kansas in five games last year in College Station, but then fell in three games to the Jayhawks in Lawrence.
The two teams, along with Colorado, tied for third place in the Big 12 with a 13-7 record last year. It was the Jayhawks? highest finish in Big 12 play. Their previous highest finish was sixth place in 2002.