October 08, 2004
No. 15 Texas A&M (8-4, 4-2 Big 12) hits the road Saturday to face the Missouri Tigers (9-4, 4-2 Big 12). First serve is slated for 7 p.m. at the Hearnes Center in Columbia.(See pdf for complete release.)
Both teams are tied for fourth in the Big 12 standings with 4-2 marks. A&M, which had a bye on Wednesday, enters the contest riding a two-match winning streak after defeating Baylor, 3-0, and Texas Tech, 3-2, both in College Station last week. Missouri, 5-1 in home matches, has swept its last three opponents, including No. 25 Colorado in Boulder on Saturday and Oklahoma on Wednesday.
A&M swept the series against the Tigers last season, defeating Missouri, 3-1, at G. Rollie White Coliseum, and escaping with a 3-2 victory in Columbia to extend its winning streak against the Tigers to three.
SERIES RECORD
Texas A&M leads the all-time series, 16-3, against Missouri, including 14-2 in Big 12 meetings. Both of the Aggies' Big 12 losses to Missouri have occurred in Columbia, as the Tigers swept No. 19 A&M in the 2000 conference opener and topped the 20th-ranked Aggies, 3-1, on Sept. 25, 2002.
A&M has won the last three meetings against Missouri, including a nail-biting 30-21, 13-30, 30-28, 27-30, 15-13 victory in Columbia in the most recent meeting (Nov. 1, 2003). A&M overcame a three-point deficit early in the fifth game, and with the score tied at 13, Carol Price tallied consecutive kills to give A&M its seventh straight win and hand Missouri its first home loss of the season. Laura Jones led A&M with 19 kills and a .405 hitting percentage. Melissa Munsch tied her season high with a team-leading 21 digs, and Price, Kendra Felder and Tara Pulaski tallied four blocks apiece as A&M outblocked Missouri, 9-3.
Missouri, which outhit A&M, .249 to .226, was led by Shen Danru, who recorded 22 kills but was held to a .179 hitting efficiency. Lindsey Noll had 20 kills and hit .450 for the match.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The Aggies return home for a two-match stand, taking on Oklahoma on Wednesday, Oct. 13 and league-leading and 11th-ranked Texas in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown on Saturday. Both matches begin at 7 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
A&M has won 22 straight against Oklahoma and is 8-0 against the Sooners in matches played in College Station.
Although Texas owns a 50-21 lead in the all-time series against the Aggies, A&M has won the last six matches played at G. Rollie White Coliseum, including a dominating 30-15, 30-17, 30-23 victory last year.
A&M owns a 1-0 lead in the first year of the Lone Star Showdown series. The Aggie soccer team defeated No. 6 Texas, 3-1, in College Station on Sept. 10.