November 06, 2004
No. 14 Texas A&M (15-5, 11-3 Big 12) returns home to host Colorado (11-10, 6-8 Big 12) Sunday at G. Rollie White Coliseum. First serve is slated for 1:30 p.m. (The complete release is in pdf format.)
Fans with a ticket stub from the A&M-Oklahoma football game will be admitted for $2. Also the volleyball team will host an autograph session following the match, and coupons for a free Chick-Fil-A sandwich will be handed out if the Aggies sweep Colorado.
The Aggies, who are in third place in the Big 12 and 6-0 in home conference matches, enter the Colorado match riding a seven-match winning streak, their longest streak of the season. Most recently, A&M completed a season-series sweep against Baylor, defeating the Bears, 3-0, in Waco on Wednesday.
Colorado has lost five of its last six matches, including a 3-1 loss to the Aggies on Oct. 20, to fall to sixth place in the league. The Buffs are coming off a 3-1 loss to No. 10 Texas in Boulder on Wednesday.
SERIES RECORD: Although Texas A&M holds a 13-5 advantage in the all-time
series against Colorado after defeating the Buffs in Boulder on Oct. 20, neither team has swept the season series since A&M won both meetings in 1999.
Earlier this season, A&M came from behind to down CU, 25-30, 30-28, 30-26, 30-21, at the Coors Events Center. Kendra Felder had a career-high 10 blocks to lead the Aggies to a season-high 18 blocks for the match.
After dropping the first game, the Aggies found themselves trailing 28-26 in Game 2. After an A&M timeout, Colorado committed a service error and a kill error to even the score. Laura Jones followed with an ace, and Cristin Burton and Felder teamed for a block to give the Aggies the win.
Game 3 was tied at 14 when A&M reeled off three unanswered points to take the lead for good. Game 4 began with Jones posting back-to-back kills for the third straight game to give the Aggies a quick lead. The Aggies carried the momentum throughout the game, never trailing. A&M built a game-high 11-point lead four times, the last at 30-21 with Kari Kelley putting the game-winner on an overpass.
Melissa Munsch, who had eight kills in the first game, led the Aggies with 19 kills and also had seven blocks. Jones added 17, and Christi Hahn finished with 10. Kelley led in digs with a season-high 14.
Maragda Santillana led the Buffs with 19 kills, and Allie Griffin and Nicole Carr added 15 apiece.
The four-game win ended a streak of four matches against the Buffs that have gone five games, and it was A&M?s first win at Colorado since 2001.
A&M is 7-1 in home matches against Colorado. The Buffs earned their only victory against A&M in College Station in a five-game thriller on Oct. 3, 2001.
TEXAS A&M quick hits: The Aggies are 9-1 in home matches, including 6-0 in home conference matches. A&M?s only home loss of the year was to No. 3 UCLA on Sept. 4.
A&M entered the week rank eighth in the nation in attendance, averaging 1,887 per match. The Aggies drew a season-high 3,150 in a 3-1 victory over previously undefeated and ninth-ranked Texas on Oct. 16. It ranks fourth in the A&M all-time home attendance records. A&M ranked eighth in the final 2003 national attendance records with a 1,801 average.
A&M is 118-3 (.975) when hosting unranked opponents since Laurie Corbelli took over the Aggie coaching reins in 1993. Two of the losses were to Texas Tech (1997 and 1998) and the other was to Colorado (2001).
The Aggies? seven match winning streak is their longest since winning seven in a row last year. The last time A&M won more than seven consecutive matches was in 1999. The Aggies won nine straight from Nov. 10 - Dec. 9, closing out the Big 12 season winning their last six matches to finish one win from earning a co-conference title with Nebraska and then winning their first three NCAA matches to advance to the regional finals for the first time in school history.
A&M is outhitting its opponents, .242 to .172, for the full season. In matches played at G. Rollie, the numbers improve to .270 to .114. A&M has outblocked its opponents in 17 of 20 matches and entered the week ranked fifth in the nation with 3.37 blocks per game. Nebraska leads the nation and the Big 12 with 3.90 blocks per game, and the Aggies are second to the Huskers with 3.19 blocks per game in conference matches only.
Junior outside hitter Laura Jones garnered Big 12 Player of the Week honors for the second time this season after leading A&M to 3-1 victories over both Missouri and Oklahoma last week. Jones also earned the honor along with AVCA National Player of the Week laurels on Oct. 18.
Jones had 12 kills at Nebraska on Sept. 25 to give her 1,011 for her career, and she became the 14th player in A&M history to surpass the 1,000-kill milestone. She is currently ranked eighth in the A&M records with 1,215 career kills.
Senior All-American Melissa Munsch, who had a season-high 11 blocks at Texas Tech on Oct. 23 en route to her second triple-double of the year, entered this week ranked fourth in the nation and second in the Big 12 with 1.78 blocks per game. She has led the team in blocks in 15 matches and is averaging 1.89 blocks per game over the last eight matches. Munsch also leads the Aggies with a .306 hitting percentage and 3.34 digs per game, and she is second on the team with 3.86 kills, 0.41 aces and 5.20 points per game.
Munsch continues to climb the A&M career charts. She is third with 133 aces and ranks fourth in block assists with 357. Munsch also ranks fifth in total attack attempts (3,445), sixth in total blocks (404) and seventh in digs (1,195).
Junior setter Kari Kelley had 51 assists in the victory at Baylor. It marked the most assists by an A&M player in a three-game match this season. Kelley is averaging 11.91 assists per game for the full season and 12.11 in Big 12 games only. Kelley is ranked 10th in the A&M career records with 1,506 assists.
Texas A&M is listed No. 2 in the RichKern.com/AVCA Central Region rankings. Nebraska is ranked No. 1 in the region. Texas, Kansas State and Missouri round out the top 5. Colorado is ranked sixth.
COLORADO NOTES: Colorado (11-10, 6-8 Big 12) is in sixth place in the Big 12 after falling to No. 10 Texas on Wednesday. Texas hit .325 for the match and tallied 15 blocks, while the Buffs were held to a .123 hitting efficiency and 10 blocks.
Allie Griffin and Maragda Santillana offer a solid one-two punch for Colorado, and are averaging 4.31 and 4.17 kills per game, respectively. Santillana, however, has missed the last two matches with a shoulder injury. Amber Nu?u has started in her place, totaling 11 kills and 22 digs in a 3-1 victory against Texas Tech and the 3-1 loss to No. 10 Texas.
The Buffaloes are 2-5 in away matches, including 2-4 in away Big 12 matches. They are 2-5 against ranked opponents. Wins have been against No. 20 San Diego, 3-2, on Sept. 10 and No. 16 Kansas State, 3-0, in their Big 12 opener on Sept. 15. CU has lost twice to Nebraska and also fell to No. 10 Colorado State, No. 16 Texas A&M and No. 10 Texas.
Last year, the Buffs tied A&M and Kansas for third place in the Big 12 with a 13-7 mark and finished the full season with a 21-10 record after getting eliminated by Michigan, 3-0, in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Pi?i Aiu (Colorado ?89) is 145-86 in his eighth season as coach of the Buffaloes. He is 5-10 against Texas A&M.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE: A&M plays its second to the last regular-season road match Thursday as the Aggies travel to Austin to take on the rival Texas Longhorns. Match time is at 6:30 p.m. at Gregory Gym. The match will be shown tape-delayed on CSTV as part of their Sunday Spike Night.
Texas will be looking to avenge a 3-1 loss to the Aggies on Oct. 16 in College Station. The Longhorns entered the match ranked No. 9 in the country with a 16-0 record but fell to the Aggies for the seventh consecutive time at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
A&M returns home Nov. 17 to host Iowa State at 7 p.m. The Cyclones are in last place in the Big 12 standings.