November 16, 2004
No. 13 Texas A&M returns to G. Rollie White Coliseum Wednesday to play host to the Iowa State Cyclones. First serve is at 7 p.m., and all scouts and scout leaders in uniform will be admitted free.
The Aggies, who are 7-0 in Big 12 Conference home matches, are 16-6 overall and tied with Missouri for third place in the league with a 12-4 mark. A&M is coming off a 3-2 setback at then-No. 9 Texas on Thursday, which snapped the Aggies' season-best eight-match winning streak.
Junior outside hitter Laura Jones leads the Aggies and is ranked second in the Big 12 with 4.68 kills per game. Senior middle blocker Melissa Munsch, who is hitting a team-best .310, leads the team defensively with 3.05 digs and 1.70 blocks per game.
A&M, which has led its opponent in hitting percentage in each of the last nine matches, is outhitting its opponents, .249 to .179, for the full season and .275 to .119 when playing at G. Rollie.
The Cyclones have lost their last 10 matches after being swept by both Missouri and Texas Tech last week. Iowa State is 8-18 for the full season and in last place in the conference with a 1-16 record.
Iowa State is hitting .148 for the full season, while opponents are hitting .191. In Big 12 matches, however, the Cyclones are being outhit, .232 to .110.
Sophomore outside hitter Katie Jessen leads the Cyclones with 2.86 kills per game, and sophomore libero Katie Churm leads the team and ranks fifth in the league with 4.06 digs per game.
A&M has won the last 18 matches against Iowa State to improve to 19-1 all-time against the Cyclones, including 17-0 in Big 12 matches. The Aggies' only loss to the Cyclones was a 3-1 defeat at the 1989 Buckeye Invitational.
The teams last met on Sept. 15 in Ames in both teams' conference opener. Then-No. 12 A&M got off to a slow start but managed to come back and defeat the Cyclones, 24-30, 30-21, 30-26, 30-23, at Hilton Coliseum.
Munsch posted match highs of 20 kills and 19 digs, and Jones also had a double-double with 18 kills and 11 digs. Sophomore Christi Hahn finished the match with a then-career-high nine kills and five blocks after replacing starting middle blocker Kendra Felder, who went out with an injury to her right ankle late in the first game. Carrie Moreira set a career high in digs for the second consecutive match, posting 17 and also adding a personal-best 11 kills.
Jessen led the Cyclones with 13 kills.
The Aggies have only three regular-season matches remaining following the Iowa State contest. A&M makes its final road trip on Saturday when the Aggies take on Kansas in Lawrence. A&M then returns to G. Rollie, closing out the home schedule with crucial matches against No. 20 Kansas State and No. 3 Nebraska on Wednesday, Nov. 24 and Saturday, Nov. 27, respectively.