December 02, 2004
No. 18 Texas A&M (18-8, 14-6 Big 12) received its 12th consecutive at-large bid and its 16th overall berth to the NCAA Championship and will face Winthrop, the winner of the Big South Tournament, in the first round on Friday. First serve is at 7:30 p.m. (6:30 CST) at Stokely Athletic Center in Knoxville, Tenn.
The host Tennessee Lady Volunteers (30-2), who earned an automatic berth and a No. 12 seed in the 64-team field after winning the Southeastern Conference tournament, meet Eastern Kentucky (27-4), the winner of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, in the other first-round match in Knoxville.
The winners of the two first-round matches meet Saturday at 5:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m CST), with the winner advancing to the Minneapolis Regional, Dec. 10-11.
The Aggies, who have never lost an NCAA first-round match under 12th-year coach Laurie Corbelli, enter the tournament having lost three of their last five matches. All three losses, however, were to NCAA tournament-bound teams, including a 3-2 setback at No. 9 Texas, as well as a 3-0 loss to No. 2 Nebraska in the final match.
Winthrop, which is making its third trip to the NCAAs after winning its third consecutive Big South Conference tournament, will be aiming for its first NCAA victory when the Eagles take on the Aggies. Winthrop had its record-setting 20-match winning streak snapped in its final NCAA tune-up, falling to Georgia Tech, 3-0, Friday in Atlanta. The Yellow Jackets are the only NCAA tournament-bound team Winthrop has played this season.
Tennessee is making its seventh appearance in the NCAA Championships and its first since 2000. The 10th-ranked Lady Vols, who tied Florida for the Southeastern Conference regular-season title, earned an automatic bid and received the No. 12 seed after winning the SEC tournament. Tennessee, which has already clinched the highest winning percentage in school history, enters the tournament riding a 12-match winning streak and sporting a 10-2 record against the field.
Eastern Kentucky (27-4) is making its second trip to the NCAA Championship and its first since 1984, when the Colonels were eliminated by the Lady Vols in the first round. EKU, which did not face any tournament-bound teams during the regular season, received an automatic bid to the NCAAs by winning the Ohio Valley Conference tournament and is riding a six-match winning streak after sweeping Eastern Illinois in the title match.
Texas A&M TOURNAMENT NOTES
Texas A&M is making its 12th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championships and its 16th overall appearance (1981, '82, '85, '86, '93, '94, '95, '96, '97, '98,' 99, '00, '01, '02, '03 and '04) since the inception of the tournament in 1981...The Aggies are 10-0 in first-round matches under 12th-year head coach Laurie Corbelli ‹ A&M had a first-round bye in 1995 ‹ and 12-2 all-time in first-round matches, including 4-2 in first-round matches played on the road...The Aggies sport a 19-15 (.559) all-time record in the NCAA tournament, including a 17-11 (.607) mark during Corbelli's A&M tenure...In the 2003 NCAA Championships, A&M was selected to host for the eighth time in Corelli's 11 years and for the 10th time overall. A&M, seeded No. 16, improved its all-time home NCAA record to 14-0 by sweeping both Nicholls State and Wisconsin in the first two rounds. The Aggies then went up against No. 1-seed USC at the Lincoln, Neb., regional and were eliminated in three games. It was the third consecutive year the Aggies were eliminated by the eventual national champion, having fallen to USC in 2002 and Stanford in 2001...A&M has never won more than one match on the road in a single NCAA tournament...A&M's best finish in the NCAA tournament were Elite Eight appearances in 1999 and 2001...The Aggies are 8-8 against the tournament field this season...The Big 12 and the Big Ten led all conferences with seven teams selected to the tournament field. The Big 12 is represented by No. 1 seed Nebraska, No 6 seed Texas, No. 16 seed Missouri, Colorado, Kansas, Kansas State and Texas A&M...Nebraska earned the Big 12's automatic bid by winning the conference title with a 20-0 record.
TEAM PROFILES
Texas A&M tied Missouri for third place in the Big 12 Conference with a 14-6 mark...The Aggies are led by Big 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year and All-Big 12 first-team selection Melissa Munsch, as well as All-Big 12 first-team member Laura Jones...Munsch, a senior middle blocker leads A&M in blocks (1.71), digs (3.07) and aces (.46) per game and ranks second on the squad in kills (3.8) and points (5.18) per game and a .305 hitting percentage...Jones, a junior outside hitter, leads the Aggies with 4.76 kills and 5.42 points per game and is second with 2.84 digs per game...Sophomore right-side hitter Christi Hahn sports a team-best .316 hitting percentage, while junior middle blocker Kendra Felder also is hitting .above .300 with a .302 efficiency. In addition, Felder is second on the team with 1.06 blocks and .34 aces per game and ranks third with 2.53 kills and 3.46 points per game...Junior setter Kari Kelley has started every match and is averaging 12.13 assists per game...As a team, A&M is outhitting its opponents, .251 to .189, for the full season but is being outhit, .239 to .230, when playing away from home...The Aggies are 6-6 when playing on the road, including 0-1 at neutral sites.
Winthrop (31-3) became the first team in the Big 12 South Conference to win the conference tournament three consecutive years after defeating Coastal Carolina, 3-2, in the championship match...The Eagles, who are 0-3 all time in the NCAA tournament, were led by sophomore right-side/middle hitter and tournament MVP Tori Grafeman...Junior outside hitter Mary Hock hails from Garland, Texas, and leads the Eagles with 4.40 kills and .70 aces per game for the full season...Senior libero Sarah Billingsley, who was named to the Big South all-tournament team, is averaging a team-best 4.42 digs per game, while sophomore middle hitter Taryn Surbaugh, also an all-tournament selection, leads the squad with a .386 hitting percentage and 1.18 blocks per game... Jayna Baker, a junior outside hitter from Duncanville, Texas, transferred from A&M prior to the season and is hitting .289 with 1.57 kills per game...Winthrop broke the previous school record of 28 wins in a season and enters the NCAAs with the second most wins of any school in the 64-team filed. The only school with more victories is Long Island with a 32-6 record...The Eagles also set a record with a 20-match winning streak which was snapped by Georgia Tech in Winthrop's final match of the regular season...Joel McCartney is 105-39 in his fourth season as coach of the Eagles. Prior to being hired at Winthrop, McCartney served as an assistant coach at Oklahoma for a season.
Tennessee (30-2), which tied Florida for the Southeastern Conference regular-season title and then won the SEC tournament to earn the league's automatic bid, is making its first NCAA appearance since 2000 and its seventh appearance overall (1981, '82, '83, '84, '93, 2000, '04)...The Lady Vols were one of 16 teams to be seeded in the 64-team field, receiving a No. 12 seed...UT is ranked No. 10 in the USA Today/CSTV Top 25 Coaches Poll, its highest ranking in school history...The Lady Vols, who have won 30 matches for the first time since going 31-10 in 1983, enter the NCAA tournament riding a 12-match winning streak, their longest since winning 22 straight in 1980...UT is 10-2 against the tournament field. Its only losses were at Michigan and at home to No. 8 Florida, both by 3-1 scores...Junior setter Julie Knytych ranks in the top 15 in the nation with 13.71 assists per game and is the school's all-time record for assists with 1,549 this season...Knytych was named to the All-SEC first team, along with junior outside hitter Amy Morris, who was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year...Rob Patrick, who is in his eighth season as coach of the Lady Vols, was named the SEC Coach of the Year...Assistant Mike Minnis was an assistant at Oklahoma from 1994-2000.
Eastern Kentucky (27-4) is making its second trip to the NCAA tournament and its first since 1984 when the Lady Vols eliminated the Colonels in three games...The Colonels were ranked third in the nation in digs (20.55) entering last week...Freshman libero Brittany Nobilio leads EKU with 5.46 digs per game...Senior outside hitter Lesley Aldridge is averaging 4.21 digs per game and leads EKU with 5.0 kills per game...Lori Duncan is in her seventh year as head coach of the Colonels.
SERIES RECORDS
A&M and Winthrop will be meeting for the first time.
Tennessee owns a 4-2 lead in the all-time series against the Aggies. All of the Lady Vols' victories over A&M occurred in the 1980s...A&M won the most recent meeting, crushing UT, 15-0, 15-4, 15-10, in College Station in 1994.
A&M holds a narrow 3-2 lead in the series against Eastern Kentucky. The teams last met at the 1999 L&L/Michigan State Volleyball Classic in East Lansing, Michigan. A&M defeated the Colonels, 15-6, 15-0, 15-2.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
NCAA REGIONALS
The winner of the second-round match advances to the Minneapolis Regional to be contested Dec. 10-11 at the Sports Pavilion. Semifinals will be at 5 and 7 p.m. (CT) and the finals will be played Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. (CT) The match will be televised live by CSTV, with the winner advancing to the Final Four, Dec. 16 and 18 in Long Beach, Calif.
WINTHROP EAGLES (31-3, 14-0 Big South) vs. No. 18 TEXAS A&M AGGIES (18-8, 14-6 Big 12) Friday, Dec. 3, 2004, 7:30 p.m. (EST) Stokely Athletic Center (5,000 capacity) Knoxville, Tennessee LIVE AUDIO: www.AggieAthletics.com LIVE STATS: www.utladyvols.com SERIES RECORD: First meeting TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3 No. 10 Tennessee (30-2) vs. Eastern Kentucky (27-4), 5:30 p.m. No. 18 Texas A&M (18-8) vs. Winthrop (31-3), 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4 A&M-Winthrop winner vs. UT-EKU winner, 5:30 p.m. *All times are Eastern