June 16, 2005
A challenging pre-conference schedule, including matches against perennial powers Southern California, Florida and Saint Mary's, as well as the constantly competitive Big 12 Conference slate highlight the 2005 Texas A&M volleyball schedule, announced by Aggie coach Laurie Corbelli.
A&M is scheduled to play a total of 29 matches -- 15 matches at home and 14 matches on the road -- during the regular season. Fifteen of the matches will be against teams that advanced to the 2004 NCAA tournament, and seven contests will be against teams that ranked in the final top 15.
A&M is scheduled to play 15 matches at G. Rollie White Coliseum. The Aggies ranked 11th in the nation for home attendance last season but hope to improve on that by starting most of their non-tournament home matches at 6:30 p.m., a half hour earlier than past seasons.
"Volleyball is a great family sport, so we decided to move up the start time to help boost family attendance," Corbelli said. "The 6:30 start time will allow the families to get home at a reasonable hour, and it also leaves the students more time to study later in the evening."
The season gets underway Aug. 26-27 with a three-team home tournament against Prairie View A&M and Texas-Arlington.
"This tournament will provide great opportunities, especially for our young players, to get on the court and get over the jitters," Corbelli said. "An NCAA regulation passed in late April allows all teams to begin play on the last weekend of August, so we are grateful that we were able to get UTA and Prairie View to play here with such late notice. We wanted to find good, competitive Texas teams and play at home, and we did just that."
A&M remains home to host the McDonald's/Texas A&M Invitational Sept. 2-3. Headlining the list of participants is Saint Mary's College, which advanced to the NCAA regionals and ranked 13th in last year's final poll. A&M also will face Lehigh and Virginia.
"It's a tougher challenge, and the teams bring different styles of play," Corbelli said. "We will be challenged quite a bit by Virginia, which brings in several players from Texas, as well as Saint Mary's, which returns quite a few of its playmakers from last year's top-15 team. The matches will give a good chance to assess where we are."
Following a midweek road trip to Sam Houston State, the Aggies participate in the UTSA Dome Rally at the San Antonio Alamodome, site of the 2005 NCAA Final Four. A&M takes on Florida, which has captured or shared the Southeastern Conference regular-season title in each of the last 14 years and ranked No. 15 in the 2004 final poll. The Aggies also face a much-improved LSU squad followed by Southern California, which has advanced to the NCAA semifinals four of the last five years and won the national title in 2002 and 2003.
The three-day tournament marks the Aggies' final tune-up before beginning Big 12 play.
"The competition at that tournament is the best we could ask for to get us ready for the Big 12 season," Corbelli said. "As coaches, we are constantly studying which lineups, which athletes and which rotations need to be polished, and that is where this preseason tournament will be incredibly helpful in preparing us for the Big 12. We are going to have many options, and finding the best options early in the season against great competition is only going to help us.
"And hopefully playing those high-caliber teams at the site of the Final Four will inspire the team to return to that facility at the end of the year."
The Aggies begin their quest for their first Big 12 Conference title when they take on Kansas in Lawrence on Sept. 14. A&M opens the home portion of its conference slate Sept. 16 against the Missouri Tigers, who tied the Aggies for third place in the 2004 league standings with a 14-6 mark.
A&M culminates the regular season at Missouri on Nov. 26.
"It will be another incredibly challenging year in the Big 12, especially with so many of the top athletes from last season returning," Corbelli said. "Every year this league is getting stronger across the board, and I believe there is the potential to have six teams, possibly more, finish in the Top 25."
NCAA first- and second-round matches will be played Dec. 1-4 at campus sites. A&M, which is 14-0 in home NCAA matches, was selected as one of the four predetermined regional hosts Dec. 8-11.
"We are really fortunate to be awarded the regional," Corbelli said, "and one of the greatest inspirations for this team will be working hard to be able to be playing in those third and fourth rounds of the NCAA tournament. Getting there will be one of the greatest challenges this program has taken on, but we have the opportunity to have a breakout year."
The winner of the four regionals - the University of Nebraska, Penn State and Stanford are the other regional hosts - advance to San Antonio. Semifinal matches are slated for Dec. 15, and the national championship match will be played Dec. 17.
Corbelli returns five starters, including second-team All-American Laura Jones, from last year's team that advanced to the NCAA second round. A&M finished the season 19-9 and ranked 20th in the final coaches poll.
Season and individual tickets to A&M home matches can be purchased at www.12thmanfoundation.com or by calling 979-845-2311.