August 25, 2005
Fazoli's FunFest Schedule:
Friday, August 26
6:30 p.m. Texas A&M vs. Prairie View A&M
Saturday, August 27
12 p.m. Prairie View A&M vs. Texas-Arlington
6:30 p.m. Texas A&M vs. Texas-Arlington
The Texas A&M volleyball team opens its season this weekend as the Aggies serve it up at the Fazoli's FunFest beginning Friday at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
The Aggies, ranked 16th in the preseason CSTV/AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll, begin the two-day, three-team tournament against Prairie View A&M Friday at 6:30 p.m. On Saturday, Prairie View meets Texas-Arlington at noon, and A&M concludes the round-robin tournament against the Mavericks Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
"The team is ready to play and is wanting to get the whistle blowing," said A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli, who is entering her 13th season at the helm of the Aggies. "A lot of the new things we have installed and the new things that we have been working on are starting to show. The team has been really successful in the drills and the things that we have been really focused on, which have been blocking and defense."
Corbelli welcomes back five starters plus a libero, as well as and four others from last year's team that advanced to the NCAA second round and ranked No. 20 in the final poll with a 19-9 mark. She also brings in four talented newcomers.
"It's a really special group with great leadership," Corbelli said, "and the seniors have welcomed the new players who are brand new to Division I. I have a feeling this is a pretty special group of freshmen, too, and it is not really going to faze them to get started in Division I. Things are really clicking very nicely for the Aggies, and they are ready to get on the court and show their stuff. I really believe this team is going to be capable of playing great volleyball and having some awesome wins this year."
A&M and Prairie View will be meeting for the first time. The Aggies' series against UTA is knotted at 25-25, although A&M has won the last eight meetings. The teams last met, Nov. 30, 2001, in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The host Aggies defeated UTA, 30-16, 30-17, 30-17.
"We will have our hands full on taking care of our side of the court," Corbelli said. "That will be our big focus and hoping that we can make the adjustments. Hopefully we will get to see a lot of players on the court and try some different combinations of players and get a good start to the season on what everybody can do in competition."
Schedule posters will be handed out and an autograph session with the A&M players will be held at the conclusion of the tournament. In addition, fans who attend both the volleyball and the A&M soccer match at 8 p.m. against Stephen F. Austin on Friday will be entered into a drawing for various prizes from the 12th Man Rewards Program.
"The Hullabaloo Band and the fans make a huge difference, and I anticipate another exciting season ahead at G. Rollie," Corbelli said. "It is a great opportunity for fans to be part of the 12th Man and to see a team do some great things. We have a whole new freshman class to introduce ourselves to and let them see what they can enjoy for their next four years in supporting the volleyball team. Creating that atmosphere at volleyball as well as soccer is going to be really exciting."
Tickets are $9 for a reserve seat, $7 for adult general admission and $3 for high school age and under. A ticket is valid for all matches played on the day in which it is purchased. A&M students with all-sports passes are admitted free.
Live scoring of all matches will be available at www.AggieAthletics.com.
Live video streaming of all A&M home matches also will be available to Aggie Ultimate Access subscribers. For membership information, go to www.AggieAthletics.com and click on "Sign Up Now" under the AUA header on the upper right-hand side of the page.