September 20, 2005
The 20th-ranked Texas A&M volleyball team (7-4, 0-2 Big 12) will be attempting to accomplish something that no other Aggie volleyball team has been able to do when the Aggies face No. 1 Nebraska on Wednesday: defeat the Cornhuskers in Lincoln. (A complete release is available at AggieAthletics.com.)
It is a challenging task for A&M, which is 0-2 in Big 12 Conference play for the first time and has lost four of its last five matches after opening the season 6-0.
Nebraska is ranked No. 1 in the nation and undefeated with a 9-0 record (1-0 Big 12), including victories against the No. 3, 4 and 5 ranked teams in the country.
First serve against the Cornhuskers is 7 p.m. at Nebraska Coliseum. The match will be televised live on CSTV. In addition, live Internet audio will be available at AggieAthletics.com.
The Aggies opened Big 12 play with a 3-0 loss at Kansas on Wednesday and then suffered their first home loss of the season with a 3-1 setback to then-No. 10 Missouri on Friday. It marked the Tigers? first victory in College Station after going home winless in nine previous visits to G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Nebraska, which has won 24 consecutive league matches dating back to 2003 and is 12-0 all-time against the Aggies in Lincoln, opened Big 12 play by thumping Colorado, 3-0, Saturday in Boulder.
All-American Laura Jones leads the Aggies and the Big 12 with 5.78 kills and 6.50 points per game for the full season. The senior needs nine kills to move into second in the A&M records with 1,587 career kills.
Aggie senior libero Holly Clay also enters the week atop the Big 12 rankings with 5.08 digs per game.
The Huskers? Melissa Elmer, who last week ranked No. 1 in the nation in block average, leads Nebraska with a .375 hitting percentage and 2.37 blocks per game. She is one of four Huskers who is averaging more than 2.5 kills per game and hitting above .300.
As a team, A&M leads the league with 18.21 digs per game for the full season, while Nebraska is tops in hitting percentage (.313), opponent hitting percentage (.138) and blocks per game (4.22).