November 20, 2005
The Texas A&M volleyball team, winner of five of its last six matches, takes the court Monday as the Aggies play host to Texas Tech. The match, originally scheduled to be played in September but postponed because of the threat of Hurricane Rita, will begin at 6 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Live scoring, audio and video streaming of the match will be available at AggieAthletics.com.
The Aggies are 14-12 overall and have climbed to seventh place in the Big 12 with a 7-10 mark in conference play after defeating No. 24 Colorado, 3-2, in Boulder on Saturday. It was A&M?â„¢s third consecutive match to be decided in five games, as well as the Aggies?â„¢ third straight victory.
While the Aggies have been on a winning streak of late, Texas Tech is mired in an eight-match losing skid after being swept by Iowa State Saturday in Lubbock. The Red Raiders, who defeated A&M in five games in Lubbock on Oct. 22, are 11-18 overall and 10th in the league standings with a 4-14 Big 12 record.
Tech?â„¢s 30-28, 30-25, 28-30, 27-30, 17-15 victory against A&M earlier in the season snapped the Red Raiders?â„¢ four match losing streak to the Aggies. A&M, which led the Red Raiders in hitting percentage (.256 to .230), digs (70 to 55) and blocks (14.5 to 11.0) in the match, had made a remarkable turnaround after dropping the first two games and was serving for the match in the fifth game before a service error and a kill error followed by a kill by Tech?â„¢s Amy Charlebois, gave the Red Raiders the win. It was the fourth consecutive match between the two teams to be decided in the maximum five games.
Laura Jones led the Aggies with 26 kills in the match. Christi Hahn also reached double figures in kills for A&M with 17. Defensively, A&M?â„¢s Holly Clay tied her career-high in digs with a match-high 28, and Kelly Stanton led the Aggies in blocks with seven.
Philister Sang led Tech with 29 kills, and Kiley Lyons and Brianna Florus added 11 and 10, respectively. Desiree Batista led the Red Raiders in digs with 16, and Florus led in blocks with seven.
The Tech match is the first of three this week for the Aggies. A&M concludes its home schedule Wednesday against Iowa State at 6:30 p.m. A&M?â„¢s five seniors ?- Cristin Burton, Holly Clay, Kendra Felder, Laura Jones and Kari Kelley ?- will be honored following the match.
A&M could greatly improve its chances of receiving its 13th at-large invitation to the NCAA tournament when the Aggies wrap up the regular season Saturday at No. 11 Missouri. First serve is at 6:30 p.m. at Hearnes Center in Columbia.
A&M must win at least one match in its final three to finish above .500 and be eligible to receive a berth to the postseason tournament. The 64-team tournament field will be announced Sunday, Nov. 27 at 1:30-2 p.m. on ESPNews
A&M will serve as host an NCAA Regional, Dec. 9-10 at G. Rollie White Coliseum. Tickets are available by calling the Athletic Ticket Office at 979-845-2311 or 1-888-99-Aggie.