August 31, 2006
The Texas A&M volleyball team carries a 3-0 record into the SLU Billiken Invitational beginning Friday in Saint Louis. The Aggies open the tournament against LSU (2-1) Friday at 5 p.m. at the Bauman-Eberhardt Athletic Center on the Saint Louis University campus. A&M faces the host Billikens (3-0) Saturday at 10 a.m. and concludes the tournament against No. 22 Minnesota (0-0) Saturday at 7 p.m. (A complete release in pdf format is available at AggieAthletics.com).
| MATCH INFO |
| Billiken Invitational vs. LSU Friday, Sept. 1, 5 p.m. (CDT) at Saint Louis/vs. (#22) Minnesota Saturday, Sept. 2, 10 a.m./7:30 p.m. (CDT) Bauman-Eberhardt Athletic Center (2,200), St. Louis, Mo. |
| RECORDS |
| Texas A&M: 3-0 LSU: 2-1 Saint Louis: 3-0 Minnesota: 0-0 |
| RANKINGS |
| Minnesota is ranked 22nd in the CSTV/AVCA Preseason Top 25 Poll, while both A&M and LSU are receiving votes. |
| RADIO |
| None |
| INTERNET |
| Live Stats (LSU): (slubillikens.com) Live Stats (SLU): (slubillikens.com) Live Stats (MINN): (slubillikens.com) |
| SERIES |
| A&M leads LSU, 21-10 Last Meeting: (9/10/05) A&M leads Minnesota, 4-0 Last Meeting: A&M 3, MINN 2 (12/4/92) A&M vs Saint Louis: first meeting |
| UP NEXT |
| A&M hosts Texas A&M Invitational Fri Sep 8 & Sun Sep 10 G. Rollie White Coliseum, College Station |
Live scoring of the matches will be available at slubillikens.com and aggieathletics.com.
The Aggies are undefeated after going 3-0 and capturing the championship title at the CSU Hilton Classic last weekend in Fort Collins, Colo. SLU also owns a tournament title after going 3-0 to win the Northern Illinois Comfort Inn and Suites Invitational. LSU enters with a 2-1 record, with its only loss being a five-game thriller against No. 2 Penn State. The Gophers, who went 25-8 last year, will be opening their season.
A&M, LSU and Minnesota competed in the 2005 NCAA tournament. Minnesota advanced to the second round, while A&M and LSU were both eliminated in the opening round.
A&M QUICK HITS
* Corbelli closing in: Aggie coach Laurie Corbelli needs three victories to reach her 400th career victory and her 300th win at Texas A&M. Corbelli is 397-224 in her 21st season as a head coach and 297-118 in her 14th season at A&M.
* Hahn has MVP weekend: Christi Hahn, the lone senior on A&M's 15-member roster, earned Most Valuable Player honors in the season-opening CSU Hilton Classic last weekend in Fort Collins, Colo. The 6-1 middle blocker and preseason All-Big 12 selection posted double figures in kills and hit above .460 in every match, including a career-high .565 hitting percentage (15 kills, 2 errors, 23 attempts) in the four-game victory against Morgan State. Overall, Hahn hit .522 and averaged 3.73 kills and 1.09 blocks while leading A&M to a 3-0 record and the tournament title.
* Fab freshmen: Freshmen Mary Batis and Sarah Ammerman each aced the first serve of their collegiate careers, and it was a sign of things to come. Both outside hitters started every match and picked up all-tournament honors at the CSU Hilton Classic after leading A&M to the championship title.
In the opening match against host Colorado State, Ammerman pounded a team-leading 18 kills and took match-high honors in digs with 17, while Batis added 15 kills, 13 digs and four blocks. Ammerman, playing in her home state, tallied a match-high 13 kills in the sweep against Missouri State, and Batis had a match-high 13 digs. Batis then took team-high honors in both kills and digs in the tournament finale with 18 and 14, respectively, against Morgan State. Ammerman reached double figures in kills for the third consecutive match with 12.
Ammerman enters the SLU tournament averaging a team-high 3.91 kills per game and is second among the starters with 3.09 digs per game. Batis averages 3.64 kills per game and leads the starters with 3.64 digs and 0.36 aces per game.
OPPONENT NOTES
LSU, which made the NCAAs last season, is off to a 2-1 start, defeating Rice and Nicholls State and falling to No. 2 Penn State in five games at the Tiger Invitational last weekend in Baton Rouge, La. Libero Kassi Mikulik, middle blocker Melody Clark and setter Daniela Romero -- all seniors -- were named to the all-tournament team, while freshman middle blocker Lauren DeGirolamo was named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week.
DeGirolamo posted 20 blocks in the three matches for a team-best 1.67 average. She also leads the team with a .382 hitting percentage. Sophomore outside hitter Kyna Washington leads the Tigers with 3.83 kills per game, and Mikulik averages 4.58 digs per game.
Coach Fran Flory, who is in her ninth season at the helm of the Tigers, was a standout player at the University of Texas in the early 1980s and served as an assistant coach at Texas A&M in 1987.
Saint Louis is 3-0 after defeating Western Illinois, Northern Illinois and Eastern Kentucky to win the NIU Comfort Inn and Suites Invitational last weekend. Whitney Behrens (6.1 dpg), Lauren Christman (4.0 kpg) and Sally Warning (3.86 kpg, .353) were named to the all-tournament team.
Coach Anne Kordes returns five starters from last year's team that went 14-16.
Minnesota opens its season against SLU in the second match of the tournament. The Gophers are ranked No. 22 in the nation and are picked to place third in the Big Ten after going 25-8 last year and advancing to the second round of the NCAAs. Seniors Kelly Bowman, an AVCA first-team All-American setter in 2004, and Meredith Nelson were members of the 2003 team that advanced to the Final Four. Both were named to the 2006 Big Ten preseason team, along with junior middle blocker Jessy Jones.
Coach Mike Hebert enters the 2006 season ranked fourth in the NCAA Division I career victories with 829 in 30 years.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
A&M owns a 21-10 lead in the all-time series against LSU. The Aggies won their fourth consecutive match against the Tigers with a dramatic come-from-behind 28-30, 30-17, 30-28, 29-31, 15-13 win at the UTSA Dome Rally last year in San Antonio. All-American Laura Jones posted 35 kills and brought the Aggies back from a 9-3 deficit in the final game to snap LSU's seven match-winning streak and hand the Tigers their first loss of the season. It was the second consecutive five-game match between the two teams.
LSU's most recent victory against A&M was a 15-11, 15-4, 15-11 sweep in 1992 in Baton Rouge.
A&M is 4-0 all-time against Minnesota. All four matches have been at a neutral site. The teams last met Dec. 4, 1992, at the NIVC in Kansas City, Mo. A&M defeated the Gophers, 15-6, 10-15, 15-6, 14-16, 15-11, in pool play. The two teams met in a single-game playoff to advance to bracket play, and the Gophers came from behind to win, 15-13.
A&M and SLU will be meeting for the first time.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The Aggies make their home debut Sept. 8 at the Texas A&M Invitational. The Aggies open against Loyola at 2 p.m. and face McNeese State at 6:30 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum. The tournament marks the Aggies' final tune-up for Big 12 play, which A&M begins Sept. 13 against Oklahoma in College Station.
A&M has won its home season opener in 16 consecutive seasons, including the last 13 under coach Laurie Corbelli.