September 26, 2006
Texas A&M plays its third road match in its last four outings when the Aggies take on Colorado Wednesday in Boulder. First serve is 7 p.m. (8 p.m. CDT) at the Coors Events Center, and live stats will be available at AggieAthletics.com. (A complete release in pdf format is available at AggieAthletics.com.)
| MATCH INFO |
| Wednesday, Sept. 27, 8 p.m. (CDT) Coors Events Center (11,064), Boulder, Colo. |
| RECORDS |
| Texas A&M: 8-4, 1-3 Big 12 Colorado: 7-4, 3-1 Big 12 |
| RANKINGS |
| Colorado is receiving votes in the latest CSTV/AVCA poll. |
| INTERNET |
| Live Stats: (cubuffs.com) |
| SERIES |
| A&M leads, 15-6 Last Meeting: (11/19/05) |
| UP NEXT |
| A&M hosts Texas Tech Wednesday, Oct. 4, 6:30 p.m. (CDT) G. Rollie White Coliseum, College Station Tickets: |
A&M improved to 8-4 overall and earned its first Big 12 victory to move to 1-3 in league play after defeating Kansas State in five games Friday in College Station. The Aggies, who were playing in their third consecutive five-game match, snapped a three-match losing skid with the victory against the Wildcats, who fell to 0-3 in the Big 12.
Colorado, 7-4 overall, has won six of its last seven matches and is in a three-way tie for second place in the Big 12 with a 3-1 mark. The Buffaloes improved to 6-0 in home matches after a five-game victory against Kansas Saturday in Boulder.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
A&M leads the all-time series against Colorado, 15-6, including a 7-4 record in matches played in Boulder. Although the Aggies have won three of the last four meetings, A&M is 6-5 against the Buffs in the last 11 meetings. Another sign of just how even the recent match-ups have been, seven of the last 10 meetings have been decided in five games with Colorado holding a 4-3 edge in those matches.
The teams split the season series last year with each team winning on the road in five games. A&M's Laura Jones tallied 30 kills and Christi Hahn and Kelly Stanton each posted career highs in blocks with 11 apiece, but it wasn't enough as the Buffs overcame a two-game deficit and earned only their second ever victory in College Station with a 20-30, 25-30, 30-26, 30-28, 15-10 victory against the 24th-ranked Aggies on Oct. 16.
The Aggies avenged the loss by defeating No. 24 Colorado, 30-22, 28-30, 28-30, 30-23, 15-7, on Nov. 19 at the Coors Events Center.
OPPONENT NOTES
Colorado, 7-4 overall, has won six of its last seven matches and is in a three-way tie for second place in the Big 12 with a 3-1 mark. The Buffaloes improved to 6-0 in home matches, including 2-0 in home Big 12 matches, after a five-game victory against Kansas Saturday in Boulder.
All four of Colorado's losses this season have been against teams ranked in the top 10, including its one conference loss, a 3-0 setback at No. 5 Texas on Sept. 20.
Amber Sutherland leads the Buffaloes and ranks fourth in the Big 12 with 4.5 kills per game in league matches only. The junior outside hitter had 35 kills, the most in the Big 12 this year, in the Buffaloes' 5-game conference-opening win against No. 17 Missouri on Sept. 13.
Senior setter Ashley Nu'u is averaging 11.88 assists and also leads the Buffs with 0.94 blocks per game in conference matches only.
Colorado placed fifth in the Big 12 last year with a 10-10 record. The Buffaloes went 15-13 overall and made their third consecutive and 15th overall appearance in the NCAA Championships. The Buffaloes fell to rival Colorado State in the first round.
Pi'i Aiu (Colorado '89) is 170-108 in his 10th year as head coach at Colorado.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
A&M has a bye this weekend and then opens a two-match home stand Wednesday, Oct. 4 against Texas Tech. The Aggies also play host to No. 1 Nebraska Saturday, Oct. 7. Both matches begin at 6:30 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.