October 31, 2006
Texas A&M celebrates ?Senior Night? when the Aggies play host to the Baylor Bears Wednesday at G. Rollie White Coliseum. Christi Hahn, A&M?™s lone senior, will be honored prior to the match, which begins at 6:30 p.m. (A complete release in pdf format is available at AggieAthletics.com).
In celebration of ?Senior Night?, Aggie Class of ?™07 students will be admitted free and will have a chance to win an autographed volleyball jersey.
Free live video streaming and statistics of the match will be available at AggieAthletics.com.
A&M is coming off a 3-0 (30-27, 30-15, 30-19) loss at No. 20 Oklahoma on Saturday. With the loss, the Aggies drop to 10-11 overall and tied with Kansas for ninth place in the Big 12 standings with a 3-10 conference record.
Baylor came through with its biggest victory of the season Saturday, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to knock off No. 16 Missouri, 3-2 (26-30, 31-33, 30-22, 30-23, 15-10) to end an eight-match losing skid. With the win, the Bears improved to 14-10 overall and 3-9 in the Big 12. They also climbed to eighth place in the conference standings, a half game ahead of A&M.
In addition, Baylor received points in this week?™s CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Poll and is listed No. 30.
Senior middle blocker Christi Hahn leads the Aggies and ranks fourth in the Big 12 with a .370 hitting percentage for the full season. She also leads the team with 0.32 aces per game and is second with 3.26 kills and 4.10 points per game.
Freshman outside hitter Mary Batis leads A&M with 3.72 kills and 3.28 digs per game, and junior middle blocker Kelly Stanton is averaging a team-leading 1.33 blocks per game.
Bears middle blocker Desiree Guilliard-Young ranks second in the Big 12 in blocks per game (1.51) and is fifth in hitting percentage (.349) for the full season. Freshman setter Taylor Barnes is averaging 11.32 assists per games and ranks second in the league with 0.53 aces per game. Senior outside hitter Nicole LeBlanc leads the team in kills (3.59), and junior libero Kristen Schramek leads the Bears and ranks fifth in the conference with 4.17 digs per game.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
A&M holds a commanding 52-8 lead in the all-time series since 1976, including a 17-4 mark in Big 12 matches only. Baylor, however, snapped an 11-match losing streak against the Aggies last year with a 30-27, 30-24, 26-30, 30-26 victory over A&M on Oct. 19 in College Station. It marked the Bears?™ first Big 12 victory at G. Rollie White, as well as Baylor?™s first overall victory in College Station since Nov. 11, 1992, a span of 12 matches.
A&M has won the last two meetings against Baylor. The Aggies defeated Baylor, 3-1, in Waco last year to earn a split in the season series.
Earlier this year, A&M defeated Baylor, 3-1 (20-30, 30-14, 30-21, 30-26) in Waco to end a three-match losing streak. It was the Aggies?™ first Big 12 road victory of the season, and it marked the Aggies?™ seventh consecutive victory against the Bears in Waco.
Christi Hahn led the Aggies, hitting .452 with 18 kills and eight blocks. Mary Batis added 16 kills and a career-high 21 digs. Lindsey Yon, starting in place of Sarah Ammerman, who was held out of the match with an injury, added 15 kills and 15 digs for the Aggies, and libero Zanny Castillo pitched in 18 digs.
Anna Breyfogle led the Bears with 13 kills, but was held to a .152 hitting percentage. Katie Sanders also reached double-digit kills with 10 but hit .075 for the match. Desiree Guilliard-Young, who came into the match with a team-leading .388 hitting efficiency, was held to .192 with nine kills.
RECENT RESULTS
No. 20 Oklahoma held Texas A&M to a season-low .075 hitting percentage and earned its first-ever home win against the Aggies with a 30-27, 30-15, 30-19 victory Saturday at McCasland Field House.
There were nine ties and four lead changes in the first half of Game 1. A&M took its second lead after an OU service error and an ace by Kelsey Bryant put the Aggies ahead, 10-9. The Sooners responded with back-to-back kills to retake the lead, 11-10. Sarah Ammerman got a kill off the OU block to knot the score for the final time.
Oklahoma then reeled off four unanswered points -- the longest run by either team in the frame -- to build a 15-11 advantage. The Aggies got back within two points at 27-25, but the teams exchanged points for the remainder of the game, with the Sooners taking the 30-27 victory.
The Sooners scored the first three points of the second game and continued to pull away as the Aggies struggled throughout the stanza. The Aggies managed only five kills and committed nine attack errors to finish the game with a -.114 hitting percentage.
Game 3 began much like the previous game as the Sooners scored the first three points before A&M got on the board. Leading 3-1, OU went on a 7-2 run, and A&M was unable to overcome the deficit.
The Sooners out-hit A&M .429 to .056 in the game and finished with a .345 hitting percentage for the match, the highest by an A&M opponent this season.
Sarah Ammerman and Mary Batis led the Aggies with nine kills apiece, but neither hit above .125.
The Sooners had four players reach double figures in kills, including Laura Tomes, who had a match-high 13 kills while hitting at a .706 clip.
UPCOMING
A&M travels to Manhattan, Kan., Saturday to face the Kansas State Wildcats at Ahearn Field House. The start time of the match has been changed to 1 p.m.
The Aggies defeated K-State, 3-2, in College Station on Sept. 22, but are 0-10 all-time in matches played in Manhattan.