November 17, 2006
Texas A&M plays its final road match of the season Saturday as the Aggies take on Texas Tech in Lubbock. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. at United Spirit Arena. (A complete release in pdf format is available at AggieAthletics.com.)
A&M is 11-15 overall and 4-14 in the Big 12 after falling to No. 1 Nebraska, 30-16, 30-28, 30-25, in Lincoln on Wednesday.
The Aggies are in ninth place in the Big 12, only a half game behind Texas Tech, which dropped to 11-15 overall and 4-13 in conference following a 25-30, 30-20, 30-26, 30-25 loss at Iowa State on Wednesday.
Both A&M and Tech will be looking to get back into the win column after suffering consecutive losses. A&M has lost its last three matches, including a sweep at No. 8 Texas and a five-game setback to Iowa State, as well as the loss to the top-ranked Huskers.
Tech?â„¢s skid reached four with the loss to the Cyclones. Other losses were to Nebraska, No. 15 Oklahoma and Baylor.
Senior middle blocker Christi Hahn leads the Aggies and ranks third in the Big 12 with a .373 hitting percentage for the full season. She also leads the team with 4.13 points per game is second on the squad with 3.35 kills and .28 aces per game.
Freshman outside hitter Mary Batis leads A&M with 3.46 kills per game and is second on the team with 3.08 digs and 3.8 points per game. Freshman Sarah Ammerman, who starts opposite of Batis and led the Aggies with 13 kills against Nebraska, is averaging 3.26 kills, 2.26 digs and 3.74 points per game.
Junior middle blocker Kelly Stanton is averaging a team-leading 1.22 blocks per game, and freshman libero Zanny Castillo is the leader in digs with 3.4 per game.
Senior outside hitter Philister Sang leads the Red Raiders and ranks second in the Big 12 with both 4.55 kills and 5.22 points per game in all matches. Junior setter Emily Ziegler is second in the league with .48 aces per game.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
A&M leads the all-time series, 44-25, including 16-11 in matches played in Lubbock and 15-6 in Big 12 matches.
Tech, however, won the most recent outing on Oct. 4 in College Station. Texas A&M?â„¢s Mary Batis and Christi Hahn collected 21 kills apiece, but it wasn?â„¢t enough to fend off Texas Tech, which defeated the Aggies, 27-30, 30-28, 31-33, 30-22, 15-12, at G. Rollie White Coliseum and snapped a seven-match losing skid at A&M. Philister Sang led the Red Raiders with 28 kills, which still ranks as the most by an A&M opponent this season. Sang also pitched in 19 digs. Tech outhit A&M, .204 to .188 for the match, although A&M led in kills (79-69) and digs (92-79). Tech also narrowly led in aces (9-7) and blocks (13-12). It was the fifth five-game match in six matches between the two teams.
A&M and Tech split the season series last year with each team winning on its home court.
A&M QUICK HITS
?* Hitting a high note: A&M hit .307 at Nebraska on Wednesday, the highest hitting percentage by a Husker opponent in Lincoln since at least 1996. In addition, it was the first time a Nebraska opponent hit above .300, home or away, in two years. Until Wednesday, Minnesota?â„¢s .256 hitting percentage on Sept. 10 was the highest Nebraska had allowed this season.
?* Streak comes to an end: Texas A&M will not finish above .500 this season, and thus is eliminated from consideration for the NCAA tournament after making 13 consecutive appearances. The Aggies?â„¢ 13 straight appearances ranked second to Nebraska for consecutive appearances by a Big 12 team. In addition, only 10 teams in the nation -- California-Santa Barbara, Florida, Hawaii, Long Beach State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Penn State, Southern California, Stanford and A&M -- have appeared in each of the last 13 NCAA Championships. Kansas State (10-18 overall, 2-16 Big 12), which was third in the Big 12 with 10 consecutive NCAA appearances, also will see its NCAA streak come to an end.
?* Hahn, Moore garner academic honors: Christi Hahn and Jen Moore both were named to the Academic All-Big 12 Volleyball first team, the conference office announced Tuesday. In addition, both received special recognition for achieving a 4.0 grade point average either cumulative or over the past spring and fall semesters. Hahn, a kinesiology/exercise science major who also was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District first team earlier this month, is making her third consecutive appearance on the conference academic first team. Moore, a junior communication major, is making her second appearance on the team.
?* Hahn Solo: Middle blocker Christi Hahn, the Aggies?â„¢ lone senior, leads the team and ranks third in the Big 12 with a .373 hitting percentage. The .371 hitting percentage ranks third in the A&M all-time season records. Hahn, a preseason All-Big 12 selection and third-year starter, boasts a .333 career hitting percentage, which ranks second in the A&M career records...Hahn has reached double figures in kills in 19 matches this season and has hit .343 or above in 15 of those matches, including 14 .400-plus performances. Hahn, who is hitting .439 with 3.86 kills per game over the last four matches, posted a career-high .667 hitting percentage after posting 16 kills and two errors in 21 attempts in a three-game victory against McNeese State.
UPCOMING
A&M concludes the season at home on Wednesday, Nov. 22 against Missouri. The match begins at 6:30 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
NCAA SELECTION
The announcement of the 64-team NCAA Championship field will be made Sunday, Nov. 26 at 1:30 p.m. (CST) on ESPNews. The Final Four will be held in Omaha, Neb., with the championship match slated for Dec. 16 at the Quest Center.