August 23, 2007
The Texas A&M volleyball team opens its 2007 season Friday, hosting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7 p.m. on the first day of the Texas A&M Invitational at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Prairie View A&M and Centenary also are participating and meet in the tournament opener at 4 p.m. Friday. A&M concludes the two-day tournament Saturday, facing Centenary at 12:30 p.m. and Prairie View at 6:30 p.m.
Texas A&M Invitational complete schedule:
Friday
4 p.m. Prairie View A&M vs. Centenary
7 p.m. Texas A&M vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC)
Saturday
10 a.m. Prairie View A&M vs. TAMU-CC
12:30 p.m. Texas A&M vs. Centenary
4 p.m. TAMU-CC vs. Centenary
6:30 p.m. Texas A&M vs. Prairie View A&M
Aggie coach Laurie Corbelli has been impressed with the team?â„¢s progress during the last two weeks of workouts and is eager to begin the season.
?We had very successful two-a-days in terms of improvement, execution, consistency and effort, and I definitely sense the adrenaline as we close out preseason practices,? said Corbelli, who is beginning her 15th season at the helm of the Aggies. ?We are feeling really good about where we are entering the season. We still have a lot of work to do, but this team believes and is so capable.?
Corbelli returns 10 letterwinners -- including four starters -- who are determined to return to the NCAA tournament after breaking a streak of 13 consecutive appearances following last year?â„¢s 12-16 season. She also welcomes two experienced transfers and a 6-5 freshman, who are expected to play a prominent roll in the Aggies?â„¢ success this year.
?This team will find a way to get to the NCAAs,? Corbelli said. ?That is our No. 1 focus, and this team merits an NCAA trip. We definitely have that as a goal, and not to just get in but to go deep into the tournament.
?What has been so exciting about coaching this group is that they so badly want this to be an awesome season, and I can see it daily in their practices. Across the board, they have great attitudes and are team oriented, and that makes our outlook so positive.?
TAMU-CC returns seven letterwinners, including four starters, from last year?â„¢s team that went 7-21 overall and placed sixth in the Southland Conference with a 6-10 record under first-year head coach Kimberly Martinez.
Patrick Maiden will be making his Centenary head coaching debut when the Ladies take on Prairie View on Friday. He inherits a team that returns five letterwinners ?- three starters ?- from last year?â„¢s team that went 12-24.
Prairie View A&M, the defending Southwestern Athletic Conference champion and an NCAA tournament participant in 2006, returns seven letterwinners, including four starters from last year?â„¢s squad that went 23-11 overall and 6-2 in league play.
The Aggies are 1-0 all-time against both Centenary and Prairie View. A&M will be meeting the Islanders for the first time.
?We will focus on our team rhythm and concentrate on Aggie volleyball during these matches,? Corbelli said. ?We will see a variety of styles during this tournament, and we will work on making the appropriate adjustments and get rid of any season-opening jitters. It is time to compete.?
Free live scoring of all matches will be available at AggieAthletics.com. In addition, free live video streaming of all Aggie home matches also will be available on the A&M Website.
Quick Hits:
?* The Aggies are 10-4 in season openers since Corbelli was hired in 1993. A&M extended its season-opening winning streak to six last season after defeating NCAA tournament-bound Colorado State, 3-1, in Fort Collins, Colo.
?* A&M is 22-9 in season openers since 1976. (Opening-day results are not available for the 1975 season.)
?* A&M coach Laurie Corbelli is 306-134 in her A&M coaching career and 406-240 entering the 22nd season of her head coaching career.
?* The four Aggie returning starters are senior middle blocker Kelly Stanton, junior right side Kelsey Bryant and sophomore outside hitters Sarah Ammerman and Mary Batis. In addition, senior libero Jen Moore also returns.
?* Newcomers are Darla Donaldson a 6-2 junior middle blocker transfer from Cal State Northridge, 5-10 sophomore setter Kristen Schevikhoven, who transferred from Northern Colorado, and 6-5 freshman middle blocker/right side hitter Breanna Lewis from Topeka, Kan. (Seaman High School). Both Donaldson and Schevikhoven were full-time starters at their respective schools last year.
?* Schevikhoven, Ammerman and A&M sophomore middle blocker Cara Quayle were former teammates at Front Range Volleyball Club in Colorado. The trio led FRVC to the national title at the 2006 AAU Junior National Volleyball Championship, with Schevikhoven earning tournament MVP honors.
?* A&M received votes in the CSTV/AVCA preseason coaches poll and is listed 35th, tied with Northern Iowa.
?* The Aggies, who tied Texas Tech for eighth place in the Big 12 last year, have been picked to finish fourth in the league this season, according to a preseason poll of the conference coaches.
?* Following the season-opening tournament, A&M will play seven consecutive matches on the road before returning home Sept. 12 for a Big 12 Conference season opener against No. 22 Oklahoma.
?* Fans are encouraged to arrive early for the Aggies?â„¢ season opener and the enjoy games and activities that will be going on at the Zone Plaza at Kyle Field from 4-6:30 p.m. It is the athletic department?â„¢s ?Warm-Up to Kick-Off?, an event to be held in conjunction with Gig ?'Em Week, a weeklong set of activities designed to welcome and educate the incoming class of Aggie students.
?* Tickets to all A&M home matches can be purchased online at 12thmanfoundation.com or by calling the Athletic Ticket Office at 1-888-99-AGGIE.