November 20, 2007
The Texas A&M volleyball team (19-10, 8-10 Big 12) concludes the road portion of its regular season schedule Wednesday as the Aggies take on the Colorado Buffaloes (6-20, 1-17 Big 12) in Boulder. First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m. (MST) at the Coors Events Center. (A complete release in pdf format is available at AggieAthletics.com.)
The trip will be a homecoming of sorts for three Aggies who hail from Colorful Colorado: Sarah Ammerman, Parker; Cara Quayle, Greenwood Village; and Kristen Schevikhoven, Centennial.
A&M is in contention for an at-large berth into the NCAA tournament after missing the NCAAs for the first time in 14 years in 2006. The Aggies, who are considered a bubble team, greatly enhanced their cause with a crucial 3-1 victory against Missouri on Saturday in College Station. Ammerman led the Aggies with a match-high 24 kills along with a team-leading 16 digs and four aces as A&M tallied a season-high 11 aces. Mary Batis tied her career high with 21 kills, and Kelly Stanton pitched in 10 kills and posted seven blocks, including a career-high three solo blocks. Schevikhoven dished out a career-high 66 assists as A&M recorded 78 kills and a .277 hitting percentage while holding the Tigers to 62 kills and a .255 hitting efficiency.
A&M is now in seventh place in the Big 12 standings, but only two games separate A&M and fifth-place Iowa State (16-12, 10-8 Big 12), which hosts No. 3 Texas and No. 21 Oklahoma to close out the regular season. Missouri is in sixth place and closes out the season at No. 21 Oklahoma and at home against Colorado.
Colorado is riding a three-match losing streak after falling at No. 12 Kansas State, 3-0, on Saturday. Although the Buffaloes are suffering their worst season in school history and are tied with Texas Tech for last place in the conference, their 6-20 record is deceiving, as 10 of their losses have been decided in five games. Eight of those losses were in Big 12 matches.
LOOKING AT THE AGGIES
?* A&M needs one win to reach the 20-win milestone for the first time since 2003, when the Aggies went 23-10 and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.
?* Nine of A&M?â„¢s 10 losses are to teams that have been ranked in the Top 25 at some point in the season ?- No. 2 Nebraska (twice), No. 3 Texas (twice), No. 12 Kansas State (twice), No. 21 Oklahoma (twice) and Missouri -- and the only other loss was early in the season at Iowa State, which received votes. A&M split the season series with both Missouri and Iowa State, defeating each of them in the second half of the season.
?* As a team, A&M is listed fourth in the Big 12 in hitting percentage (.234), aces (1.35) and digs (15.85) per game in conference matches only. In addition, the Aggies are listed fifth in kills (15.85) and assists (14.52) per game and are seventh in blocks (2.77) per game in Big 12 matches only.
?* Setter Kristen Schevikhoven, who transferred after one year at the University of Northern Colorado, has made a huge impact on the Aggies?â„¢ success this season. She is averaging 11.81 assists per game while directing an A&M offense, which last week ranked 17th in the nation for hitting percentage and third in the Big 12 with a .274 hitting efficiency for the full season. ?Schevi? is coming off an A&M career-high 66-assist performance in the 3-1 victory against Missouri.
?* Outside hitter Sarah Ammerman has posted 20-plus kills in four of the last six matches and is averaging 5.04 kills and 5.88 points per game during the stretch. She leads A&M and ranks fifth in the Big 12 with 4.45 kills and 5.17 points per game in conference matches.
?* Ammerman also is a threat from the service line, where she averages 0.44 aces per league game, ranking third in the conference. She posted five aces against Colorado on Oct. 13, breaking the A&M record for aces in a four-game, Big 12 match.
?* Outside hitter Mary Batis is the A&M leader in digs with 3.47 per conference game and ranks second on the team with 3.47 kills and 4.02 points per game in league play. Batis, who tied her career high with 21 kills in the win against Missouri, has reached double figures in kills in the last seven matches and 20 overall. She has posted double figures in digs in 10 of the last 12 matches and 20 matches overall.
?* Middle blocker Kelly Stanton leads the team and ranks seventh in the Big 12 with a .357 hitting percentage for the full season. She needs to finish the season above .338 to rank in A&M?â„¢s all-time top 10 for season hitting percentage.
LOOKING AT THE BUFFALOES
Colorado will be celebrating ?Senior Night? Wednesday, as the Buffs conclude their home schedule. Defensive specialists Therese Vi?±al and Kristen Karlik will be honored.
The Buffs have lost their last three matches, including a 30-27, 30-26, 30-16 loss at No. 12 Kansas State on Saturday. Their only Big 12 victory was against Texas Tech, 3-1, on Nov. 3 in Boulder. The victory snapped a school-record 14-match losing skid.
CU has been without the services of senior outside hitter Amber Sutherland, who is redshirting this season. A preseason All-Big 12 selection, Sutherland led Colorado with 4.18 kills per game in 2006. Sophomore Mallori Gibson is the team?â„¢s kill leader this season with a 3.12 average. Junior middle blocker Lauren Schaefer is averaging 3.11 kills and is hitting a team-best .360, but she has not played in the last two matches.
Sophomore setter Kaitlyn Burkett is averaging 11.94 assists per game, and freshman middle blocker Schylur Edelman leads the Buffaloes with 1.01 blocks per game. Junior libero Callie Webster is the team?â„¢s dig leader with 4.26 per game.
Edelman led the Buffs with 12 kills while hitting .524 in the loss at K-State. CU, however, was out-hit, .393 to .168 and out-blocked, 12-2, by the Wildcats.
Pi?â„¢i Aiu (Colorado ?'89) is 186-136 in his 11th season as head coach of the Buffaloes.
THE A&M-CU ALL-TIME SERIES
A&M leads the all-time series against Colorado, 16-8, including a 3-1 victory against the Buffs on Oct. 13 in College Station. Colorado, however, is 3-2 in the last five meetings with the Aggies and last year posted its first-ever season series sweep against A&M.
A&M holds a 7-5 lead in matches played in Boulder. The Aggies last won in Boulder on Nov. 19, 2006, defeating the Buffaloes, 3-2. Five-game matches between two teams are common. Since the 2001 season, eight of their 13 meetings have been decided in five games.
In the most recent meeting, Texas A&M used a balanced attack to defeat Colorado, 26-30, 30-22, 30-25, 30-17 on Oct. 13 at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Four Aggies posted double figures in kills with Mary Batis leading the way with 16. Middle blocker Jillian Phillips tied her career high with 14 kills, and Sarah Ammerman also pitched in 14 kills. Kelsey Bryant had 13 kills and no errors en route to a career-high and A&M Big 12-record .812 hitting percentage.
Schylur Edelman led the Buffs with 12 kills, and Mallori Gibson and Lauren Schaefer added 11 apiece. Alex Buth added 10 kills and also posted a match-high 15 digs.
Phillips led all players with five blocks as A&M outblocked Colorado, 8-6, and held the Buffs to a .253 hitting percentage. A&M hit .314 for the match, its third highest hitting percentage in a Big 12 match this season. Libero Jen Moore led A&M in digs with 13, and setter Kristen Schevikhoven finished with 51 assists for A&M.
A&M QUICK HITS
?* Junior Kelsey Bryant?â„¢s career-high .812 hitting efficiency (13 kills, 0 errors, 16 attempts) against Colorado on Oct. 13 remains the highest hitting percentage by a Big 12 player this season. It also is an A&M record in Big 12 matches only and ranks second in the A&M all-time records for 15-19 attempts, just short of the all-time record of .824 (14k-0e-17ta) set by All-American Sherri Brinkman in 1983. Bryant is hitting .310 for the full season with 2.16 kills per game.
?* Sophomore Sarah Ammerman has reached double figures in kills in a team-leading 23 matches, including 13 of the last 14 Big 12 matches. In addition, she has posted 20 or more kills six times, including in four of the last six matches. Ammerman has recorded a double-double 10 times, including 22 kills and a career-high 21 digs against Oklahoma on Sept. 12, marking the first 20-20 performance of her career. Last year, Ammerman had two 20-plus kill performances in the entire season.
?* Sophomore Mary Batis has earned team-high honors in digs in a team-leading 16 matches. In addition, she has reached double figures in digs in a team-leading 20 matches -- including 10 of the last 12 matches -- and also leads the Aggies with 15 double-doubles.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
A&M closes out the regular season Saturday with a home match against the Baylor Bears. It will be ?Senior Night? at G. Rollie White Coliseum, and A&M?â„¢s two seniors, Jen Moore and Kelly Stanton, will be honored prior to the match, which begins at 6:30 p.m. Anyone who brings a ticket from Friday?â„¢s A&M-Texas football game will be admitted to the volleyball match for $2.
NCAA SELECTION SHOW
The Aggies, who are in contention for a return to the NCAA Championships after their streak of 13 consecutive appearances ended last year, will find out their fate when the 64-team NCAA tournament field is announced Sunday, November 25 at 7 p.m. (CST) on ESPNU.