Aug. 28, 2008
A&M Volleyball Opens Season at Bluejay Invitational
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 27, 2008
Texas A&M Volleyball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M volleyball team begins its 2008 campaign at the Bluejay Invitational, Friday-Saturday, Aug. 29-30 at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Neb. It will be a challenging field as the Aggies take on Southeastern Conference-rival and 21st-ranked LSU and Big Ten Conference-foe and 16th-ranked Minnesota, as well as the host Creighton Bluejays, who like A&M enter the season with unmatched determination after surprisingly not receiving an at-large invitation to last year's NCAA Championship.
The complete tournament schedule is as follows:
Friday, August 29
Texas A&M vs. No. 21 LSU 4 p.m.
No. 16 Minnesota vs. Creighton 6 p.m.
Saturday, August 30
No. 21 LSU vs. Creighton 10 a.m.
Texas A&M vs. No. 16 Minnesota 12 p.m.
No. 16 Minnesota vs. No. 21 LSU 5:30 p.m.
Texas A&M vs. Creighton 7:30 p.m.
Live Stats: AggieAthletics.com
TV: none
Radio: Creighton matches only at www.kvss.com or gocreighton.com
Internet Video Streaming: Available for Creighton matches at gocreighton.com for a fee of $4.95 per match.
"We will have our hands full with some really talented teams, some teams that play very similar to us," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "The team is just really looking forward to hearing that first whistle so that they can really get back that competitive part of their game. When you are just training in the gym against each other, it starts to become clear that we are ready for competition, especially this group with the majority being returning starters and a group that has huge determination."
A&M returns five starters from last year's team that went 21-10 overall and tied for sixth in the Big 12 Conference with a 10-10 record. Senior Kelsey Bryant (2.18 kpg, 0.86 bpg) is a three-year starter on the right side. Junior Sarah Ammerman (4.43 kpg, 2.6 dpg, 5.07 ppg) and Mary Batis (3.56 kpg, 3.57 dpg, 4.15 ppg) also have been starters on the left side since their freshman seasons. Senior Jillian Phillips, who led A&M with 1.20 blocks per game while hitting .334 last season, returns in the middle, and junior setter Kristen Schevikhoven (12.09) returns after leading A&M to a .272 hitting percentage last season, the second highest hitting percentage in school history.
A&M returns three other letterwinners, senior middle blocker Darla Donaldson, who is a projected to replace last year's senior starter Kelly Stanton in the lineup, along with junior setter Jola Kelner and junior outside hitter Jennifer Banse, who could easily be considered for the starting lineup.
Volleyball Magazine and PrepVolleyball.com Top-50 high school recruits Dylan Faulkner, enrolled at A&M in January and participated in the Aggies' spring drills and went with the team on a two-week training trip through Europe in June. Freshman Stephanie Wells joined the team in August.
"The team came back in great shape," Corbelli said. "They are very strong. The experience is there, and it is evident in the gym every day that they are really ready to kick this off and ready to have an opponent on the other side of the court. They are very proud of their work and they are really ready to go, so we are looking forward to see where we stand this weekend.
A LOOK AT THE OPPOSITION:
LSU
• The 21st-ranked Tigers return all six starters plus the libero from last year's squad that went 25-8 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship before being eliminated by Texas.
• Top returners include 2007 AVCA honorable mention All-Americans Lauren DeGirolamo (Jr., 6-1, MB), who ranked 19th in the nation with 1.51 blocks per game, and Elena Martinez (Sr., 5-8, L), the 2007 SEC Defensive Player of the Year after leading the league and ranking 35th in the nation with 5.61 digs per game. All-SEC first team selection Kyna Washington (Sr., 5-11, OH), and Angela Bensend (So., 6-1, OH) a member of the SEC-All-Freshman team, also return.
• Fran Flory (Texas, 1984) is 180-122 entering her 11th season as head coach of the Tigers. She is 290-236 entering the 18th year of her head coaching career. The former Fran Teeter-Ralston was a member of the Longhorns' AIAW national championship team in 1981 and served as a part-time assistant volleyball coach at Texas A&M in 1987 under former Aggie head coach Al Givens.
• Junior setter Samantha Dabbs, a transfer from Louisville, was teammates with Texas A&M's Jennifer Banse at Churchill High School in San Antonio. In addition, Dabbs, Banse and Aggie Mary Batis were all members of the Alamo club team that won the 2003 Junior Olympic 15 Open Division.
MINNESOTA
• The Golden Gophers return six starters including the libero from last year's team that went 18-13 and advanced to the NCAA Championship, where they were eliminated in the first round by Sacramento State.
• Top returning players include sophomore 6-1 outside hitter Brook Dieter (3.75 kpg, 2.6 dpg), who was honorable mention all-region and a member of the Big Ten All-Freshman Team last year, as well as senior setter Rachel Hartmann (12.23 apg) and junior libero Christine Tan (4.7 dpg).
• Head coach Mike Hebert (UC Santa Barbara, 1966) boasts an 873-368 record entering the 33rd year of his head coaching career, including a 301-111 record going into his 13th season at Minnesota.
CREIGHTON
• The Bluejays return four starters plus the libero and nine letterwinners total from last year's team that went 21-10 and finished in a three-way tie for second in the Missouri Valley with a 14-4 record. Similar to A&M, which tied Missouri for sixth place in the Big 12 but sat at home as the Tigers went on to compete in the NCAAs, Creighton surprisingly missed out on an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships even though a record four MVC teams were invited to the NCAAs.
• Key returners are senior setter Korie Lebeda (12.5 apg), who holds the CU career record with 4,222 assists, and 6-1 sophomore right side/outside hitter Allie Oelke (3.29 kpg).
• Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997) is 88-63 entering the six season of her head coaching career -- all at Creighton -- and is the Bluejays' all-time wins leader. Angie Oxley Behrens, a former Nebraska Cornhusker standout from 1997-2000, serves as an assistant coach.
A&M SERIES RECORD AGAINST THE FIELD
• A&M is 21-11 all-time against LSU since 1976. The Tigers won the last meeting, 32-30, 30-26, 28-30, 32-30, at the SLU Billiken Invitational in Saint Louis on Sept. 1, 2006. The win snapped LSU's four-match losing skid against the Aggies. Then-freshman outside hitter Kelsey Bryant led A&M with five blocks.
• A&M is 5-0 all-time against Minnesota and also faced the Golden Gophers at the SLU Billiken Invitational in 2006. The Aggies knocked off No. 22 Minnesota, 22-30, 30-24, 31-29, 30-25 on Sept. 2. All-tournament selection Mary Batis tallied 21 kills, which still equals her career high.
• A&M is 1-0 all-time against Creighton. The Aggies won the only meeting, 15-2, 15-8, 15-1, on Sept. 4, 1998, at the season-opening University of Pacific/NIKE Invitational in Stockton, Calif.
AGGIE QUICK HITS:
• A&M is 23-9 in season openers since 1976. (Opening-day results are not available for the 1975 season.)
• The Aggies are 11-4 in season openers since head coach Laurie Corbelli was hired in 1993. A&M extended its season-opening winning streak to seven last season after defeating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 3-0, at the Texas A&M Invitational, Aug. 24, in College Station.
• Corbelli is 327-144 entering her 16th year at the helm of the Aggies and 427-250 entering the 23rd season of her head coaching career.
• A&M received votes in the CSTV/AVCA preseason coaches poll and is listed 34th. The Aggies are slated to play 12 matches against teams ranked in the preseason Top 25: two matches each against No. 3 Texas, No. 7 Nebraska, No. 14 Kansas State and No. 18 Iowa State, as well as single matches against No. 16 Minnesota, No. 20 BYU, No. 21 LSU and No. 22 San Diego. In addition, A&M will play two matches each against Big 12 opponents Missouri and Oklahoma, who received votes and are listed 37th and 42nd, respectively.
• The Aggies, who went 10-10 to tie NCAA-bound Missouri for sixth 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. Defending Big 12 co-champions Texas and Nebraska are picked to finish first and second, respectively, with Kansas State following at third place. A&M is followed by Missouri, Iowa State, Colorado, and Baylor and Oklahoma, who tied for eighth. Kansas and Texas Tech round out the poll.
• A&M makes its home debut against American, Friday, Sept. 5 at 6:30 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum. The match is part of the two-day Texas A&M Invitational. Other participants are No. 20 BYU and Siena. All three opponents were NCAA tournament teams in 2007.
• 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. The official 2008 Texas A&M Volleyball Yearbook also is available for purchase online at AggieLocker.com.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The Aggies welcome three 2007 NCAA Championship participants to the 2008 Texas A&M Invitational, Friday-Saturday, Sept. 5-6 at G. Rollie White Coliseum. A&M makes its season home debut Friday at 6:30 p.m. as the Aggies take on American. The Eagles won the Patriot League to earn an automatic berth into the 2007 NCAA tournament.
BYU, which ranked 12th in the 2007 final poll after advancing to the NCAA second round and is ranked No. 20 in the AVCA preseason Top 25 Poll, and Siena open the tournament Friday at 4:30 p.m. BYU and Siena also were NCAA tournament participants last season.
The complete Texas A&M Invitation schedule is as follows:
Friday, Sept. 5
4:30 p.m. No. 20 BYU vs. Siena
6:30 p.m. Texas A&M vs. American
Saturday, Sept. 6
9:30 a.m. No. 20 BYU vs. American
11:30 a.m. Texas A&M vs. Siena
4:30 p.m. American vs. Siena
6:30 p.m. Texas A&M vs. No. 20 BYU
AGGIES ON THE INTERNET
Free video streaming of all 14 A&M home matches will be available at AggieAthletics.com. In addition, audio broadcasts of 19 matches, both home and away, are slated with Matt Simon providing the play-by-play. The first audio broadcast is scheduled for Sept. 9 against Texas State. Simon also will call the action for all three matches at the San Diego Invitational, as well as all Wednesday and Sunday matches and selected Saturday matches.