Sept. 8, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 8, 2008
Texas A&M Volleyball
Aggies Host Texas State Tuesday at 6:30 pm.
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Texas A&M returns to the court Tuesday as the Aggies play host to Texas State at 6:30 p.m. at G. Rollie While Coliseum. It will be Senior Citizen Night at the Holler House. Anyone 55 and over can purchase a general admission ticket for $2.
Free live stats, audio and video streaming will be available on the Internet at AggieAthletics.com, with Matt Simon calling the play-by-play.
The Aggies (3-3), who have won 12 straight meetings against the Bobcats, are fresh off a 3-0 weekend in which they won their own Texas A&M Invitational. A&M defeated American, 3-1, and Siena, 3-0, before capping the weekend with a 3-1 victory against 16th-ranked BYU.
Junior outside hitter Mary Batis was named MVP of the tournament after hitting .318 and averaging 3.82 kills, 4.27 points, 3.45 digs and 0.55 blocks per set for the week. Batis also posted a .984 reception percentage with only one error in 64 attempts.
Junior outside hitter Sarah Ammerman and senior Kelsey Bryant, who played middle blocker for the first time in her collegiate career, joined on the all-tournament team by
Texas State is 4-4 after going 1-2 at the Arizona Invitational last weekend. The Bobcats were swept by both Arizona and Santa Clara, but earned a sweep against Big 12 opponent Texas Tech. Tech was the second Big 12 foe for the Bobcats this season as they fell to Baylor, 3-1, prior to the tournament.
MORE ON THE AGGIES
• Junior outside hitter Mary Batis leads the Aggies with 3.61 kills, 3.91 digs and 3.98 points per set. Sarah Ammerman ranks second on the team with 3.13 kills and 3.57 points per set.
• As a team, A&M is hitting .206 and averaging 13.39 kills, 0.87 aces, 15.0 digs and 2.13 blocks per set. Opponents are hitting .201 and averaging 12.61 kills, 0.91 aces, 16.26 digs and 2.11 blocks per set.
SCOUTING TEXAS STATE
• The Bobcats are 4-4 overall after going 1-2 at the Arizona tournament last weekend. Their only victory at the tournament was a three-set sweep against Big 12 team Texas Tech. TSU fell to Santa Clara, 3-0, to close out the tournament
• Senior middle blocker Emily (Jones) Wilkes is the sister of former A&M two-time All-American and all-time Aggie kill leader Laura Jones (2002-05). Wilkes leads the Bobcats with a .299 hitting efficiency and is second on the team with 2.25 kills and 0.67 blocks per set.
• Head coach Karen Chisum is 656-424-3 in her 29th season at the helm of the Bobcats.
• The Bobcats return all six starters from last year's team that went 21-12 and advanced to the first round of the NCAA Championship after winning the Southland Conference tournament. TSU fell to Texas, 3-0, in the first round.
• As a team, TSU is hitting .208 and averaging 11.46 kills, 1.75 aces, 12.43 digs and 1.57 blocks per set. Opponents are hitting .225 and averaging 11.93 kills, 1.68 aces, 13.79 digs and 2.18 blocks per set.
• Junior outside hitter Jessica Weynand, from Brenham, Texas, leads the Bobcats with 2.75 kills per set.
• Senior middle blockers Amy Weigle and Emily Wilkes both played for Arlington Martin High School and were seniors when A&M's Chelsea Ringel was a freshman on the Warriors' varsity team.
A&M-TSU SERIES RECORD
• A&M is 21-3 against the Bobcats and has won the last 12 meetings.
• A&M is 10-1 against the Bobcats in matches played at G. Rollie. TSU's only victory against A&M in College Station was on Nov. 10, 1986.
• TSU's last victory against A&M was Sept. 28, 1991, in San Marcos. Then-Southwest Texas State topped A&M in a five-game match, 13-15, 15-4, 17-15, 4-15, 15-11.
• The teams last met Sept. 4, 2007, in San Marcos. A&M defeated the Bobcats, 30-22, 27-30, 30-24, 30-14, spoiling TSU's home season opener at Strahan Coliseum. Mary Batis led the Aggies with 13 kills and 10 digs. Sarah Ammerman added 12 kills, and Kelsey Bryant pitched in 10 while hitting .400. Kristen Schevikhoven had 41 assists.
The former Emily Jones led all players with 19 kills, and Amy Weigle added 16 for the Bobcats, who were outhit, .309 to .176 in the match.
AGGIE QUICK HITS:
• A&M's win against No. 16 BYU was the Aggies' highest ranked victory since upsetting No. 9 Texas on Oct. 16, 2004, in College Station. Prior to the BYU match, A&M's most recent win against a ranked opponent was against No. 22 Minnesota on Sept. 2, 2006, at the Billiken Invitational in Saint Louis.
• Junior outside hitter Mary Batis was named MVP of the Texas A&M Invitational after leading the Aggies to a 3-0 record and the tournament title. In the championship-deciding match, Batis had 14 kills and hit .522 to lead A&M to a 3-1 victory over No. 16 BYU. She also tied for the team lead with 11 digs. Batis had a double-double against American with 14 kills and a match-high 18 digs. In addition, she posted a match-high14 kills and nine digs against Siena.
Batis hit .318 and averaged 3.82 kills, 4.27 points, 3.45 digs and 0.55 blocks per set for the week. She also posted a .984 reception percentage with only one error in 64 attempts.
• Senior Sarah Ammerman joined Batis on the all-tournament team. Bryant took tournament-high honors with 1.45 blocks per set. She had at least five blocks in each of the three matches. Bryant also led the Aggies with a .468 hitting percentage while averaging 2.36 kills and 3.23 points per set. In addition, she recorded 11 kills and no errors in 16 attempts for a .688 hitting efficiency against American, and she had six blocks and hit .308 in a sweep against Siena.
Ammerman led the Aggies with 4.27 kills and 4.86 points per set during the tournament and was second on the team with 2.64 digs per set. Ammerman posted double figures in every match, including a match-high 17 in the victory against No. 16 BYU. She also tallied two double-doubles.
• Junior outside hitters Mary Batis and Sarah Ammerman both are on pace to surpass 1,000 career kills this season. Batis, who had 377 kills last year, needs 170 to join the 1,000 Kills Club. Ammerman posted 447 kills in 2007 and is currently 209 kills shy of the milestone.
Twelve former players are members of the 1,000 Kill Club. The most recent member was Laura Jones (2002-05), who is A&M's all-time kill leader with 2,064.
• Aggie head coach Laurie Corbelli is 330-147 in her 16th year as head coach of the Aggies and 430-253 in the 23rd season of her head coaching career. She is A&M's winningest coach in terms of total victories and ranks second for winning percentage.
• Nineteen of A&M's 30 regular-season matches this season are against teams that advanced to the 2007 NCAA tournament, including a total of five matches against regional finalists BYU, Nebraska and Texas. A total of 12 matches are against teams that advanced to at least the second round of the NCAAs, and 10 matches will be against teams that ranked in the 2007 final Top 25 Poll. A&M is slated to play 12 matches against teams ranked in the 2008 preseason Top 25 -- two matches each against Big 12 teams No. 3 Texas, No. 7 Nebraska, No. 14 Kansas State and No. 18 Iowa State, in addition to non-conference foes Minnesota, BYU, LSU and San Diego, ranked No. 16, 20, 21 and 22, respectively.
• Many of A&M's former players will be converging on College Station on Friday, Oct. 17 for a volleyball reunion weekend. Activities include the Big 12 match against Baylor, Friday at 6:30 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum, as well as A&M's football game against Texas Tech on Saturday. For more information, call the Lettermen's Association at 979-846-3024.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The Aggies close out non-conference play Sept. 12-13 at the University of San Diego Tournament at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. Other participants in the tournament include Cal State Fullerton, No. 20 San Diego and Southern Mississippi.
It will be a homecoming of sorts for senior middle blocker Darla Donaldson, who hails from nearby Temecula, Calif.
San Diego Tournament
Jenny Craig Pavilion, San Diego Calif.
(All times are Pacific)
Friday, Sept. 12
4 p.m. Texas A&M vs. Southern Miss
Saturday, Sept. 13
12 p.m. Texas A&M vs. Cal State Fullerton
7:30 p.m. Texas A&M at No. 21 San Diego
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.