Oct. 7, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M begins a two-match road swing Wednesday as the Aggies take on the Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence. First serve is 7 p.m. at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. Live stats and audio broadcast of the match will be available at AggieAthletics.com free of charge with Matt Simon calling the play-by-play. In addition, fans can access live video streaming for a subscription fee at kuathletics.com.
The Aggies (7-8, 2-3 Big 12) moved into a three-way tie with Colorado and Missouri for sixth place in the Big 12 Conference after defeating Missouri, 3-2, Saturday in College Station. The win ended A&M's two-match losing skid. Kansas (8-7, 2-4 Big 12) snapped a three-match losing skid to stay within a half-game of the Aggies, Buffaloes and Tigers after defeating Texas Tech, 3-1, Saturday in Lubbock, Texas. It marked the Jayhawks' first Big 12 road win of the season.
Junior outside hitter Mary Batis, who is coming off a career-high 23-kill, five-block, 27-point performance against Missouri, leads the Aggies with 3.56 kills, 3.11 digs and 3.99 points per set for the full season. She also is listed among the leaders in the Big 12, ranking seventh in the Big 12 in kills per set and eighth in points per set for the full season. Junior outside hitter Sarah Ammerman, who surpassed 1,000 career points in the match against the Tigers, is tied with Batis with a team-leading 0.2 aces per set and ranks second on the squad with 2.98 kills and 3.38 points per set. Junior setter Jola Kelner, named the AVSR Player of the Week after leading the Aggies to the win against Missouri, is likely to draw her second start of the season against the Jayhawks while Kristen Schevikhoven continues to recover from an ankle injury suffered at Colorado. Senior middle blocker Jillian Phillips, who missed 11 matches after being sidelined with a stress fracture three matches into the season, returned to the court and saw limited action against Missouri. She was the team's leading blocker last year with a 1.2 average. As a team, A&M is hitting .217 and averaging 13.38 kills, 0.86 aces, 14.46 digs and 2.24 blocks per set. Opponents are hitting .202 and averaging 12.52 kills, 0.95 aces, 14.77 digs and 1.96 blocks.
SCOUTING THE JAYHAWKS • Kansas is 8-7 overall and tied with Iowa State for ninth place in the Big 12 standings with a 2-4 record in conference matches only. • KU's conference wins have been against Iowa State, a team the Aggies lost to in the conference season opener, and Texas Tech, A&M's next opponent. Losses were against No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Texas, No. 17 Kansas State and Colorado. • The Jayhawks, who are 4-3 in home matches, including 1-2 in Big 12 home matches, ended a season-high three-match losing streak after defeating Texas Tech, 3-1 (25-19, 17-25, 25-23, 25-22) Saturday in Lubbock. Sophomore outside hitter Karina Garlington led all players with 18 kills, and senior Savannah Noyes added 13 kills while hitting .500. • Garlington ranks third in the Big 12 with 3.93 kills and 4.53 points per set for the full season. In Big 12 matches only, she ranks fourth with 3.78 kills and sixth with 4.24 points per set. Noyes ranks eighth with a .328 hitting percentage in Big 12 matches only. • The Jayhawks, who placed ninth in the Big 12 last year with a 6-14 record, were picked to finish 10th in the league this season, according to a preseason poll of the conference head coaches. • Ray Bechard (Fort Hays State `80) is 169-151 in his 11th season as head coach of the Jayhawks.
THE A&M-KU ALL-TIME SERIES • A&M leads the all-time series, 21-4, since the teams first met in 1990, including 20-4 in Big 12 matches only and 8-4 in matches played in Lawrence. • A&M swept the season series last year, defeating the Jayhawks, 3-0 (30-26, 30-25, 30-19) in Lawrence on Oct. 6 and 3-0 (30-25, 30-27, 30-21) in College Station on Oct. 24. • A&M's win in Lawrence snapped the Aggies' four-match losing skid at Kansas. • Kansas has never swept a season series against A&M. • In the most recent meeting, Texas A&M extended its winning streak to four and kept Kansas winless at G. Rollie White Coliseum with a 30-25, 30-27, 30-21 victory over the Jayhawks in front of a crowd of 1,409. Mary Batis and Kelly Stanton added 13 and 10 kills, respectively, to send Kansas home winless in 13 trips to College Station. A&M hit .308 for the match, marking the fourth consecutive match the Aggies surpassed the .300 milestone. A&M also posted 52 kills, four aces, 50 digs and nine blocks. Emily Brown was the only Kansas player to reach double figures in kills with 11. As a team, Kansas tallied 45 kills but was held to a .176 hitting efficiency. The Jayhawks also recorded three aces, 44 digs and seven blocks.
QUICK HITS: • Texas A&M junior setter Jola Kelner was named Player of the Week by American Volleyball Scouting Report on Monday. In her first start since the first match of last season, the Poland native led A&M to a 3-2 (25-27, 25-19, 25-18, 23-25, 15-4) victory against Missouri Saturday at G. Rollie White Coliseum. Kelner, who started in place of injured setter Kristen Schevikhoven, had 46 assists and directed the A&M offense to a .257 to .154 advantage in hitting percentage. She also had a career-high 13 digs and tied her career high with four kills - with no errors in nine attempts -- and six points.
• The Aggies recorded a season-high 16 blocks against Missouri, the most blocks by a Big 12 team in a conference match this season. In addition, the Aggies tied an A&M record for solo blocks in a five-set Big 12 match with seven. Senior Mary Batis added a career-high five blocks, and Jillian Phillips also had two solo blocks, and Donaldson and Kelner added one solo block apiece.
• Sarah Ammerman recorded 15.5 points against Missouri to surpass 1,000 points for her career. Ammerman, who is second on the team with 3.38 points per set, becomes the fifth A&M player to surpass the milestone since rally scoring began in 2001.
• Mary Batis, who leads the team and ranks eighth in the Big 12 with 3.99 points per set, surpassed 1,000 points for her career after posting 24.5 points against Oklahoma on Sept. 21. She enters the Kansas match with 1066.5 total points, needing 68.5 points to pass Christi Hahn (2003-06) for third place in the career records. Laura Jones (2002-05) is A&M's all-time career leader with 2,346.5 points.
• Both Batis and Ammerman are on pace to surpass 1,000 career kills this season. Batis, who leads the Aggies and ranks seventh in the Big 12 with 3.56 kills per set, needs only 57 more to join the 1,000 Kills Club. Ammerman, who is averaging 2.98 kills per set, is currently 120 kills shy of the 1,000-kill milestone. Twelve former players are members of A&M's 1,000 Kill Club. The newest member was Laura Jones (2002-05), who is A&M's all-time kill leader with 2,064.
• Senior Jillian Phillips, who had not played since Aug. 30 due to a stress fracture in her right leg, saw limited action against Missouri. The 6-1 middle blocker, who was averaging a team-leading 1.33 blocks per game after the first three matches of the season, tallied eight kills and three blocks against the Tigers.
• Junior setter Kristen Schevikhoven streak of 44 consecutive starts came to an end Saturday as she was unable to play against Missouri due to an ankle injury suffered at Colorado on Sept. 27. Schevikhoven remains doubtful for the match against Kansas.
• Jennifer Banse career-high 24 digs against Oklahoma on Sept. 21 marked the most digs in a match by an A&M player since former libero Holly Clay had 28 at Texas Tech on Oct. 22, 2005. The junior outside hitter leads the Aggies with 2.90 digs per set in Big 12 matches only and is second on the team with 2.48 digs per set for the full season.
• Senior middle blocker Darla Donaldson, the only A&M player to have played in every set this season, ranks second in the Big 12 with a 1.33 block average in conference matches only. In addition, she ranks 10th in the league with a .305 hitting efficiency in Big 12 matches only.
• A&M's win against No. 16 BYU on Sept. 6 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.
• A&M played four matches against ranked teams during the pre-conference schedule and went 1-3 against those teams. No other Big 12 team played more than three matches against a ranked opponent during the pre-conference season. The Aggies are now 1-4 against ranked opponents.
• Aggie head coach Laurie Corbelli is 334-152 in her 16th year as head coach of the Aggies and 434-258 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. Corbelli is 20-4 against Kansas in her head coaching career.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE The Aggies conclude a two-match road swing on Saturday, taking on Texas Tech in Lubbock. First serve is at 7 p.m. at the United Spirit Arena The Aggies then return home Oct. 15 for volleyball's first edition of the State Farm Lone Star Showdown against No. 3 Texas. First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum. It will be "Break the Record" night at the Holler House, as fans are challenged to come to the match and break the G. Rollie attendance record of 3,778 set against the Longhorns on Oct. 24, 2003. In addition, it will be Greek Night, and all Greeks wearing their letters will be admitted free. Also fans presenting an A&M-K-State football ticket stub will be admitted for $2.