Oct. 21, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M (9-10, 4-5 Big 12) concludes the first half of the Big 12 Conference schedule Wednesday as the Aggies take on second-ranked, undefeated and league-leading Nebraska (18-0, 9-0 Big 12) in Lincoln. First serve is at 7 p.m. at Nebraska Coliseum.
The match will be televised live on CBS College Sports (DirecTV Channel 613 and Dish Network Channel 152).
The Aggies, who have never won in 15 visits to Lincoln, are coming off a 3-1 (24-26, 25-20, 25-18, 27-25) loss to Baylor Friday in College Station. It was A&M's second consecutive loss, as the Aggies also fell to third-ranked Texas, 3-1, Wednesday at G. Rollie White Coliseum, snapping A&M's three-match winning streak. A&M enters the Nebraska match in a three-way tie with Iowa State and Colorado for fifth place in the Big 12 standings.
Nebraska notched its sixth straight sweep and its 50th consecutive home victory by defeating Baylor, 25-14, 25-11, 25-20, Wednesday in Lincoln. The Huskers, who are 8-0 in home matches this season, had a bye over the weekend.
Junior outside hitter Mary Batis, who leads the Aggies and ranks ninth in the Big 12 with 3.44 kills per set for the full season, needs only nine kills to reach 1,000 for her career. Batis also leads the team and ranks 10th in the league with 3.82 points per set. In addition, Batis is A&M's dig leader with 2.79 per set.
Junior outside hitter Sarah Ammerman leads the team with 0.22 aces per set and ranks second on the squad with 3.12 kills and 3.53 points per set.
Senior middle blocker Darla Donaldson leads the team and is ranked second in the Big 12 with 1.22 blocks per set in Big 12 matches only.
Junior setter Jola Kelner has started the last five matches in place of Kristen Schevikhoven, who has been out with an ankle injury suffered at Colorado. With Kelner running the offense, the Aggies have outhit their opponents a combined .231 to .211 and outblocked them, 2.48 to 1.74.
Schevikhoven is slowing working her way back on to the court, appearing in one set against Texas and in three of the four sets against Baylor. Senior middle blocker Kelsey Bryant, who missed two matches following the Colorado match with a shoulder injury, appeared in two sets against Baylor, and senior middle blocker Jillian Phillips, the team's leading blocker from last year, remains out indefinitely with a stress fracture.
SCOUTING THE HUSKERS:
• Nebraska (18-0, 9-0 Big 12), the defending co-Big 12 champion along with Texas, joins Penn State (20-0) and Wichita State (20-0) as the only remaining undefeated teams in Division I.
• The Huskers were No. 7 in the preseason AVCA Top 25 Poll but quickly jumped to and have remained at No. 2 after sweeping then No. 2 Stanford and No. 4 USC in the season-opening AVCA Showcase.
• Nebraska is 8-0 in home matches and has won 50 consecutive Big 12 home matches. The Huskers are 83-2 in home Big 12 matches under coach John Cook.
• Nebraska leads the league in assists (13.31) and kills (14.54) for the full season, as well as opponent hitting percentage (.127). The Huskers also are the Big 12 leaders for fewest kills (10.64), assists (10.02) and aces (0.71) allowed per set.
• Junior middle blocker Kori Cooper ranks second in the Big 12 with a .422 hitting percentage for the full season. Senior outside hitter Jordan Larson is third in the league with 0.37 aces per set and fourth in points per set (4.50). Sophomore setter Sydney Anderson is second in the Big 12 with 11.64 assists per set, and sophomore libero Kayla Banwarth is fourth in the Big 12 with 4.33 assists per set. Senior middle Amanda Gates is fifth in block average with 1.16 for the full season.
• Cooper and Aggie freshman Kelsey Black were teammates on the 2005 Amarillo High School team, coached by Jan Barker.
• Husker sophomore outside hitter Lindsey Licht is a product of Front Range Volleyball Club and teamed with Aggies Sarah Ammerman and Kristen Schevikhoven to lead FRVC to a fifth-place finish at the 2006 Junior Olympic Volleyball Championships, as well as the 2006 AAU national championship.
• The Huskers, are calling the match against the Aggies the "Power of Pink" to promote breast cancer awareness. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.
• John Cook (San Diego `79) is 268-16, including 163-6 in Big 12 matches only, in his ninth season as head coach of the Huskers.
THE A&M-NEBRASKA ALL-TIME SERIES:
• Nebraska leads the series, 27-6, including 15-0 in matches played in Lincoln.
• The Huskers are 22-2 in Big 12 matches only against A&M and have won the last 17 meetings.
• The Aggies' 17-match losing skid against Nebraska marks A&M's longest active losing streak against a single opponent.
• A&M's two Big 12 wins against the Huskers came in 1998 and 1999, both five-set victories at G. Rollie White Coliseum in College Station.
• Last year, Nebraska swept A&M, 30-14, 30-20, 30-25 in Lincoln on Sept. 22 and 30-26, 30-23, 30-22 in College Station on Nov. 14.
• Nebraska has swept the Aggies in each of the last nine meetings.
• In the most recent meeting, No. 2 Nebraska overcame early deficits in each of the first two sets en route to a 30-26, 30-23, 30-22 victory against A&M at G. Rollie White Coliseum. Nebraska hit .254, while A&M was held to a season-low .099 hitting percentage in the match. A&M's previous low was .124 in the three-set loss at Nebraska.
Mary Batis led A&M with 13 kills, and Jen Moore took match-high honors for digs with 13. Sarah Pavan led Nebraska with 20 kills and also pitched in 10 digs. Kayla Banwarth led the Huskers with 11 digs, and Tracy Stalls posted four blocks to lead the Huskers to a 10.5-4 advantage in team blocks.
QUICK HITS:
• Junior outside hitter Mary Batis needs only nine kills to reach 1,000 for her career and become the 14th player in A&M history to join 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.
• Junior outside hitter Sarah Ammerman also is nearing the 1,000-kill mark, needing 66 more to reach the milestone. She is second on the team with 3.12 kills per set.
• Batis also is closing in on 1,000 career digs, needing only 96 more. She leads the team with 2.79 digs per set for the full season. Only nine players have posted both 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in their A&M career.
• 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 1.22 blocks per set in conference matches only. In addition, she is hitting .347 to rank eighth in the league in Big 12 matches only.
• A&M is in the midst of its toughest stretch of the schedule this season. On Oct. 15, A&M played No. 3 Texas, the first of five ranked opponents in a string of seven matches for the Aggies. Included in the seven-match stretch are two matches apiece against No. 2 Nebraska and No. 3 Texas, in addition to a match at No. 16 Kansas State, as well as Baylor, which is receiving votes and defeated the Aggies, 3-1.
• A&M ranks in the top five in the Big 12 for fewest kills allowed (12.38), fewest assists allowed (11.38), fewest blocks allowed (1.95) and fewest digs allowed (13.32) per set in big 12 matches only.
• Since returning to the designated libero position against Missouri on Oct. 4, freshman Chelsea Ringel has posted double figures in digs in every match and is averaging 3.24 digs per set over the last five matches. She leads the team with a 2.88 dig average in big 12 matches only.
• Aggie head coach Laurie Corbelli is 336-154 in her 16th year as head coach of the Aggies and 436-260 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.
NOTABLES: • Match time vs. KU changed to 3 p.m.: A&M's home match against Kansas on Saturday has been changed to a 3 p.m. start at G. Rollie White Coliseum. The match was originally slated to begin at 6:30 p.m.
• A&M on TV: The Kansas State match in Manhattan on Oct. 29 will be televised by FSN Kansas City. Match time is 7 p.m. at the Ahearn Field House.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE: A&M begins the second half of Big 12 play at home Saturday as the Aggies play host to the Kansas Jayhawks. First serve is slated for 3 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum. The Aggies held off KU, 3-2, when the teams met earlier this season in Lawrence.