Oct. 31, 2008
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M (10-12, 5-7 Big 12) and No. 3 Texas (16-3, 9-2 Big 12) square off in volleyball's second edition of the State Farm Lone Star Showdown Saturday in Austin. Match time is set for 5 p.m. at Gregory Gym.
Both teams are looking to get back into the win column after suffering five-set losses on Wednesday. A&M took No. 16 Kansas State to the ropes before falling, 23-25, 25-12, 25-21, 19-25, 15-9, Wednesday in Manhattan, Kan., and the Longhorns suffered their first home loss and had their 10-match overall winning streak snapped in a 25-21, 9-25, 22-25, 25-23, 15-13 setback to unranked Oklahoma, a team A&M defeated, 3-2, in College Station on Sept. 2.
Texas, which has won the last eight meetings against the Aggies, remains in second place in the Big 12 standings, holding a narrow half-game lead over third-place K-State. A&M is in seventh, one game behind Baylor and Colorado, who are tied for fifth place.
Junior outside hitter Mary Batis leads the Aggies and ranks eighth in the Big 12 with 3.43 kills per set for the full season. 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 2.72 per set for the full season.
Junior outside hitter Sarah Ammerman leads the team with 0.21 aces per set and ranks second on the squad with 3.03 kills and 3.42 points per set.
Senior middle blocker Darla Donaldson leads the team and is ranked fourth in the Big 12 with 1.10 blocks per set in Big 12 matches only.
Junior setter Kristen Schevikhoven has been in the starting lineup in each of the last two matches after being out with a severe ankle injury at Colorado on Sept. 27. Senior Kelsey Bryant, who has been hampered by a shoulder injury, also was in the starting lineup against K-State, drawing her first start since the Texas match on Oct. 15. In addition, senior middle blocker Jillian Phillips, who has been out with a stress fracture, appeared in only her fifth match of the season against the Wildcats, coming in for the last four points of the match.
The Aggies have used eight different starting lineups, including the starting libero, in 22 matches. Ammerman, Batis and Donaldson are the only three who have started every match, while Kelsey Bryant, and middle blocker Jillian Phillips, all starters last year, have each missed multiple matches due to injuries this season.
Aggie head coach Laurie Corbelli is 336-156 in her 16th year as head coach of the Aggies and 436-261 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 12-22 all-time against Texas.
SCOUTING THE LONGHORNS
• Texas (16-3, 9-2 Big 12), the defending Big 12 co-champion along with Nebraska, is ranked No. 3 in the nation for the ninth consecutive week.
• The Longhorns are coming off a 3-2 loss to unranked Oklahoma in Austin on Saturday. The loss, the first at home this season for Texas, snapped a 10-match winning streak and was the only loss other than against then-No. 2 Stanford on Aug 31 at the Runza AVCA Showcase in Omaha, Neb., and at No. 2 Nebraska in the Longhorns' Big 12 opener on Sept. 20.
• Texas entered the week ranked second in the nation with a .344 hitting percentage and ninth in the country with 14.41 kills per set. In the individual statistics, senior 6-5 middle blocker Lauren Paolini ranked second in the nation with a .486 hitting percentage.
• In Big 12 matches only, Texas leads the league with a .358 hitting efficiency and 14.93 kills per set. In addition, the Horns are allowing opponents only 1.25 blocks and 12.18 digs per set to lead the Big 12.
• Paolini is hitting a conference-best .564, and junior 6-4 outside hitter Destinee Hooker leads the Big 12 with 4.50 kills and 5.44 points per set in Big 12 matches only.
• The match against the Sooners was the Longhorns' second five-set match of the season -- both losses -- and the first in Big 12 play. Destinee Hooker led all players with 23 digs and 20 digs. Ashley Engle added 17 kills and 20 digs, and Juliann Faucette pitched in 14 kills for Texas, which outhit OU, .314 to .229, but fell 25-21, 9-25, 22-25, 25-23, 15-13.
• The Horns return five starters, including three All-Americans, from last year's team that went 27-4 and ranked No. 6 in the final poll after advancing to the NCAA regional finals.
• Jerritt Elliott (Cal State Northridge `91) is 172-61 in his eighth season as head coach of the Horns.
THE A&M-TEXAS ALL-TIME SERIES
• Texas has won the last eight matches against A&M and is 58-22 in the all-time series since 1976.
• Texas, A&M's most common opponent, leads the Aggies, 15-10 in Big 12 matches only, 21-12 in matches played in College Station, 31-4 in matches played in Austin and 7-6 in matches played at neutral sites.
• The Aggies' most recent victory against the Longhorns was Oct. 16, 2004. No. 20 A&M upset No. 9 Texas, 32-34, 30-24, 30-27, 30-21, in front of 3,150 at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
• A&M has not won in Austin since Oct. 6, 2001, when the 16th-ranked Aggies defeated the unranked Longhorns, 30-27, 30-16, 25-30, 30-23.
• The teams most recently met on Oct. 15 in College Station, where No. 3 Texas extended its winning streak to seven matches and snapped Texas A&M's three-match winning streak with a 25-13, 23-25, 25-16, 25-18 victory at G. Rollie White Coliseum. A boisterous crowd of 3,203 - an A&M season-high and the sixth most in school history - watched as Destinee Hooker paced the Longhorns with a match-high 20 kills while hitting at a .410 clip. Ashley Engle added 11 kills for Texas, and Lauren Paolini added 10 kills while hitting .714 as Texas outhit the Aggies, .375 to .122. Mary Batis and Sarah Ammerman led the Aggies with 15 kills apiece, and setter Jola Kelner posted a career-high and match-high 15 digs.
QUICK HITS
• Texas is the second of three consecutive ranked opponents for the Aggies, who took No. 16 Kansas State to five matches in Manhattan on Wednesday and follow the Texas match with a meeting with No. 2 Nebraska, Wednesday, Nov. 5 in College Station.
• In addition, No. 3 Texas is one of five ranked opponents the Aggies face over a seven-match span. The Aggies' most difficult stretch of the season began Oct. 15 when A&M played No. 3 Texas in College Station. A&M also has two meetings with No. 2 Nebraska, in addition to the match at No. 16 Kansas State during the stretch. Also during the stretch, A&M endured a 3-1 setback to Baylor, which is receiving votes.
• Junior outside hitter Mary Batis became only the 14th player in A&M history to join the 1,000-Kill Club when she posted 11 kills against Kansas on Saturday, giving her 1,009 kills for her career.
• Junior outside hitter Sarah Ammerman also is nearing the 1,000-kill mark, needing 39 more to reach the milestone. She is second on the team with 3.03 kills per set for the full season.
• Batis also is closing in on 1,000 career digs, needing only 71 more. She leads the team with 2.72 digs per set for the full season. While 14 players have reached 1,000 digs during their A&M careers, Batis will become only the ninth player in A&M history to record both 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career.
• Junior setter Kristen "Schevi" Schevikhoven, who returned to the starting lineup for the first time against Kansas on Oct. 25 after missing six starts following a severe ankle injury at Colorado on Sept. 27, recorded 51 assists at Kansas State on Wednesday to move into ninth place in the A&M career records. In only her second season with the Aggies, Schevikhoven has 1,853 career assists.
• Senior middle blocker Darla Donaldson, the only A&M player to have played in every set this season, ranks fourth in the Big 12 with 1.10 blocks per set in conference matches only. In addition, she is hitting .318 to rank 10th in the league in Big 12 matches only.
• The match at No. 3 Texas will be A&M's league-leading ninth match against a ranked opponent this season. A&M is 1-7 against ranked opponents, while Texas is 2-2 against Top 25 teams.
• A&M ranks in the top five in the Big 12 for lowest hitting percentage allowed (.218), fewest kills allowed (12.29), fewest assists allowed (11.33), fewest digs allowed (13.17) and fewest blocks allowed (2.01) per set in Big 12 matches only.
• Senior middle blocker Jillian Phillips, who has missed 18 matches with a stress fracture in her lower leg, played in the last four points in the match at Kansas State on Wednesday. It was her first appearance since Oct. 4 in a match against Missouri. Last year, Phillips played in every match and led the team and ranked seventh in the Big 12 with 1.21 blocks per game in Big 12 matches.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
A&M returns home Wednesday and faces its third consecutive ranked opponent as the Aggies play host No. 2 Nebraska. The start time against the Huskers has been changed to 6 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.