Nov. 4, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M (10-13, 5-8 Big 12) returns home Wednesday to play host to league-leading and third-ranked Nebraska (21-1, 12-1 Big 12). The match at G. Rollie White Coliseum has been moved up 30 minutes to a 6 p.m. start to avoid conflict with the A&M men's basketball exhibition game against Texas A&M-Kingsville, which will now tip at 7:30 p.m. at Reed Arena.
It will be Whataburger Residence Hall Association Night at G. Rollie, and coupons for a free Whataburger with purchase of a Whatameal will be given to the first 500 students in attendance.
General admission tickets are $7 for adults and $4 for students/youth. Reserved seats are $9 each. Call 1-888-99-AGGIE or go online at 12thManFoundation.com to purchase tickets in advance. Tickets also will be available at G. Rollie White beginning one hour before the match.
Free audio with Matt Simon calling the action, as well as free video and stats will be available at AggieAthletics.com.
The Aggies, playing their third consecutive match against a ranked opponent and the fifth ranked opponent over the last seven matches, are looking to snap a two match losing skid after falling to two of the top three teams in the league, No. 16 Kansas State and No. 3 Texas, both on the road last week.
Nebraska, which has won the last 18 meetings against the Aggies, remains in first place in the Big 12 standings despite losing at Colorado last Wednesday. The Huskers then defeated Iowa State, 3-1, in Lincoln on Saturday.
Junior outside hitter Mary Batis leads the Aggies and ranks ninth in the Big 12 with 3.40 kills per set for the full season. Batis also leads the team and ranks 10th in the league with 3.81 points per set. In addition, Batis is A&M's dig leader with 2.71 per set for the full season.
Junior outside hitter Sarah Ammerman leads the team with 0.22 aces per set and ranks second on the squad with 2.99 kills and 3.38 points per set.
Senior middle blocker Darla Donaldson leads the team and is ranked fourth in the Big 12 with 1.06 blocks per set in Big 12 matches only.
The Aggies have used eight different starting lineups, including the starting designated libero, in 23 matches. Ammerman, Batis and Donaldson are the only three who have started every match, while Jennifer Banse and Kelsey Bryant, and senior middle blocker Jillian Phillips, all starters last year, have each missed multiple matches due to injuries this season.
Aggie head coach Laurie Corbelli is 336-157 in her 16th year as head coach of the Aggies and 436-262 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.
SCOUTING THE HUSKERS
• Nebraska (21-1, 12-1 Big 12), the defending co-Big 12 champion along with Texas, dropped one spot to No. 3 in this week's Bison/AVCA Top 25 Poll after suffering its only loss of the season last week at unranked Colorado.
• Nebraska leads the league and ranks sixth in the nation with 14.55 kills per set. In addition, the Huskers lead the Big 12 and rank ninth in the country with 13.37 assists per set. Nebraska's 2.68 block average also leads the Big 12 and ranks 14 in the nation, while the Huskers' .269 hitting percentage is second in the Big 12 and 17th in the country.
• The Huskers also are the Big 12 leaders for fewest kills (10.67), assists (10.03) and aces (0.77) allowed per set in all matches.
• In Big 12 matches only, Nebraska is holding opponents to a conference-low .135 hitting percentage, as well as fewest kills (10.76), fewest assists (10.09) and fewest service aces (0.76) allowed per set.
• Sophomore setter Sydney Anderson leads the Big 12 and ranks fifth in the nation with 11.71 assists per set, and Junior middle blocker Kori Cooper ranks second in the Big 12 and 14 in the country with a .407 hitting percentage.
• 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.
• Nebraska reached the 20-win plateau with its win at Oklahoma on Oct. 25. The Huskers have won at least 20 matches every year in program history (a total of 34 years).
• John Cook (San Diego `79) is 271-17, including 166-7 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, 28-6, including 16-0 in matches played in Lincoln.
• The Huskers are 23-2 in Big 12 matches only against A&M and have won the last 18 meetings.
• The Aggies' 18-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.
• Nebraska has swept the Aggies in each of the last 10 meetings.
• In the most recent meeting, Nebraska, which entered the Oct. 22 contest riding a 50-match home winning streak, topped A&M 25-16, 25-18, 25-13 to improve to 19-0 overall and conclude the first half of Big 12 Conference play at 10-0.
All-American outside hitter Jordan Larson and Tara Mueller each hit above .400 while leading the Huskers with 13 kills apiece. Amanda Gates posted a match-high eight blocks to lead Nebraska to an 11.5 to 3 advantage in blocks and a .319 to .106 hitting advantage.
Mary Batis led A&M with seven kills, and freshman Stephanie Wells had a career-high six kills while hitting .556. Freshman libero Chelsea Ringel led the Aggies with 13 digs.
QUICK HITS
• The match against the Huskers concludes a grueling seven-match stretch in which the Aggies will have played a combined five matches against the top three teams in the Big 12, including two matches each against league-leading Nebraska and second-place Texas, who were each ranked in the top three in the nation.
• Aggie Associate Head Coach John Corbelli served as an assistant coach at Nebraska in 1981 under former Husker head coach Terry Pettit. Nebraska went 29-10 and was the Big Eight regular season and tournament champion that season.
• 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. She now has 1,036 and needs only three more to move into 11th in the A&M career records.
• Junior outside hitter Sarah Ammerman also is nearing the 1,000-kill mark, needing 33 more to reach the milestone. She is second on the team with 2.99 kills per set for the full season.
• Batis also is closing in on 1,000 career digs, needing only 64 more. She leads the team with 2.71 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 1,884 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 1.06 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 against No. 3 Nebraska will be A&M's league-leading 10th match against a ranked opponent this season. A&M is 1-8 against ranked opponents, while Nebraska is 5-0 against Top 25 teams. Oklahoma is second for most ranked opponents with eight. The Sooners are at No. 16 Kansas State on Wednesday.
• A&M ranks in the top five in the Big 12 for fewest kills allowed (12.41), fewest assists allowed (11.45), fewest digs allowed (13.08) and fewest blocks allowed (2.07) per set in Big 12 matches only.
• Senior middle blocker Jillian Phillips, who has missed 19 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. She was unable to play at Texas on Saturday. 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 has a bye this weekend and returns to action Wednesday, Nov. 12 as the Aggies play host to Iowa State. Match time is 6:30 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.