Nov. 11, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M (10-14, 5-9 Big 12) returns to action Wednesday to play host to the Iowa State Cyclones (16-10, 8-7 Big 12). First serve is at 6:30 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
It will be "Class of 2012 Appreciation Night" at the Holler House, and MSC FISH will be holding a pre-match carnival in front of G. Rollie featuring free pizza, drinks, games and inflatables.
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, who had a bye on Saturday, are coming off a near-upset against No. 3 Nebraska last Wednesday, falling 15-13 in the fifth set. The match against the Huskers completed a grueling seven-match stretch in which the Aggies faced Nebraska twice, No. 3 Texas twice and No. 16 Kansas State. A&M has dropped to 10th place in the Big 12 standings but is only one win away from Colorado and Missouri, who are tied for sixth place.
Iowa State is coming off a 3-0 loss to No. 4 Texas Wednesday in Ames. The Cyclones are in fourth place in the Big 12 and are the only team other than the top three to have a winning record in conference matches only.
A&M's Sarah Ammerman enters the match needing only 13 kills to reach 1,000 for her career. The junior outside hitter, who had a match-high and season-high 20 kills against No. 3 Nebraska, will become the 15th player in Aggie history to accomplish the feat, joining current teammate Mary Batis, who joined the 1,000-Kill Club earlier this season.
Batis leads the Aggies and is ranked ninth in the Big 12 with 3.38 kills per set. She also leads A&M with 3.78 points per set for the full season. Ammerman is second on the squad with 3.05 kills and 3.41 points per set.
Senior middle blocker Darla Donaldson, the only A&M player to see action in every set this season, leads the team and is ranked sixth in the Big 12 with 0.98 blocks per set in Big 12 matches only.
Junior setter Kristen Schevikhoven, who missed six starts after suffering a severe ankle injury at Colorado, has started the last four matches and is averaging 10.12 assists per set since returning to the starting lineup.
Senior Kelsey Bryant, who missed six starts due to a lingering shoulder injury, has played in every set in the last two matches. She had seven kills with no errors along with seven blocks against No. 3 Nebraska.
Freshman Kelsey Black has been the designated libero in the last four matches and has posted double-figure digs in three of the last four contests, including a career-high 23 against the Huskers.
Junior outside hitter Jennifer Banse had 20 digs against Nebraska, the second time she has reached 20 or more digs in her career.
Aggie head coach Laurie Corbelli is 336-158 in her 16th year as head coach of the Aggies and 436-263 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 CYCLONES
• Iowa State (16-10, 8-7 Big 12) is in fourth place in the Big 12 and is receiving votes in the Bison/AVCA Top 25 Poll, where the Cyclones are listed 31st.
• The Cyclones, who are 9-3 in home matches but only 3-7 at away matches, went 1-1 last week. ISU defeated Texas Tech, 3-0 Wednesday in Lubbock and then fell to No. 4 Texas, 3-0, Saturday in Ames. Victoria Henson led ISU with 14 kills while hitting .357 against the Horns.
• Henson, a sophomore outside hitter from Leavenworth, Kan., has recorded double-digit kills in each of the last 12 matches and ranks third in the Big 12 with 4.15 kills and 4.56 points per set. She ranks second in the league with 4.23 kills and 4.59 points per set in conference matches only.
• Sophomore libero Ashley Mass had 15 digs against the Longhorns to surpass 1,000 career digs in only her 59th match. She leads the Big 12 and ranks 16th in the nation with 4.98 digs per set for the entire season.
• Junior setter Kaylee Manns leads the Big 12 and ranks fifth in the nation with 11.68 assists per set.
• As a team, ISU is ranked 11th in the country with 13.36 assists per set and 16th in the nation with 14.26 kills per set. The Cyclones are third in the Big 12 with a .247 hitting percentage in conference matches.
• Senior middle blocker Jen Malcom leads the Cyclones with a .381 hitting percentage and 1.2 blocks per set.
• Christy Johnson (Nebraska `96) is 72-50 in her fourth season as head coach of the Cyclones. She has led ISU to the NCAA tournament each of the last two seasons, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2007.
THE A&M-IOWA STATE ALL-TIME SERIES
• A&M leads ISU, 23-5, since the teams first met in 1981, including 21-4 in Big 12 matches only. The Cyclones, however, have won four of the last five meetings, including a 3-0 victory against the Aggies in the teams' conference opener on Sept. 17 at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.
• The teams split the season series last year with each team winning on its home floor.
• A&M is 11-1 against ISU in matches played at G. Rollie White Coliseum. ISU's only win in College Station was in 2006 as the Cyclones completed their first and only Big 12 season series sweep against the Aggies.
• In the most recent meeting, A&M fell to the Cyclones, 25-16, 25-11, 26-24. The Aggies were held to what still is a season-low .062 hitting percentage and suffered their third straight loss at ISU.
Freshman Darla Donaldson posted a team-high four blocks.
Ashley Mass led ISU with 18 digs, marking her 38th consecutive match to reach double figures in digs. She also had three aces to lead ISU to an 8-2 advantage in aces. Victoria Henson, the only player on either team to reach double-digit kills with 18, hit .441 to lead ISU to a .214-.062 advantage in hitting percentage.
QUICK HITS
• A&M has only two more home matches remaining following the ISU match. The Aggies host Colorado on Saturday, Nov. 22 for "Senior Night" and then turn out the lights at G. Rollie White Coliseum on Wednesday, Nov. 26 against Texas Tech. The Aggies will move to Reed Arena, home of the men's and women's basketball teams, for at least the next three seasons while the Memorial Student Center is being renovated. The situation on whether volleyball will return to the Holler House will be further evaluated upon completion of the renovation.
• Three Aggies posted 20 or more digs against No. 3 Nebraska as the Aggies posted a season-high 90 digs. Freshman libero Sarah Ammerman added a season-high 21 digs to complete her first 20-20 performance of the season, as she also had a season-high 20 kills. Jennifer Banse pitched in 20 digs, marking the first time this season three players posted 20 or more digs in the same match.
• 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 1,051 to rank 11th in the A&M career records.
• Batis also is closing in on 1,000 career digs, needing only 53 more. She leads the team with 2.68 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 recorded 51 assists at Kansas State on Oct. 29 to move into ninth place in the A&M career records. In only her second season with the Aggies, Schevikhoven has 1,932 career assists, needing only 68 more to reach the 2,000 mark. She is averaging 9.64 assists per set.
• The match against No. 3 Nebraska was A&M's league-leading 10th match against a ranked opponent this season. A&M is 1-9 against ranked opponents. Oklahoma is second for most ranked opponents and is 1-8. ISU is 1-5 against ranked opponents, having upset No 13 Kansas State on Oct. 22 in Ames.
• Senior middle blocker Jillian Phillips, who has missed 20 matches with a stress fracture in her lower leg, played in the last four points in the match at Kansas State on Oct. 29. 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.
• A&M ranks No. 19 in the country for home attendance, drawing an average of 1,602 per match. The Aggies are 7-4 in home matches this season compared to 2-7 in away matches and 1-3 at neutral sites. Hawaii leads the nation with an average attendance of 6,138.
• A&M is 18th on the list of the nation's all-time winningest programs with 826 since 1975. UCLA holds the record with 1,076 victories.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
A&M faces Baylor Saturday at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas. First serve has been moved up to noon to allow fans to also attend the A&M-Baylor football game, which will kick off at 3 p.m. at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco.
The Aggies then play at Oklahoma on Wednesday, Nov. 19 before returning home for "Senior Night", Saturday, Nov. 22 against Colorado. Seniors Darla Donaldson and Jillian Phillips will be honored prior to the match, which begins at 6:30 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.