Nov. 14, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M volleyball team (11-14, 6-9 Big 12) takes a short trek down Highway 6 for a Battle of the Brazos match-up against the Baylor Bears Saturday at the Ferrell Center in Waco. The start of the match has been changed to 12 p.m.
The match is the second event of a triple header of events involving the Aggies in Waco on Saturday. The Aggie cross country teams compete in the NCAA South Central Regional starting at 10 a.m. at Waco's Cottonwood Creek Golf Course, and at 3 p.m. the A&M football team takes on the Bears at Floyd Casey Stadium.
A&M is coming off a crucial 3-1 (25-23, 25-14, 18-25, 25-20) victory over fourth-place Iowa State Wednesday at G. Rollie White Coliseum. The win snapped A&M's three-game losing skid and moved the Aggies into a three-way tie with Colorado and Missouri for seventh place in the Big 12, only one and a half wins out of fourth place and one win behind fifth-place Baylor.
The Bears, who defeated A&M, 3-1, in College Station on Oct. 17, have won their last two matches, earning a sweep at Colorado last Saturday and then sweeping TCU in a non-conference match Tuesday in Waco. With the win against the Frogs, Baylor improved to 11-3 in home matches.
Junior outside hitter Mary Batis leads the Aggies and is ranked ninth in the Big 12 with 3.37 kills per set. She also leads A&M with 3.78 points per set for the full season. Junior outside hitter Sarah Ammerman, who joined Batis in A&M's 1,000-Career Kills Club with her match-high 16-kill performance against Iowa State, is second on the squad with 3.09 kills and 3.45 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 seventh in the Big 12 with 1.02 blocks per set in Big 12 matches only.
Junior setter Kristen Schevikhoven, who missed six starts after suffering a severe ankle injury at Colorado on Sept. 27, has started the last five matches and is averaging 10.40 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 three matches and is averaging a team-high 1.17 blocks per set during that span.
Freshman Kelsey Black has been the designated libero in each of the last five matches and has posted double-figure digs in four of those contests, including a career-high and team-high 23 against Nebraska on Nov. 5 and a team-high 17 against the Cyclones.
Junior outside hitter Jennifer Banse also has posted double-figure digs in four of the last five matches, including 20 digs against Nebraska, the second time she has reached 20 or more digs in her career.
Aggie head coach Laurie Corbelli is 338-158 in her 16th year as head coach of the Aggies and 438-264 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 BEARS
• Baylor (16-10, 7-8 Big 12) has won its last two matches, having swept Colorado in Boulder on Nov. 8 and non-conference TCU on Tuesday in Waco.
• The Bears are in fifth place in the Big 12 standings, one win ahead of A&M.
• Baylor is 11-3 in home matches. The Bears' only home losses were against No. 4 Texas, No. 13 Kansas State in five sets and Iowa State.
• Junior middle blocker Anne Breyfogle leads the Big 12 in blocks per set for both the full season (1.52) and in Big 12 matches only (1.50), but she has missed the last four matches with a shoulder injury.
• Junior outside hitter Katie Sanders leads the Bears and ranks seventh in the league with 3.53 kills and 4.03 points per set for the full season.
• Baylor leads the league with 1.53 aces per set for the full season. Individually, junior setter Taylor Barnes leads the league with 43 total aces and 0.46 aces per set.
• Barnes was a senior at Arlington Martin High School when A&M's Stephanie Minnerly and Chelsea Ringel were sophomores at Martin in 2005. All three were named to the Texas state all-tournament team after leading the Warriors to the 2005 high school state championship and a 38-7 record, with Barnes collecting MVP honors.
• In Baylor's most recent outing, Katie Sanders led all players with 14 kills while hitting .452 to lead the Bears to a 25-18, 26-24, 25-22 victory against TCU in a non-conference match Tuesday in Waco. Baylor outhit the Frogs, .321 to .237 and outblocked TCU 5 -1. In addition, the Bears tallied 10 aces in the three-set sweep.
• Jim Barnes (McNeese State `94) is 75-78 in his fifth season as head coach of the Bears.
THE A&M-BAYLOR ALL-TIME SERIES
• A&M leads the all-time series, 55-10, since 1976, including 19-6 in Big 12 matches only.
• A&M has won the last eight matches at Baylor to improve to 22-4 all-time against the Bears in Waco.
• Baylor's most recent home victory against A&M was Oct. 6, 1999, as the Bears upset then-14th-ranked A&M, 3-2 (11-15, 15-6, 15-10, 6-15, 15-12).
• Baylor has never swept a Big 12 season series against A&M, while A&M has completed a season-series sweep seven times against the Bears.
• Baylor won the most recent meeting between the two teams, defeating the Aggies, 3-1, in College Station on Oct. 17 to snap a two-match losing skid against A&M.
• In the most recent meeting, Katie Sanders and Ashlie Christenson tallied 17 kills apiece to lead Baylor to a 24-26, 25-20, 25-18, 27-25 victory against A&M at G. Rollie White Coliseum. Baylor outhit A&M, .270 to .148 in the match, posting 12.5 blocks to A&M's eight. Anna Breyfogle, who hit .478 with 12 kills, posted 12 blocks for the Bears, which remains the most by an A&M opponent this season. Mary Batis led A&M with 15 kills, and Sarah Ammerman added 14. Chelsea Ringel led the Aggies with 15 digs.
QUICK HITS
• A&M has only two more home matches remaining. 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 future status of volleyball's return to the Holler House will be evaluated upon completion of the renovation.
• The Aggies are in a must-win situation in each of the remaining five matches in order to finish above .500, a requirement to be eligible for the NCAA tournament.
• Three Aggies posted 20 or more digs against No. 3 Nebraska on Nov. 5 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 Oct. 25, giving her 1,009 kills for her career. She now has 1,064, ranking 11th in the A&M career records. Junior outside hitter Sarah Ammerman had 16 kills against Iowa State to also surpass 1,000 kills. She now has 1,003.
• Batis also is closing in on 1,000 career digs, needing only 36 more. She leads the team with 2.74 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 needs only 22 more assists to reach the 2,000 mark. Schevikhoven is averaging 11.11 assists per set for her career.
• 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. Baylor is 0-6 against Top 25 teams.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The Aggies conclude a two-match road swing at Oklahoma on Wednesday, Nov. 19. Match time is 7 p.m. at McCasland Field House in Norman. A&M then returns 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.