June 5, 2009
Complete Schedule in PDF Format 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - A season-opening home tournament and an overall 13-match home slate highlight the 2009 Texas A&M volleyball schedule, announced by Aggie head coach Laurie Corbelli.
A&M is scheduled to play a total of 28 matches during the regular season. Eleven of the 28 matches will be against teams that advanced to the 2008 NCAA Championship, including four against Final Four participants Nebraska and Texas, as well as two matches against regional finalist Iowa State.
Thirteen matches will be played at Reed Arena, the Aggies' new home after playing their first 34 years at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
"It will be exciting to open the new home of Aggie Volleyball in Reed Arena," Corbelli said. "It is the main stage, the biggest arena in the area, and we are really looking forward to filling it up so that it can have the same kind of atmosphere that we were used to at G. Rollie. The administration has worked really hard to make sure it is ready and in top-notch shape for us."
The Aggies open the season and make their Reed Arena debut at the Texas A&M Invitational, August 28-29. A&M will face Iona, Virginia and Northern Iowa, which went 25-9 and fell to Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA Championship.
"We were really searching to get the highest RPI (ratings power index) group that we could," Corbelli said. "After months of discussions and considering the budget cuts teams are dealing with around the country, we feel like we are fortunate to settle in with this group. They are programs that will offer some good competition for us to get started."
The Aggies then head to Northern California for matches at Saint Mary's and the University of San Francisco, Sept. 5 and 6, respectively. Both teams participated in the NCAA tournament last season and finished with a top-50 RPI.
"We factored in a lot of different things to get to take a trip out there, and once again the RPI from last year fit our guideline on how we wanted to schedule," said Corbelli, who spent the first four years of her head coaching career at USF. "We will have our hands full, yet we really like the styles of play that both teams offer. Saint Mary's is a really tall team, and when you get to the Big 12 that is all you see. So it will be great competition for us and very important that we bring our top game, bring our very, very best volleyball."
The Aggies close out the non-conference schedule at the Texas State CenturyTel Premier, where they will face Hofstra, Texas Southern and Texas State. Southern California, No. 13 in the 2008 final poll, had originally committed to the tournament but pulled out for financial reasons.
"We were obviously disappointed USC dropped out," Corbelli said, "but the tournament is close to home for us. We have lots of supporters up and down the I-35 corridor, so it was a good spot for us and the teams will give us some strong competition once again and give us a chance to get ready for Big 12 play."
A&M opens the perennial powerful Big 12 schedule at Texas Tech on Sept. 19 and then plays host to NCAA semifinalist and third-ranked Nebraska on Sept. 23. The Aggies, who tied Iowa State for fourth place in the league with an 11-9 mark last year, close out the regular season on Nov. 28 against Missouri at Reed Arena.
"Just going off the notion that three of our top four teams were in the Elite Eight last season and most teams did not graduate many athletes, the conference is once again going to be incredibly competitive," Corbelli said. "You ask anybody that even remotely knows college volleyball, they would say Nebraska and Texas are the top picks. Three through nine is going to be up for grabs. I anticipate a lot of five-set matches up and down the board, and who knows what the outcome is going to be. It is going to be a lot of fun, and hopefully the selection committee will see the value and the strength of our conference, which has not been recognized quite as much as I think it should be. "
Corbelli returns six seniors and nine letterwinners overall, including four starters and the libero, from last year's team that went 16-14 after closing the season with a six-match winning streak. Despite tying Iowa State for fourth, the Aggies missed the NCAA tournament for a third consecutive year.
"Being 21-10 in one year and then tied for fourth in the Big 12 the next year and still not getting an invitation really doesn't sit very well with the players or the staff," Corbelli said. "So for whatever it is going to take, we are willing to get it done. The adrenaline is going to be there, the excitement, the determination. It is not going to take a lot of work to get this group fired up.
"Plus, the seniors that we have and the experience just speaks volumes, as well as the confidence that the team has and the leadership. So we obviously have high hopes that our experience will help us achieve our goals. "
In addition to the team's experience and determination, Corbelli expects last year's season-ending six-match winning streak as well as an undefeated spring season will give her team both a confidence and momentum boost entering the 2009 campaign.
"We were undefeated in the spring without middle blockers, so we are really encouraged. We have a lot of excitement and momentum. And with (strength and conditioning coach) Raychelle Ellsworth's efforts and our efforts and the team knowing that they can win, especially on the road at tough places, we feel great about where we stand right now.
"It is exciting. The season is 10 weeks away and we have to be ready. I trust that this group wants it that badly and that they will be ready."
Season tickets and individual tickets to A&M home matches will be available for purchase online at www.12thmanfoundation or by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE.
For complete 2009 volleyball schedule, go to AggieAthletics.com.