Sept. 29, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
The Texas A&M and Texas volleyball teams will battle Wednesday in Austin in the first State Farm Lone Star Showdown contest of the year. Match time is 7:30 p.m. at Gregory Gym.
A live audio broadcast of the match will be available at AggieAthletics.com with Matt Simon calling the action. In addition, the match will be televised on Time Warner Cable's `Texas Channel' in select markets around the state.
The Aggies are 9-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big 12 Conference after suffering their first conference loss of the season, a 3-2 (21-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-19, 12-13) setback at Missouri on Saturday. The loss snapped A&M's six-match winning streak.
Texas, ranked No. 2 in the nation, improved to 9-0 overall record, 4-0 in Big 12 matches, with a 3-1 (25-22, 18-25, 25-17, 15-17) victory at No. 6 Nebraska on Saturday. The Longhorns have won the last nine meetings against the Aggies.
Both teams are among the league leaders, as well as national leaders, in several statistical categories. A&M enters the match leading the Big 12 in both assists (14.06) and kills (14.82) per set and ranked No. 2 and No. 4 in the nation in the respective categories. In addition, the Aggies are second in the Big 12 and 19th in the nation with a .273 hitting percentage, as well as second in the Big 12 with 1.47 aces per set and third in digs with a 16.13 average.
Texas leads the nation with 3.39 blocks per set and leads the Big 12 and ranks third in the nation with a .315 hitting efficiency.
Individually, Aggie senior setter Kristen Schevikhoven ranks second in the league and 10th in the nation with 11.70 assists per set. Her main target has been senior outside hitter Sarah Ammerman, who ranks second in the conference in points (4.52) per set and third in kills (4.00) per set. Other steady go-tos are senior outside hitter Mary Batis, who is seventh in the Big 12 with 3.37 kills per set, and senior right-side hitter Jennifer Banse, who also is averaging more then 3.0 kills per set with a 3.06 average.
Aggie freshmen middle blockers Alisia Kastmo and Lindsey Miller are both in the top 10 in the conference for hitting percentage. Kastmo is listed third with a .370 hitting efficiency, and Miller is seventh as she is hitting .355 for the full season.
SERIES RECORDS
• Texas has won the last nine matches against A&M and is 59-22 in the all-time series since 1976.
• Texas, A&M's most common opponent, leads the Aggies, 16-10 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.
• Then-No. 3 ranked Texas swept the season series for the fourth consecutive year last season, topping the Aggies, 25-13, 23-25, 25-16, 25-18, on Oct. 15 victory at G. Rollie White Coliseum and 25-19, 26-24, 25-20 on Nov. 1 in Austin.
In the match at College Station, 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. Sarah Ammerman led the Aggies with 15 kills apiece, and setter Jola Kelner posted a career-high and match-high 15 digs.
In Austin, Texas came from behind in each of the first two sets -- fighting off four set points in the second -- and held the lead throughout most of the final set to complete the sweep. Hooker once again led the Horns, posting 13 kills as Texas outhit A&M, .344 to .121, and outblocked the Aggies, 9-6, for the match. Kristen Schevikhoven led the Aggies with eight digs, and Kelsey Bryant and Banse had a team-leading two blocks apiece.
A LOOK AT TEXAS
• Texas (9-0, 4-0 Big 12) joins No. 1 Penn State and No. 3 Washington as the only undefeated teams in the Top 25 despite playing one of the most difficult schedules of any team in the Big 12.
• The Longhorns, who are alone at the top of the Big 12 standings, are 8-0 against top-25 opponents, including 4-0 against teams ranked in the top 10.
• Most recently, Texas snapped No. 6 Nebraska's 82-match home winning streak and won for the first time at NU Coliseum since 1988 with a 25-22, 18-25, 25-17, 25-17 victory over the Huskers on Saturday in Lincoln. Senior 6-4 outside hitter Destinee Hooker led the Longhorns with 15 kills while hitting .308 as Texas outhit Nebraska, .239 to .132.
• Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Destinee Hooker is living up to her billing, averaging 4.46 kills and 5.23 points per set while hitting .374 in conference matches only. For the full season, she leads the league with 4.44 kills and 5.30 points per set, and she is ninth in the Big 12 with a .336 hitting percentage.
• Texas, which advanced to the NCAA Final Four last year and has shared the Big 12 championship with Nebraska each of the last two seasons, is picked to win the Big 12 this season, according to a preseason vote of the league coaches.
• Jerritt Elliott (Cal State Northridge `91) is 194-62 in his ninth season as head coach of the Horns.
AGGIE QUICK HITS
• Texas will be the second top 10 opponent the Aggies have faced in the last three matches. On Sept. 23, A&M upset No. 6 Nebraska, 3-1, at Reed Arena in College Station, snapping a 19-match losing skid against the Huskers. It was A&M's first win against a ranked opponent since defeating No. 16 BYU, 3-1, on Sept. 6, 2008, at G. Rollie White Coliseum. It also marked A&M's first win against a top-10 team since defeating No. 9 Texas, 3-1, on Oct. 16, 2004, at G. Rollie. Furthermore, it was A&M's first victory against a team ranked No. 6 or higher since defeating No. 6 Wisconsin, 3-0, at Stanford on Dec. 7, 2001, in the NCAA regional semifinals. The victory against the Badgers sent the Aggies to the Elite Eight for the second -- and most recent -- time in school history.
• A&M lists two players who hail from Austin: freshman middle blocker Abby Howden and senior defensive specialist Dylan Faulkner. Howden attended Westlake High School and her older sister, Bethany, played volleyball for Texas (2001-04) and was an All-American middle blocker as a senior. In addition, Howden's father, Lynn, played basketball for the Longhorns and still holds the school single-game rebounding record with 24. Faulkner attended St. Michael's Academy.
• A&M's .465 hitting percentage in the Big 12 opener at Texas Tech on Sept. 19 ranks ninth in the school record books and third all-time in A&M's Big 12 matches only.
• Sarah Ammerman career-high 25 digs against Missouri on Saturday marked the most digs in a match by an A&M player since former libero Holly Clay had 28 at Texas Tech on Oct. 22, 2005. The senior outside hitter ranks third on the team with 3.03 digs per set for the full season.
• Senior outside Mary Batis, who ranks ninth in the A&M career kills records with 1,244, has 1,141 career digs and is 30 digs away from breaking into the school's top 10 in career digs.
• Senior outside hitter Sarah Ammerman had 18 kills against No. 6 Nebraska on Wednesday to give her 1,203 for career, moving her into 10th place in the A&M record books. She surpassed former first-team All-American middle blocker Amber Woolsey (1995-99).
• At the CenturyTel Premier earlier this season, senior setter Kristen Schevikhoven moved into eighth place in the A&M records for assists with 2,357. She surpassed Genny (Wood) Volpe (1990-93), who had 2,309 in her career and is currently the head coach at Rice University.
• Freshmen middle blockers Lindsey Miller and Alisia Kastmo and freshman libero Tori Mellinger have played in every match this season. Miller has started all 11 matches and is second on the team with a .355 hitting percentage. Kastmo moved into the starting lineup in the fourth match of the season after sophomore middle blocker Stephanie Minnerly went down with a torn ACL against Northern Iowa and leads the Aggies with a .370 hitting efficiency. Mellinger has played in all but three sets and has been the designated libero in each of the last seven matches. She has posted double figures in digs in a team-leading seven matches, including each of the last six, and she ranks second on the team with 3.37 digs per set.
• A&M continues to receive votes in the AVCA coaches poll and equals its season high with a listing of 27th for the second consecutive week.
• The Aggies, 1-0 against Top 25 teams, are slated to play a total of eight matches against teams ranked in this week's Top 25: two matches each against No. 2 Texas, No. 10 Nebraska, No. 14 Iowa State and No. 19 Baylor. Northern Iowa, who A&M defeated earlier in the season, is receiving points and is 37th. Saint Mary's, which defeated A&M, 3-1, in Moraga, Calif., also is receiving points and is listed 40th.
• The Aggies, who went 11-9 to tie eventual NCAA-regional finalist Iowa State for fourth place in the Big 12 last year, have been picked to finish fourth in the league this season, according to a preseason poll of the conference coaches. Defending Big 12 co-champions Texas and Nebraska are picked to finish first and second, respectively, with Iowa State following at third place. A&M is followed by Baylor, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and Texas Tech.
• Aggie head coach Laurie Corbelli is 352-160 in her 17th year as head coach of the Aggies and 452-266 in the 24th season of her head coaching career. She is A&M's winningest coach in terms of total victories and ranks second for winning percentage (.688). In addition, her 452 career wins leads all coaches in the Big 12 for Division I victories.
• The A&M-Texas match is the first competition in this year's State Farm Lone Star Showdown, the official moniker for all varsity men's and women's athletics competitions between the state's two flagship state institutions. A half point will be awarded to the winning school on Wednesday. A&M has won the overall State Farm Lone Star Showdown each of the last two years.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
A&M returns home to Reed Arena Saturday to play host to the Kansas Jayhawks. The start time has been changed to 2 p.m. to allow fans the opportunity to also watch the Aggie football game against Arkansas, which kicks at 6:30 p.m. at Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and will be televised on ESPN2. The Aggies then conclude a brief two-match homestand on Wednesday, Oct. 7 against Kansas State. First serve against the Wildcats is 6:30 p.m.