Oct. 26, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
No. 25 Texas A&M (13-5, 6-4 Big 12) opens the second half of the Big 12 Conference schedule with a nationally televised State Farm Lone Star Showdown match against No. 2 Texas (16-0, 11-0 Big 12) on Wednesday at Reed Arena. First serve is at 7 p.m., and the match will be broadcast live by ESPNU with Beth Mowins and Cathy Nelson calling the action.
Everyone wearing a Halloween costume will be admitted free, and a contest will be held at the break. The Texas A&M student judged to have the best costume will win a $250 book scholarship.
In addition, there will be several pre-match activities for Junior Aggie Club members, including face painting and games taking place on the Southside entrance.
Tickets are $9 for reserved seats; $7 for adult general admission; and $4 for youth general admission. Children under 2 are admitted free in general admission sections.
A&M is in fifth place in the Big 12 standings, a half game behind fourth-place Baylor, after suffering its first home loss of the season in a 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-23) setback to unranked Oklahoma last Wednesday at Reed Arena. The Aggies, now 7-1 at Reed, had a bye on Saturday.
Texas maintained its stronghold on the conference lead and remained undefeated on the season with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-12, 25-15) thrashing of Colorado on Saturday in Austin. The sweep was the seventh straight for the Longhorns, who have dropped only one set in conference matches this season.
Texas A&M leads the nation in both assists (14.28) and kills (15.08) per set and is 16th in the country and second in the Big 12 with a .269 hitting efficiency. The Aggies are ranked third in the conference and 29th in the nation with 16.61 digs per set for the full season.
Aggie senior setter Kristen Schevikhoven, second in the Big 12 and 17th in the nation with 11.37 assists per set, directs a well-balanced A&M offense that has three players averaging more than three kills per set, including senior outside hitter Sarah Ammerman, who leads the team and is ranked second in the Big 12 with 4.16 kills per set and third with 4.62 points per set. Senior right-side hitter Jennifer Banse is hitting .299 and is second on the team and sixth in the Big 12 for both kills (3.46) and points (3.83) points per set, and senior outside hitter Mary Batis, who is ranked in A&M's top 10 records for career kills, points and digs, is averaging 3.02 kills per set for the full season.
Freshmen middle blockers Lindsey Miller and Alisia Kastmo also are an offensive threat and are hitting a combined .327 and are ranked in the Big 12 top 10 for hitting percentage.
Meanwhile, freshman libero Tori Mellinger anchors the back row defense and has posted double figures in digs in 11 of the last 13 matches. The Lake Highlands High School product leads the Aggies and is ranked eighth in the Big 12 with 3.97 digs per set in league contests only.
A&M-TEXAS SERIES RECORDS
• Texas has won the last 10 matches against A&M and is 60-22 in the all-time series since 1976.
• Texas, A&M's most common opponent, leads the Aggies, 21-12 in matches played in College Station, 32-4 in matches played in Austin and 7-6 in matches played at neutral sites.
• In Big 12 matches only, Texas leads, 17-10, although A&M holds an 8-5 lead in Big 12 matches played in College Station.
• 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 in College Station.
MOST RECENT MEETING
The teams last met Sept. 30 at Gregory Gym in Austin. Sarah Ammerman combined for 29 kills and a .410 hitting percentage for A&M, but it wasn't enough as No. 2 Texas held off the Aggies, 28-26, 25-20, 25-21.
Texas fought off three set points to take the opening stanza. There were 18 ties and seven lead changes in the frame with the biggest lead by either team coming at the start of the match as A&M opened with four unanswered points. Texas would later take a 22-21 lead, but a Longhorn attack error and a kill by A&M's Kristen Schevikhoven put the Aggies at set point.
A&M's next attack sailed just long to put the score at 24-24, but Texas served into the net to put A&M up 25-24. A kill by Texas' Rachael Adams tied the score for the 17th time before Ammerman put down her fifth kill to put A&M serving for the set for the third time. Sha'Dare McNeal kept the Horns alive with a kill, and then back-to-back A&M attack errors gave Texas the set.
Banse and Ammerman had seven and five kills, respectively, and hit .385 apiece in the set as A&M outhit the Horns, .224 to .217.
A&M built an 11-6 lead in the second set before Texas went on an 11-2 scoring run to take a 17-13 lead. The Aggies got within three points at 23-20 before a Texas kill and an A&M attack error closed out the set.
Texas got six kills apiece from Juliann Faucette and Destinee Hooker and outhit A&M, .364 to .212, in the set.
A&M tied the score three times in the third set but was unable to take a lead as Texas completed the sweep. A kill by Banse tied the score at 7-7, but it would be the final tie of the set as Texas went on a 5-1 scoring run to build what would be its largest lead of the set.
A&M cut the gap to a point at 17-16 following back-to-back kills by Banse, but a service error put Texas back up, 18-16. Ammerman then got a kill from the back row to put A&M within 18-17 before Texas scored three unanswered points to go up 21-17. The teams then traded point for point to close out the match.
Banse led the Aggies with 15 kills while hitting at a .429 clip. Ammerman added 14 kills with a .394 hitting percentage, and Schevikhoven finished with 35 assists. Mary Batis led A&M with 11 digs, and Miller had a team-best three blocks as the Aggies led the Horns, 5.5 to 4.0 in blocks.
Hooker led all players with 17 kills and hit .469 to help Texas to a .315 to .225 hitting percentage advantage. Faucette finished with 14 kills, and libero Heather Kisner had a match-high 16 digs.
AGGIE QUICK HITS
• A&M remained in the AVCA Top 25 for a third straight week on Oct. 26, although the Aggies fell four spots to No. 25. A&M broke into the poll for the first time this season at No. 22 on Oct. 12, marking A&M's first appearance in the Top 25 since the Aggies made a one-week appearance at No. 25 on Sept. 10, 2007. Last week's No. 21 ranking marked A&M's highest ranking since being ranked No. 20 on Sept. 19, 2005.
• The Aggies continue to lead the nation with 14.28 assists and 15.08 kills per set and are ranked 16th in the country with a .269 hitting percentage. A&M is ranked 29th in the nation with 16.61 digs per set.
• As for individuals listed among the national statistical leaders, setter Kristen Schevikhoven is 17th with 11.37 assists per set. Outside hitter Sarah Ammerman is 35th with 4.16 kills per set and 39th with 4.62 points per set, and middle blocker Lindsey Miller ranks 99th with a .329 hitting percentage.
• A&M leads the Big 12 for both aces per set (1.33) and fewest aces allowed (0.61) for the full season; however, there are no A&M players ranked in the Big 12's individual top 10 for ace average. Freshman libero Tori Mellinger leads the A&M starters with 0.24 aces per set.
• A&M has three players averaging more than three kills per set for the full season: Sarah Ammerman, 4.16 kps; Jennifer Banse, 3.46 kps; and Mary Batis, 3.02 kps. In addition, three players are averaging more than three digs per set: Tori Mellinger, 3.50 dps; Batis, 3.37 dps; and Ammerman, 3.20 dps.
• Senior right-side hitter Jennifer Banse has had the hot hand over the last five matches, reaching double figures in kills in every match while hitting .371 and averaging 4.0 kills, 3.0 digs and 4.38 points per set during the stretch. For the season, the San Antonio native is hitting .299 and averaging 3.46 kills and 2.74 digs per set.
• Sarah Ammerman has posted double figures in kills in a career-best 11 consecutive matches. Her previous longest streak for double-digit kills was seven to close out the 2008 season.
• Freshman libero Tori Mellinger, who has posted double figures in digs in 11 of the last 13 matches, has taken team-high honors in digs in a team-leading eight matches. Mellinger set a career high and led all players with 24 digs in the 3-1 win at No. 17 Baylor. At the time, her 24 digs equaled the most by any player in the Big 12 in a four-set conference match this season.
• A&M is 2-2 against Top 25 opponents this season. In its first match against a ranked opponent this season, A&M upset No. 6 Nebraska, 3-1, in a nationally televised match at Reed Arena on Sept. 23, snapping a 19-match losing skid against the Huskers. It 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 other ranked victory this season was at No. 17 Baylor, 3-1, on Oct. 10. Loses were both sweeps at No. 2 Texas on Sept. 30 and at No. 13 Iowa state on Oct. 14. The last time A&M defeated a team in the top two was Sept. 8, 1995, as the Aggies knocked off No. 1 Stanford, 3-2, at the USA Mizuno Cup in Chicago.
• Ammerman ranks ninth in the A&M career record books with 1,320 kills. She needs 10 more kills to move into eighth place, surpassing Elizabeth Edmiston, who had 1,329 from 1989-92. Ammerman also is third in career points with 1497.5.
• Senior setter Kristen Schevikhoven is seventh in the A&M career records with 2,690 assists, and Mary Batis is fourth in career points (1,458.5), ninth in digs (1,203) and 10th in kills (1,289).
• An A&M player will be presented the State Farm Scholar Athlete Award prior to the match. Presenting the award are two State Farm agents who also happen to be Aggie volleyball moms: Kathleen Banse, mother of senior right-side hitter Jennifer Banse, and Hazel Russell, mother of freshman middle blocker Julia Russell.
• The A&M-Texas match is the second 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, although Texas currently holds a 1/2-0 lead this season with its win in volleyball on Sept. 30.
• 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.
• Ammerman's career-high 25 digs against Missouri on Sept. 26 marks 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, when the 30-point scoring system was in effect. Ammerman ranks third on the team with 3.20 digs per set for the full season and is second on the squad with a 3.60 average in Big 12 matches only.
• 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. It also is the highest hitting percentage by a Big 12 team this season.
• The Aggies, who tied eventual NCAA-regional finalist Iowa State for fourth place in the Big 12 with an 11-9 league record 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 356-163 in her 17th year as head coach of the Aggies and 456-269 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 (.686).
A QUICK LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS
• No. 2 Texas (16-0, 11-0 Big 12) joins No. 1 Penn State as the only two undefeated Division I teams 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 posted its seventh consecutive sweep, defeating Colorado, 25-23, 25-12, 25-15 Saturday in Austin. Texas outhit the Buffaloes, .443 to .188. Juliann Faucette and Jennifer Doris led the Horns with eight kills apiece.
• Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Destinee Hooker leads the Big 12 and is ranked third in the nation with 5.66 points per set and fifth in the nation with 4.72 kills per set.
• 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 201-62 in his ninth season as head coach of the Horns.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The Aggies begin a two-match road swing, taking on Kansas on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center in Lawrence. A&M returns to the Sunflower State next Wednesday, taking on Kansas State in Manhattan in a match that will be televised on FSN-KC. First serve against the Wildcats is 7 p.m. at Ahearn Field House.