Volleyball Hosts No. 6 Nebraska in Nationally Televised Match
Sep 22, 2009 | Volleyball
Sept. 22, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -
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The Texas A&M volleyball team opens its Big 12 Conference home slate with a nationally televised match against No. 6 Nebraska on Wednesday at Reed Arena. First serve is at 6 p.m., and the match will be broadcast live by ESPNU with Beth Mowins and Cathy Nelson calling the action.
It will be Fish Camp Night at Reed, and all fans wearing a Fish Camp T-shirt will be admitted free.
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. Single match as well as season tickets can be purchased at the Reed Arena entrance, online at AggieAthletics.com, or by calling 888-99-AGGIE.
The Aggies (8-1, 1-0 Big 12) enter the match riding a five-match winning streak after defeating Texas Tech, 25-25, 25-11, 25-17, in Lubbock on Saturday. A&M hit a season-high .465 with 44 kills and only four errors in 86 attempts as the Aggies also recorded their fifth consecutive sweep and their seventh sweep of the season.
The Huskers improved to 9-2 overall and 2-0 in Big 12 matches after sweeping Colorado, 25-15, 25-22, 25-13, Saturday in Boulder.
Nebraska has won the last 19 meetings against the Aggies after narrowly escaping College Station last year with a 3-2 victory -- including a 15-13 fifth-set win -- at G. Rollie White Coliseum in the most recent match-up.
Texas A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli and Nebraska head coach John Cook enter the match with 451 career victories apiece, the most Division I wins by any coach in the Big 12.
A&M enters the week leading the Big 12 in both assists (14.76) and kills (15.55) per set and is ranked second in the league with a .311 hitting percentage and 1.59 aces per set. The Aggies, however, are last in blocking with a 1.53 average.
A&M is allowing the fewest digs (11.83) and aces (0.52) per set in the league. The Aggies also are holding opponents to a .157 hitting efficiency, allowing 10.10 kills, 9.34 assists, and 1.71 blocks per set.
Individually, senior setter Kristen Schevikhoven and freshman middle blocker Sarah Ammerman is second in the conference in both kills (4.08) and points (4.58) per set, and senior right-side hitter Jennifer Banse is fifth in the league with 3.68 kills per set and sixth with 4.05 points per set.
SERIES RECORDS
• Nebraska leads the all-time series, 29-6, and has won the last 19 matches against the Aggies.
• Nebraska is 12-2 against A&M in matches played in College Station. This will be the first time the teams have faced off at Reed Arena.
• The Huskers are 24-2 against A&M in Big 12 matches only.
• The Aggies' 19-match losing skid against Nebraska marks A&M's longest current losing streak against a single opponent.
• A&M's two Big 12 wins against the Huskers came in 1998 and 1999, both five-set victories at G. Rollie White Coliseum in College Station.
• Nebraska won both meetings last year, defeating A&M, 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-13) in Lincoln on Oct. 22 and then holding off the Aggies, 3-2 (23-25, 25-17, 25-14, 20-25, 15-13) in College Station on Nov. 5.
• In the most recent meeting, A&M's Sarah Ammerman hit .304 with 20 kills and 21 digs. Mary Batis added 15 kills and Kelsey Black had 23 digs against the third-ranked Huskers, who had swept A&M in each of the previous 10 meetings and had won 32 consecutive sets against the Aggies. Serving proved to be a major factor as Nebraska posted 11 aces, while A&M had none. Tara Mueller and Jordan Larson led Nebraska with 19 and 17 kills, respectively, and Kayla Banwarth had 27 digs and three aces. Larson also added eight blocks as the Huskers outblocked A&M, 13-9.
• A&M plays in Lincoln on Friday, Nov. 13. The Aggies have never defeated Nebraska in 16 trips to Lincoln.
A LOOK AT NEBRASKA
• Nebraska is 9-2 overall, including 2-0 in Big 12 matches.
• The Huskers moved up two spots to No. 6 in the Top 25 Poll after defeating Colorado, 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-13) in Boulder on Saturday.
• Lindsey Licht led the Huskers with 16 kills while hitting .481, and All-American Tara Mueller added 11 kills (.350) as Nebraska outhit Colorado, .183 to .042. CU led the Huskers in blocks, 13-7.
• Mueller leads the team with 3.30 kills per set. Licht is averaging 2.33 kps, and Brooke Delano is averaging 2.32 kps while hitting a team-high .367. Delano also leads the team with 1.24 blocks per set, and Kayla Banwarth leads the Huskers with 4.60 digs per set.
• Nebraska is holding opponents to a .117 hitting percentage, the best in the Big 12. The Huskers are second in the league with 2.65 blocks per set.
• Nebraska's two losses were against No. 16 Michigan, 3-0, in the season opener, and against No. 8 UCLA, 3-2, on Sept. 13 in Lincoln.
• Nebraska was picked to finish second in the Big 12, according to a preseason vote of the league coaches. The Huskers have won or tied for the Big 12 championship 12 of 13 seasons. Kansas State is the only other school to have won the Big 12 title outright, having captured the championship in 2003.
• John Cook (San Diego `79) is 451-94 in his 17th season as a head coach, including 290-21 in his 10th season at Nebraska.
AGGIE QUICK HITS
• Seven of A&M's eight victories this season have been sweeps, including each of the last five matches. Other than a 3-1 loss at Saint Mary's on Sept. 5, A&M has lost only one set, a 3-1 victory over Northern Iowa in the championship match of the Texas A&M Invitational on Aug. 29.
• A&M's .465 hitting percentage against Texas Tech on Saturday ranks ninth in the school record books and third all-time in Big 12 matches only.
• A&M's match against Nebraska will be its first match against a Top 25 opponent. A&M. A&M's most recent victory against a ranked opponent was against No. 16 BYU, 3-1, on Sept. 6, 2008, at G. Rollie White Coliseum. A&M's last victory over a top-10 team was against No. 9 Texas, 3-1, on Oct. 16, 2004, at G. Rollie.
• Aggie seniors Kristen Schevikhoven and Husker junior right-side hitter Lindsey Licht are all products of Front Range Volleyball Club and teamed together to lead FRVC to a fifth-place finish at the 2006 Junior Olympic Volleyball Championships, as well as the 2006 AAU national championship.
• Aggie sophomore outside hitter/libero Kelsey Black and Husker senior middle blocker Kori Cooper were teammates on the 2005 Amarillo High School team, coached by Jan Barker.
• Senior outside hitter Sarah Ammerman needs 13 kills to give her 1,198 for her career and move her into 10th place in the A&M record books. She will pass former first-team All-American middle blocker Amber Woolsey (1995-99).
• Senior outside Mary Batis moved into ninth place in the career kills records against Texas State earlier this season and now has 1,211.
• Also 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 nine matches, while 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. Mellinger has played in 26 of 29 sets and has been the designated libero in each of the last five matches. She has posted double figures in digs in a team-leading five matches, including each of the last four, and she ranks second on the team with 3.00 digs per set.
• A&M continues to receive votes in the AVCA coaches poll and is listed a season-high 27th after being 28th last week. The Aggies are slated to play eight matches against teams ranked in the preseason Top 25: two matches each against No. 2 Texas, No. 6 Nebraska, No. 11 Iowa State and No. 24 Baylor. In addition, A&M will play two matches against Big 12 opponent Kansas State, which is tied for 38th. Northern Iowa, who A&M defeated earlier in the season, is receiving points and is tied with the Wildcats at 38th. Saint Mary's, which defeated A&M, 3-1, in Moraga, Calif., also is receiving points and is listed 35th.
• 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.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE The Aggies will be on the road for their next two matches. A&M faces Missouri on Saturday. First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m. at the Hearnes Center in Columbia. The Aggies then head to Austin, Texas, on Wednesday, Sept. 30 for a State Farm Lone Star Showdown match against No. 2 Texas. Match time has been changed to 7:30 p.m. at Gregory Gym.
