June 10, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -
2010 Texas A&M Volleyball Schedule in PDF Format 
A season-opening home tournament and an overall 14-match home slate highlight the 2010 Texas A&M volleyball schedule, announced by Aggie head coach Laurie Corbelli.
A&M is scheduled to play a total of 30 matches during the regular season. Thirteen of the matches will be against teams that appeared in the 2009 NCAA Championship tournament, including eight matches against schools that advanced to at least the third round.
"The strength of schedule is always there just by playing in the Big 12 Conference, but we know that we also need to compete out of conference," Corbelli said. "It helps to play non-conference teams that have advanced to the NCAAs, that have either won their conference tournament or their conference regular season. All of those things are in place to provide the kind of competition that we need."
The Aggies begin the season at Reed Arena as they host the Texas A&M Invitational, Aug. 27-28. A&M opens against Siena, which has appeared in the NCAA tournament four of the last five years, and Pacific, a member of the strong Big West Conference. The Aggies then conclude the tournament against defending Southeastern Conference champion LSU in a rematch of the 2009 NCAA second-round match which saw the Aggies upset the No. 15-seeded Tigers, 3-2, in Baton Rouge, La., to advance to the Sweet 16.
"Those are teams that either win or are ranked high in their conference," Corbelli said. "Siena won four straight conference titles until last season. LSU won the SEC, and Pacific plays some of the toughest competition in the nation with Long Beach State, Santa Barbara and Irvine, teams that are always vying for spots in the NCAA tournament."
A&M hosts Sam Houston State in a single mid-week match on Sept. 1 and then goes on the road for back-to-back weekend tournaments to close out the non-conference schedule. The Aggies, who face at least one NCAA tournament team in each of the three pre-conference tournaments, will take on Missouri State, North Carolina and Ohio, an NCAA second-round team, at the Missouri State JQH Invitational, Sept. 3-4, in Springfield, Mo., and then meet Jacksonville State, Denver and Gonzaga, Sept. 10-11, at the University of Denver Invitational.
Missouri State has been to the NCAA tournament four of the last five years. Ohio received its seventh consecutive postseason bid in 2009 and knocked off Notre Dame to advance to the second round. Jacksonville State also earned an automatic bid and reached the second round in 2009.
"Our pre-conference schedule is a really good blend of programs, and it's a real nice build up for Big 12 play," Corbelli said. "We want to have success early against good, solid, nationally known programs, and success against those teams will help propel us into the Big 12 with a lot of confidence and with some good competition experience."
A&M, which loses six seniors -- including four starters -- from a 20-11 team that ranked No. 21 in the 2009 final poll, then begins the demanding 20-match, 11-week Big 12 schedule. The perennial powerful league sent six teams - Baylor, Iowa State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M -- to the NCAA tournament last year and led the nation for most teams to reach the third round as all but Oklahoma advanced to at least the Sweet 16.
"The NCAAs this past season really highlighted what the Big 12 is really like," Corbelli said. "We are so fortunate to play in a great conference. It forces you to improve, forces you to challenge your team every day. Players know they are going to be challenged every week."
The youthful Aggies, who will not have a senior on the 2010 roster, open conference play by hosting rival Texas on a rare Thursday match on Sept. 16 at Reed Arena. The defending Big 12-champion Longhorns were the runners-up at the 2009 NCAA Championships, falling to Penn State, 3-2, in the finals.
A&M, which went 11-9 and tied for fourth in the league last year, completes the regular season with a grueling stretch against the Big 12's top three teams from a year ago, closing out against Iowa State (Nov. 21), Texas (Nov. 24) and Nebraska (Nov. 27), all of which were ranked No. 6 or higher in the 2009 final poll.
"I think the Big 12 is going to be super competitive and even more open as to who could win it and who could finish second through fifth," Corbelli said. "I think the preseason predictions are going to be all over the map.
"We graduated the bulk of players who had been in our program for a long time, so we definitely have our work cut out for us."
Corbelli will be relying on six returning letterwinners, including three sophomores who were starters as freshmen - middle blockers Caitlin Adams also return, as does middle blocker Stephanie Minnerly, who started the first three matches of her sophomore campaign before suffering a season-ending knee injury and receiving a medical hardship waiver.
In addition to the returners, Corbelli will be expecting contributions from eight newcomers as she looks to replace four-year starting outside hitters Sarah Ammerman, a third-team All-American, and Mary Batis, along with All-American honorable mention right-side hitter Jennifer Banse and three-year starting setter Kristen Schevikhoven, as well as back-up setter Jola Kelner and defensive specialist Dylan Faulkner.
The Aggies will be aiming to make their second consecutive and 15th overall NCAA appearance under Corbelli, who is entering her 18th season as head coach at A&M.
The NCAA Championship first and second rounds will be played Dec. 2-3, 3-4 or 4-5 on campus sites. NCAA Regionals will be Dec. 10-11 at Dayton, Ohio, University Park, Pa., Austin, Texas, and Seattle Wash. The semifinals and national championship match will be played Dec. 16 and 18, respectively, at the Spirit Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Season tickets and individual tickets to A&M home matches will be available for purchase online at www.AggieAthletics.com or by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE.