Sept. 28, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M hits the road to take on Colorado Wednesday in Boulder. Match time is 7:30 p.m. (6:30 MT) at the Coors Events Center. It will be the Aggies' last Big 12 match to be played at Colorado, as the Buffaloes become members of the Pac 10 Conference beginning next season.
Live stats and audio of the match will be available on AggieAthletics.com with A&M's Ryne Hillenberg calling the action. Live video is available for a fee at cubuffs.com.
A&M is 8-5 overall and 2-1 in Big 12 matches after disposing of Texas Tech, 25-14, 25-20, 25-23, Saturday in College Station. It was the Aggies' fifth victory - and fifth sweep - out of their last six matches, and it returned A&M to the win column after suffering a disappointing 3-2 loss at Kansas on Sept. 18 in the Aggies' first Big 12 road match of the season.
Colorado (5-5, 2-2 Big 12) is coming off back-to-back 3-2 home victories and is making an early point to prove wrong the naysayers who picked the Buffs to finish last in the league in a preseason poll of the Big 12 head coaches. The Buffs knocked off Kansas State, 25-22, 21-25, 14-25, 25-21, 15-10 on Wednesday, Sept. 22, and followed that on Saturday with a 25-23, 25-23, 13-25, 22-25, 15-13 win against Kansas, which was coming off a 3-2 victory against the Aggies. It marked the first time since 2008 that CU won consecutive league matches.
The contest against A&M concludes a three-match home stand for the Buffs, who are 3-2 in home matches this season.
A&M QUICK HITS:
• A&M junior outside hitter Kelsey Black has taken team-high honors in kills in all 13 matches and is second in the league with 4.04 kills per set. She also leads the Aggies and is ranked No. 1 in the Big 12 with 0.54 aces and 4.92 points per set. In the national stats, Black entered the week ranked 11th in the nation in aces per set and 35th in kills per set.
• Black has already twice tied the A&M all-time record for aces in a match this season for both a three-set match and a five-set match, posting six apiece against both Sam Houston State and Pacific.
• The trip to Colorado will be a homecoming of sorts for freshman reserve setter Allie Freiwald, who hails from Littleton, Colo., and attended Mullen High School in Denver. Freiwald has appeared in nine sets this season, including one set against Texas Tech on Saturday. Freiwald came off the bench for the final nine rallies of the first set and had three kills in three attempts with no errors, as well as three digs, to close out the 25-14 win.
• Sophomore Lindsey Miller is ranked in the top 8 in the Big 12 for hitting percentage, and aces and blocks per set in league matches only. The 6-2 middle blocker is fifth with a .367 hitting efficiency and 0.36 aces per set and is eighth with 1.27 blocks per set.
• Freshman setter Allie Sawatzky, who has started every match for the Aggies this season, ranks fourth in the Big 12 with 9.80 assists per set. She is fifth in the league with 9.73 assists per set in conference matches only.
• Sophomore libero Tori Mellinger has posted double figures in digs in each of the last four matches and 10 of the last 11. She is listed 10th in the league in digs with 3.83 per set for the full season.
• A&M is 7-0 this season when winning the first set. The Aggies also are 7-0 when outhitting their opponents.
• The Aggies no longer have any seniors on the roster as defensive specialist Sarah Grace was granted another year of eligibility by the NCAA on Friday, Sept. 17, the same day she received her Aggie Ring. Grace, who is in her first season with the Aggies and is now officially a junior, has played in every match this season, drawing three starts, and has appeared in 41 of 46 sets. She typically comes in for sophomore right-side hitter Alisia Kastmo in the back row and is averaging 1.46 digs per set and twice has posted double figures in digs.
• Laurie Corbelli, the winningest coach in A&M volleyball history, is 371-174 in her 18th season at the helm of the Aggies and 471-280 in the 25th season of her head coaching career.
A&M-COLORADO SERIES RECORDS:
• A&M leads the all-time series, 20-9, since the teams first met in 1994, including 19-9 in Big 12 matches only.
• The series is much closer in matches played in Boulder, where the Aggies own a narrow 9-6 series advantage.
• Overall, A&M has won five of the last six meetings against the Buffs and has swept the Big 12 season series six times. CU tallied its only season series sweep in 2006.
• CU's most recent win against the Aggies was a 3-2 (16-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-20, 15-9) victory on Sept. 27, 2008, in Boulder.
• In the last meeting, Mary Batis posted a match-high 13 kills to lead A&M to a 25-21, 25-19, 25-15 victory against Colorado at the Coors Events Center on Nov. 25, 2009. The Aggies tied a season high for blocks in a three-set match with 10. Jennifer Banse led A&M with five blocks apiece. A&M struggled offensively but still managed to outhit the Buffaloes, .160 to .053. The Aggies posted 45 kills to CU's 27 kills. Libero Kristen Schevikhoven led A&M with 12 digs apiece, and Sarah Ammerman and Banse also reached double figures with 10 digs each. Becah Fogle led the Buffs with 12 kills, and Sofia Lindroth led all players with 19 digs.
COLORADO TIDBITS:
• Colorado, 5-5 overall, is in a three-way tie with Missouri and Kansas State for sixth place in the Big 12 standings with a 2-2 conference record.
• The Buffaloes are coming off a 3-2 (25-23, 25-23, 13-25, 22-25, 15-13) victory over Kansas on Saturday. It was CU's second consecutive 3-2 win, having also topped Kansas State, 3-2, on Sept. 22.
• Kansas led CU in kills (67-63), hitting percentage (.227-.169), assists (63-54), digs (85-70) and blocks (12-9.5). CU led in aces (4-1), attack attempts (195-181) and attack errors (30-26).
• Kerra Schroeder led the Buffs with 21 kills while hitting .264. Richi Bigelow and Nichole Lindow pitched in 14 and 10 kills, respectively. Bigelow also tallied a team-high 13 digs.
• Junior setter Alyssa Valentine was named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week on Monday after averaging 10.60 assists in CU's wins against Kansas State and Kansas last week.
• Schroeder, a 6-0 sophomore outside hitter from San Diego, leads CU and is third in the Big 12 with 3.79 kills and 4.37 points per set for the full season. Freshman libero Megan Beckwith is eighth in the league with 3.92 digs per set.
• Colorado is 3-2 in home matches this season. The match against the Aggies concludes a three-match home stand for the Buffs.
• Liz Kritza (Tulane `00) is in her second season as head coach at Colorado.
UPCOMING:
A&M returns home to Reed Arena on Saturday to play host to Kansas State. First serve against the Wildcats is at 6:30 p.m. It will be Corps Night, and all members of the corps will be admitted free. Tickets are available at AggieAthletics.com.