Oct. 1, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Texas A&M returns home Saturday night to play host to Kansas State at Reed Arena. First serve against the Wildcats is slated for 6:30 p.m.
It will be Corps Night at Reed, and all members of the corps will be admitted free.
Tickets are $9 for reserved seating; $7 for adult general admission; and $4 for youth general admission. Children under 2 are admitted free in general admission sections. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Reed Arena entrance, online at AggieAthletics.com, or by calling 888-99-AGGIE. Also group rates are available by contacting the ticket office in advance. Tickets also can be purchased at the door beginning one hour prior to the match.
Free live audio, with Ryne and Lara Hillenberg calling the action, as well as free live video and stats will be available at AggieAthletics.com.
A&M has won six of its last seven matches to improve to 9-5 overall and 3-1 in Big 12 matches only. The Aggies, who are tied with Texas for second place in the conference standings, won their second consecutive match with a crucial 3-2 (25-22, 25-17, 18-25, 23-25, 15-6) Big 12 road victory against Colorado on Wednesday in Boulder. Junior outside hitter Kelsey Black led A&M with 18 kills against the Buffaloes, and junior outside hitter Chelsea Ringel posted the first double-double of her career with a personal-best 13 kills and 11 digs.
K-State also is coming off a 3-2 win after holding off non-conference foe Missouri-Kansas City 25-23, 20-25, 22-25, 25-11, 15-10 Tuesday in Manhattan. It snapped a two-match losing skid for the Wildcats, who were coming off a 3-2 loss at Colorado and a 3-1 home loss to Missouri last week.
A&M QUICK HITS:
• A&M junior outside hitter Kelsey Black has taken team-high honors in kills in all 14 matches and is tied for first in the league with 4.00 kills per set. She also leads the Aggies and is ranked No. 1 in the Big 12 with 0.49 aces and 4.84 points per set. In the national stats, Black entered the week ranked 11th in the nation in aces per set, 21st in points per set and 35th in kills per set.
• Junior outside hitter Chelsea Ringel, whose mother, the former Janet Gnadt, lettered in volleyball at Kansas State in 1981, is coming off the first double-double performance of her career after posting a career-high 13 kills and tallying 11 digs in the Aggies' 3-2 victory at Colorado on Wednesday.
• A&M is 8-0 this season when winning the first set. The Aggies also are 8-0 when outhitting their opponents and 8-0 when hitting .200 or above.
• A&M is ranked 18th in the nation in home attendance, averaging 1,778 per match in six home contests. The Aggies are 4-2 in home matches this season, including 2-0 in home Big 12 matches.
• Sophomore libero Tori Mellinger has posted double figures in digs in each of the last five matches and 11 of the last 12. She is listed 10th in the league in digs with 3.86 digs per set for the full season. She has posted 20 or more digs three times this season, including a career-high and team season-high 24 in a 3-2 victory against North Carolina on Sept. 4.
• Kelsey 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.
• Sophomore Lindsey Miller is ranked in the top 10 in the Big 12 for blocks and aces per set in league matches only. The 6-2 middle blocker is seventh with 1.19 blocks per set and is tied for ninth with 0.25 aces per set.
• Freshman setter Allie Sawatzky, who has started every match for the Aggies this season, ranks fourth in the Big 12 with 9.71 assists per set. She is sixth in the league with 9.50 assists per set in conference matches only. Sawatzky had a career-high eight kills against Colorado and registered her third double-double of the season with 45 assists and 11 digs.
• Setter Markie Malone, a 5-11 redshirt sophomore transfer from BYU, became eligible to play on Sept. 24 and suited up for the Texas Tech match.
• 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 45 of 51 sets. She typically comes in for sophomore right-side hitter Alisia Kastmo in the back row and is averaging 1.47 digs per set and twice has posted double figures in digs.
• Laurie Corbelli, the winningest coach in A&M volleyball history, is 372-174 in her 18th season at the helm of the Aggies and 472-280 in the 25th season of her head coaching career.
A&M-KANSAS STATE SERIES RECORDS:
• K-State leads the overall series, 17-12, since the teams first met in 1981. The Wildcats are 17-11 against A&M in Big 12 matches only.
• Last year, A&M snapped a four-match losing skid against K-State with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-25, 25-17) victory at Reed Arena on October 7 to improve to 10-4 against the Wildcats in matches played in College Station. K-State earned a split in the season series by defeating the Aggies, 25-20, 25-27, 25-22, 21-25, 16-14, on Nov. 4 in Manhattan.
• A&M is 10-4 against the Wildcats in matches played in College Station and 1-13 all-time in Manhattan. The Aggies' only win at Ahearn Field House was a three-game sweep on Nov. 4, 2006. Each of the last three meetings in Manhattan have gone five sets.
A LOOK AT THE WILDCATS:
• Kansas State is 8-7 overall and tied with Oklahoma for fifth place in the Big 12 with a 2-2 league mark.
• K-State is coming off a 25-23, 20-25, 22-25, 25-11, 15-10 victory over UMKC on Tuesday in Manhattan. Freshman Kaitlynn Pelger led the Wildcats with 17 kills while hitting .519 and also had eight blocks as K-State tallied 15.5 blocks as a team. JuliAnne Chisholm added 12 kills, and libero Lauren Mathewson had a match-high 17 digs.
• K-State has lost its last two conference matches, losing at Colorado, 3-2, on Sept. 22, and falling to Missouri, 3-1, in Manhattan on Sept. 25. Wins have been against Kansas, a team that topped A&M, and Texas Tech.
• Sophomore 6-1 middle blocker Alex Muff leads the Wildcats and the Big 12 with 1.81 blocks per set in Big 12 matches only. She also ranks sixth in the league with a .333 hitting efficiency in Big 12 matches only.
• Senior outside hitter JuliAnne Chisholm leads the Big 12 with 3.88 kills per set in Big 12 matches only. She ranks second in the conference with 4.22 points per set.
• The Wildcats are 1-3 in away matches.
• K-State, which finished ninth in the Big 12 standings with a 6-14 record in 2009, is picked to finish ninth this season, according to a preseason poll of the league coaches.
• Suzie Fritz (Florida Atlantic `94) is 191-104 in her 10th season as head coach at K-State.
UPCOMING:
A&M returns to Reed Arena on Wednesday, Oct. 6 to play host to the Baylor Bears. First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m. It will be Junior Aggie Club Night, and all Junior Aggie Club members will be able to participate in games and get their picture taken with the Aggie soccer team players from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Also free snacks will be available to JAC members.