Oct. 5, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Texas A&M (9-6, 3-2 Big 12) concludes a two-match home stand Wednesday as the Aggies play host to the Baylor Bears (8-8, 1-4 Big 12). First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Reed Arena.
It will be Junior Aggie Club Night, and all JAC members can 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.
Tickets for the match 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 eight matches but is looking to get back into the win column after a disappointing 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 29-27) home loss to Kansas State on Saturday. The Aggies are now in a five-way tie for second place in the Big 12 standings, joining Iowa State, Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas State with 3-2 league marks.
Baylor has lost four of its last five matches and most recently suffered a 25-22, 25-21, 13-25, 25-22 loss to Oklahoma in Waco on Saturday. The other three losses were to No. 8 Texas, No. 10 Iowa State and No. 4 Nebraska. The one conference win was at Texas Tech.
A&M QUICK HITS:
• A&M junior outside hitter Kelsey Black has taken team-high honors in kills in all 15 matches and is second in the league with 3.96 kills per set. She also leads the Aggies and is ranked No. 1 in the Big 12 with 0.46 aces and 4.78 points per set. In the national stats, Black entered the week ranked 25th in the nation in aces per set, 26th in points per set and 41st in kills per set.
• Junior outside hitter Chelsea Ringel has posted back-to-back career performances, recording the first double-double performance of her career with a career-high 13 kills and 11 digs in the Aggies' 3-2 victory at Colorado last Wednesday and then tying her career high with 18 digs in the three-set loss to Kansas State on Saturday.
• 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 22nd in the nation in home attendance, averaging 1,714 per match in seven home contests. The Aggies, who are 4-3 in home matches this season, had a season-high 3,305 in attendance to cheer them on to a 3-0 victory against No. 8 Texas on Sept. 16.
• Sophomore libero Tori Mellinger has posted double figures in digs in each of the last six matches and 12 of the last 13. She is listed 10th in the league in digs with 3.87 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 seventh in the Big 12 with 1.16 blocks per set in league matches only.
• Freshman setter Allie Sawatzky, who has started every match for the Aggies this season, ranks fourth in the Big 12 with 9.60 assists per set in all matches. She is seventh in the league with 9.21 assists per set in conference matches only.
• Setter Markie Malone, a 5-11 redshirt sophomore transfer from BYU, became eligible to play on Sept. 24 and suited up for the first time when A&M hosted Texas Tech on Sept. 25.
• 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 48 of 54 sets. She typically comes in for sophomore right-side hitter Alisia Kastmo in the back row and is averaging 1.58 digs per set and has posted double figures in digs three times, including 10 in the three-set loss to K-State on Saturday.
• Laurie Corbelli, the winningest coach in A&M volleyball history, is 372-175 in her 18th season at the helm of the Aggies and 472-281 in the 25th season of her head coaching career.
A&M BAYLOR SERIES RECORD:
• A&M leads the all-time series against Baylor, 57-11, since 1976, including 21-7 in Big 12 matches only.
• The teams have split the season series each of the last two years with each team winning on the road.
• A&M is 23-5 against Baylor in matches played in College Station, although Baylor has won four of the last five meetings in College Station.
• A&M is 24-4 all-time against the Bears in Waco.
MOST RECENT MEETING:
No. 23 A&M led the 20th-ranked Bears in kills, 70-63, but committed 36 errors to Baylor's 18 and was outhit, .242 to .167 in an 18-25, 25-13, 25-27, 25-23, 18-16 loss to Baylor on Nov. 7, 2009, at Reed Arena.
Baylor had 18 blocks in the match, equaling the most by an A&M opponent in 2009, including nine blocks apiece from middle blockers Torri Campbell and Anna Breyfogle.
Sarah Ammerman led the Aggies with a season-high 26 kills, and Mary Batis added 17 kills and also led A&M in digs, tying her career high with 22. Five other A&M players also reached double figures in digs as the Aggies tallied 94 to Baylor's 84.
Campbell tied Breyfogle with a team-high 17 kills, and libero Allison King had 28 digs for the Bears.
BAYLOR BITS:
• The Bears are 8-8 overall and in 10th place in the Big 12 with a 1-4 conference record. Three of those losses were to the top three teams in the league who are all ranked in the top 10 in the nation: Nebraska, Texas and Iowa State.
• Most recently, Baylor fell to Oklahoma, 25-22, 25-21, 13-25, 25-22, on Saturday in Waco. The Bears led in hitting percentage, kills, assists, digs and blocks but still came up short against the Sooners. Elizabeth Graham led the Bears with 15 kills while hitting .538 and also had four blocks.
• Baylor easily leads the Big 12 and is second in the nation with a whopping 19.03 digs per set. The Bears are averaging 20.29 digs per set in conference matches. The second best digging team in the Big 12 is Nebraska with 15.87 per set in all matches and Oklahoma with 16.94 per set in league matches only.
• Senior 6-2 middle blocker Elizabeth Graham is ninth in the nation with 1.43 blocks per set, and senior libero Caitlyn Trice is 15th in the nation with a Big 12-leading 5.51 digs per set.
• The Bears are 3-2 in away matches.
• Sophomore 6-2 middle blocker Torri Campbell and Aggie junior outside hitter Kelsey Black were teammates on the 2006 and 2007 Amarillo High School 5A state champion teams.
• Baylor is picked to finish sixth in the Big 12 according to a preseason poll of the conference coaches. Campbell and senior outside hitter Ashlee Christenson were on the preseason All-Big 12 Team.
• Baylor tied A&M and Oklahoma for fourth place in 2009 and advanced to the NCAA Regional semifinals.
• Jim Barnes (Macanese State `94) is in his seventh season as head coach of the Bears.
A&M RECENT RESULTS:
Texas A&M got off to a slow start against Kansas State on Saturday and never fully recovered as the Aggies suffered a disappointing 25-19, 25-19, 29-27 loss to the Wildcats at Reed Arena.
K-State outhit the Aggies, .220 to .126, and also led in every other positive statistical category, including kills (42-35), assists (42-31), aces (7-3), digs (57-54) and blocks (6.0 to 5.5).
Kelsey Black led A&M with 10 kills but also committed 10 attack errors. Chelsea Ringel added seven kills and tied her career high with 18 digs. Tori Mellinger pitched in 12 digs, and Sarah Grace also reached double figures with 10.
AGGIE NOTABLES:
• Aggies defeat No. 8 Texas; win first edition of 2010 Lone Star Showdown: Texas A&M started off Big 12 Conference play with a bang, stunning No. 8 Texas, 25-22, 25-18, 25-23, on Sept. 16 at Reed Arena in the year's first edition of the State Farm Lone Star Showdown. A&M, which had not defeated the Longhorns since Oct. 16, 2004, snapped a 12-match losing skid against the rival Longhorns, who had not even dropped a set to the Aggies since 2008. The win also snapped Texas' streak of 47 consecutive wins against in-state opponents, a streak that began following A&M's 2004 victory.
A crowd of 3,305, the seventh largest home crowd in A&M history, watched as the Aggies defeated a Top-10 team in their conference home opener for the second straight year, having knocked off No. 6 Nebraska last year, 3-1.
• Match time set for Nebraska match: The match time for A&M's final home match against Nebraska has been officially set for 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 27.
• A&M-OU match on ESPNU: Texas A&M's volleyball match against Oklahoma on Nov. 3 at Reed Arena will be televised by ESPNU. The start time of the A&M-OU match has been changed to 8 p.m. to accommodate ESPNU's broadcast schedule. The Aggies and Sooners split the season series last year as each team won on the road. The series record between the two programs is even at 5-5 over the last five years, and three of the last six meetings have been decided in the final fifth set.
A&M and OU tied for fourth place in the Big 12 with 11-9 records last year and received at-large invitations to the NCAA Championship. The Aggies advanced to the Sweet 16 and finished 20-11 overall and ranked No. 21 in the final coaches poll. Oklahoma finished 18-12 after being eliminated in the NCAA first round.
• Virtual Guide, Fact Book available online: The 2010 Texas A&M Volleyball Virtual Guide and the 2010 Texas A&M Volleyball Fact Book are available on the A&M volleyball website at AggieAthletics.com. Entertaining videos, colorful photos, informative player and coach bios, history of both the Aggie volleyball program and Texas A&M and much more are presented.
• Black rakes in the honors: Preseason all-Big 12 team member Kelsey Black was named to the all-tournament team in each of the first two tournaments A&M participated in this season. Black hit .274 and averaged 4.36 kills, 0.91 aces, 2.82 digs and 5.27 points per set to earn all-tournament honors at the season-opening Texas A&M Invitational and then averaged 4.25 kills, 2.58 digs and 5.12 points per set to earn all-tournament honors at the Missouri State JQH Invitational in the second weekend of the season.
• Sawatzky named Big 12 Rookie of the Week: Texas A&M freshman setter Allie Sawatzky has been named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week for matches played Sept. 6-12. The 6-2 lefty from St. Andrews, Manitoba, Canada (Lord Selkirk) averaged 11.0 assists to pace all Big 12 newcomers in that category and rank third overall. She guided the Aggies to three consecutive sweeps against Jacksonville State, Denver and Gonzaga as A&M went a perfect 3-0 at the Pioneer Classic in Denver. Sawatzky registered a career-high five kills and no errors in 10 attempts against Gonzaga, and she also produced 12 digs, tying a team high against the Bulldogs. In addition, Sawatzky dished out 36 assists against Gonzaga, the most by an A&M player in a three-set match this season. Overall, Sawatzky contributed 2.33 digs and 0.56 blocks per set to aid in the A&M defensive effort throughout the tournament.
• Ringel, Kastmo named all-tournament: Texas A&M junior outside hitter Chelsea Ringel and sophomore right-side hitter Alisia Kastmo were named to the University of Denver's Pioneer Classic all-tournament team after leading the Aggies to a 3-0 record. It is the first all-tournament honor in the careers of both players. Ringel hit .242 and averaged 2.67 kills, 2.22 digs, 0.44 aces and 3.28 points per set to help lead A&M to consecutive sweeps against Jacksonville State, Denver and Gonzaga. She tallied a career-high 10 kills while hitting at a .429 clip and also had a personal best three aces in the victory against the host Pioneers.
Kastmo hit .308 and averaged 2.62 kills, 0.75 blocks and 3.25 points per set as the Aggies improved to 6-4 on the season.
• Aggies on the Internet: Free video streaming of all A&M home matches, with the exception of televised matches, will be available at AggieAthletics.com. In addition, audio broadcasts of home and select away matches are slated with Ryne Hillenberg providing the play-by-play. Also home broadcasts can be heard on 95.1-3 on the FM dial of an HD Radio.
UPCOMING:
Texas A&M makes its final Big 12 trip to Lincoln, Neb., this weekend to face the third-ranked and conference-leading Nebraska Cornhuskers. First serve against the Huskers, who will be members of the Big Ten Conference beginning next year, is slated for 7 p.m. at Nebraska Coliseum. The match will be televised live in Nebraska on NET.
A&M Virtual Guide: http://guides.aggieathletics.com/volleyball/