COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M volleyball team held its first official practice of the preseason Tuesday afternoon at the practice gym at Reed Arena.
Head coach Laurie Corbelli, who enters her 19th season at the helm of the Aggies, returned 14 of 15 letterwinners, including all six starters and the libero, from last year's team. In addition, she welcomed three newcomers, including two transfers from Top 10 programs.
"One of the most exciting parts for me of getting started is all of the familiar faces who also are familiar with the system," Corbelli said before the start of the first practice. "This is a very eager group, and you see it in their eyes and hear it in their voices.
"We get to start out a further ahead than where we started last season, yet we know how important it is to make subtle changes in different things to not only enhance what we have to offer in terms of our talent but to keep things fresh and challenging for the players. They have been here most of the summer working together, and I think we are much further ahead of where we were this time last year."
Seniors Kelsey Black (Amarillo, Texas), a first-team All-Big 12 selection in 2010, and Chelsea Ringel (Arlington, Texas) are returning starters on the outside. Sophomores Heather Reynolds and Ashley Vrana will provide valuable depth after making rapid progress throughout their rookie seasons.
Lindsey Miller (Katy, Texas) and Stephanie Minnerly (Arlington, Texas) started every match for the Aggies last year at the middle blocker position and return for their junior campaigns. Junior Alisia Kastmo (Tyler, Texas), who was a starting middle blocker as a freshman, and senior Elise Hendrickson (Long Beach, Calif.) also return after sharing starting duties on the right side in 2010.
Sophomore setter Allie Sawatzky (St. Andrews, Manitoba, Canada), an All-Big 12 honorable mention and a member of the Big 12 All-Freshman Team last year, returns to run the offense, but she will be pushed by returning letterwinners Allie Freiwald (Littleton, Colo.) and Markie Malone (Las Vegas, Nev.).
"A year of setting under the belt for Sawatzky is huge," Corbelli said. "She has a lot of valuable experience to lead early, but we have Allie Freiwald and Markie Malone who both made great strides in the spring and have returned in great shape. I'm hoping and my goal is that the competition with the three setters will make all of them even that much better. And whatever group we find works best together is the group we will put on the floor to start the season."
Junior libero Tori Mellinger (Dallas, Texas), who led the team with 4.13 digs per set and broke A&M's Big 12 season record with 329 digs last year, is back to anchor the back row. In addition, senior Sarah Grace (Houston, Texas) and sophomore Kelsey Kinley (College Station, Texas) return after seeing significant time as defensive specialist and serving specialist, respectively.
The Aggies also will benefit from newcomers Cinthya Roberto (Brasilia, Brazil), a senior outside hitter who transferred from Florida and also was a two-time All-American and national champion at Blinn College, and junior defensive specialist Megan Pendergast (League City, Texas), an exceptional athlete who played two years at Nebraska.
"Bringing in newcomers with the experience and training that they have had in Division I is really exciting, and it is going to be huge to add that to what we already have as a corps here at A&M," Corbelli said.
The lone freshman is Hannah Hood (West Lake Hills, Texas), an outside hitter/defensive specialist who brings a high level of training and success from two winning programs, Austin Westlake High School and Austin Junior Volleyball Club.
"Although Hannah is the only freshman, she came in for summer school to get an early start on her training," Corbelli said. "She is assertive, and she works hard. You would think she has been here for years, and she is not shy at all to share her talent and her excitement. She is going to fit in just beautifully."
With the overall experience of the squad, Corbelli has higher expectations for her team this season.
"Aggie volleyball's strength is usually ball control, defense, speed and athleticism," she said. "We need it to be all of that as well as our offensive power. We recognize the offense has been an area where we need to become more consistent. With last season's youth, the lack of offensive power is what showed the most.
"We have some great passers for serve receive. We have some amazing defensive players. Our blocking rarely suffered last year and it will only be better this year, so I'm really excited to see our offense start to become much more of who we are and become part of our identity. It's necessary, and it will get done."
The Aggies begin the season August 26 at Reed Arena as they host NCAA participants Creighton and UTSA in the two-day Texas A&M Invitational. The Aggies make their season debut at 2:30 p.m. against Creighton, which reached the second round of NCAAs after upsetting heavily favored and Big 12 member Iowa State in the first round.
A&M returns to the court Friday evening at 7:30 to take on UTSA, the defending Southland Conference tournament champion. The Aggies conclude the tournament on Saturday with a rematch against Creighton at 12:30 p.m.
"We are eager and excited to get on the court and premiere our volleyball season at Reed Arena with some very important matches," Corbelli said. "We hopefully will play a lot of different players and see some different looks on the court with our veteran squad."
A&M begins Big 12 play on Sept. 24 at Missouri, which reached the Sweet 16 in 2010, and then opens the home conference slate on Sept. 28 against Baylor.
The Aggies will play 13 home matches overall. Season tickets can be purchased at AggieAthletics.com, at the Athletic Ticket Office window or by calling 888-99-AGGIE. Individual match tickets go on sale August 17.
For the complete Texas A&M volleyball roster and season schedule, go to AggieAthletics.com.
Preseason Practice Schedule*
Tuesday, Aug 9
2:30 p.m. Practice (VB Practice Gym)
Wednesday, Aug 10
10 a.m. Practice (VB Practice Gym)
4 p.m. Practice (VB Practice Gym)
Thursday, Aug 11
9:30 a.m. Practice (Rec Center)
2:30 p.m. Practice (Rec Center)
Friday, Aug 12
9:30 a.m. Practice (Rec Center)
2:30 p.m. Practice (Rec Center)
Saturday, Aug 13
10 a.m. Practice (VB Practice Gym)
Monday, Aug 15
9:30 a.m. Practice (VB Practice Gym)
2:30 p.m. Practice (VB Practice Gym)
Tuesday, Aug 16
9:30 a.m. Practice (VB Practice Gym)
2:30 p.m. Practice (VB Practice Gym)
Wednesday, Aug 17
10 a.m. Practice (Reed Main Floor)
Thursday, Aug 18
9:30 a.m. Practice (Reed Main Floor)
2:30 p.m. Practice (Reed Main Floor)
Friday, Aug 19
4 p.m. Practice (VB Practice Gym)
Saturday, Aug 20
10 a.m. Practice (Reed Main Floor)
Monday, Aug 22
9:30 a.m. Practice (Reed Main Floor)
2:30 p.m. Practice (Reed Main Floor)
Wednesday, Aug 24
10 a.m. Practice (Reed Main Floor)
Thursday, Aug 25
9:30 a.m. Practice (Reed Main Floor)
Pronunciations:
Allie Freiwald AL-lee FRY-wald
Alisia Kastmo ah-LEE-see-uh COST-mo
Tori Mellinger mell-in-jer
Stephanie Minnerly MIN-er-lee
Cinthya Roberto sin-cha
Allie Sawatzky AL-lee suh-WATTS-key