TEXAS A&M INVITATIONAL
August 26-27, Reed Arena
Friday, August 26
9:30 a.m. Creighton vs. UTSA
2:30 p.m. Texas A&M vs. Creighton
7:30 p.m. Texas A&M vs. UTSA
Saturday, August 27
12:30 p.m. Texas A&M vs. Creighton
The Texas A&M volleyball team makes its 2011 debut Friday as the
Aggies face Creighton and UTSA on the opening day of the Texas A&M
Invitational at Reed Arena. The Roadrunners and Bluejays face off at
9:30 a.m. before the Aggies take the court at 2:30 p.m. to take on
Creighton. A&M then returns to Reed at 7:30 p.m. to meet UTSA. The
Aggies and Bluejays conclude the tournament Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
Individual match tickets are $9 for reserve seating, $7 for adult
general admission and $4 for youth, high school age and under. A&M
students without a sports pass also can purchase tickets for $4 each.
Tickets may be purchase at Reed Arena or in advance at
AggieAthletics.com.
Free parking for volleyball fans is available in lots 100a, 100b, 100g and 100f at Reed Arena. Lot 102 is for handicap parking.
Free live scoring of all matches, as well as free live video of A&M matches will be available at AggieAthletics.com.
A&M coach Laurie Corbelli, who is entering her 19th season at the
helm of the Aggies and the 26th year of her head coaching career,
returns 14 of 15 letterwinners, including all six starters and the
libero, from last year's team that went 13-17 overall and placed eighth
in the Big 12 with a 7-13 mark.
Highlighting the list of returners are senior outside hitter Kelsey
Black (4.08 kps, 2.99 dps, 0.37 saps, 4.77 pps) and sophomore setter
Allie Sawatzky (9.71 aps), who were both selected to the Preseason
All-Big 12 Volleyball Team. Both Aggies garnered Big 12 honors at the
conclusion of the 2010 season, with Black earning All-Big 12 First Team
laurels and Sawatzky receiving All-Big 12 Honorable Mention and Big 12
All-Freshman Team accolades.
Other starters returning are senior outside hitter Chelsea Ringel (1.79
kps, 2.65 dps), junior middle blockers Lindsey Miller (2.05 kps, 1.10
bps, 2.76 pps) and Stephanie Minnerly (1.58 kps, 1.03 bps, 2.16 pps),
and senior Elise Hendrickson (1.52 kps, 2.05 dps, 1.86 pps) and junior
Alisia Kastmo (1.84 kps, 0.55 bps, 2.24 pps), who shared starting duties
on the right side. Also returning is junior Tori Mellinger (4.13 dps),
who could see action on the outside after serving as the team's
designated libero the last two seasons.
Others returning are outside hitters Heather Reynolds and Ashley Vrana,
setters Allie Freiwald and Markie Malone and defensive specialists Sarah
Grace and Kelsey Kinley.
Corbelli also welcomes three newcomers, including two transfers from Top
10 programs -- senior outside hitter/defensive specialist Cinthya
Roberto from Florida and junior defensive specialist Megan Pendergast
from Nebraska -- as well as lone freshman outside hitter/defensive
specialist Hannah Hood from Austin Westlake High School.
Also new on the sidelines is Steve Greene, who was hired in January as
an assistant coach. Greene had been an assistant at Houston Baptist
University the previous two seasons, joining the Huskies' program after
serving two years as assistant coach at his alma mater, California State
University Monterey Bay.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS:
Creighton returns 11 letterwinners — including four starters — from
last year's team that went 21-12 overall and placed third in the
Missouri Valley Conference. The Bluejays received an at-large berth and
made their first-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament, where they
upset 16th-ranked Iowa State of the Big 12 Conference.
Junior setter Megan Bober (10.26 aps, 1.97 kps) returns to direct the
Jays' offense after receiving All-MVC first-team honors as well as
All-American honorable mention in 2011. Lauren Sanford (6-0 MB, 2.47
kps, 1.10 bps), an All-MVC second team selection in 2010, and 6-2
right-side hitter Karisa Almgren (1.97 kps) are the two seniors on the
squad.
The Bluejays are coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997),
who is 141-101 entering the ninth season of her head coaching career,
all at Creighton.
UTSA has been picked to win the Southland Conference title this season,
according to a preseason-season poll of the league's sports information
directors. Last year the Roadrunners captured the SLC tournament title
and advanced to the first round of the NCAA tournament.
UTSA returns nine letterwinners, including four starters and the libero,
senior Kelsey Jewasko (5.24 dps), a two-time SLC libero of the year and
all-conference first-team selection. Junior setter Kelsey Schwirtlich
joined Jewasko on the 2011 Preseason All-SLC team after averaging 9.84
assists and earning first-team All-SLC honors last year. Junior Whitney
Walls (2.64 kps) also was named to the preseason All-SLC team.
Laura Neugebauer-Groff (Texas 1986) is 146-142 in her 10th season as
head coach of the Roadrunners. The former All-American served as an
assistant coach at A&M in 1990-92 under former Aggie coach Al
Givens.
ALL-TIME SERIES RECORDS:
Texas A&M is 8-1 all-time against the tournament field. The Aggies
are 1-1 against Creighton, which won the last meeting, 3-0 (25-20,
25-21, 25-14), at the Bluejay Invitational on August 30, 2008, in Omaha,
Neb. The Aggies won the first meeting between the two teams, 3-0 (15-2,
15-8, 15-1), in A&M's 1998 season opener at the University of
Pacific/NIKE Invitational. This will be the Bluejays' first visit to
College Station.
A&M is 7-0 against the Roadrunners, including 3-0 in matches played
in College Station. The teams last met, Sept. 8, 2007, in San Antonio,
where the Aggies won, 3-0 (30-18, 30-24, 30-23). A&M and UTSA first
met in 1987. Six of the seven matches have been decided in three sets.
The only non-three-set match was in 1992, when A&M won 3-2 (15-9,
15-2, 11-15, 3-15, 15-13), at UTSA.
AGGIE QUICK HITS:
- A&M is 25-10 in season openers since 1976. (Opening-day results are not available for the 1975 season.)
- The Aggies are 13-5 in season openers since head coach Laurie Corbelli was hired in 1993. Last year, A&M defeated Siena, 3-0, in the Aggies' opening match at the Texas A&M Invitational.
- Corbelli is 376-186 entering her 19th year at the helm of the Aggies and 476-292 entering the 26th season of her head coaching career.
- A&M is slated to play 13 matches against teams that appeared in the 2010 NCAA Championship tournament, including six matches against schools that advanced to at least the third round (Sweet 16).
- The Aggies, who went 7-13 and finished eighth in the Big 12 last year, have been picked to finish fourth in the league this season, according to a preseason poll of the conference coaches. Texas, coming off of a third consecutive appearance in the NCAA semifinals, garnered the top spot in the preseason poll, receiving seven of nine first-place votes and 63 total points. Iowa State received two first-place votes and tied Oklahoma for second with 53 points. Texas A&M received 43 points, followed by Missouri (32 points), Baylor (30) and Kansas (22). Kansas State (20) and Texas Tech (8) round out the poll.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
On August 30, the Aggies will play a friendly match against the Israel
national team at Reed Arena. Corbelli will be going up against her
former coach from the silver medal-winning 1984 USA Olympic Team, Arie
Selinger, who is widely regarded of one of the greatest volleyball
coaches of all time.
The Aggies then hit the road for three tournaments in which they will
play a total of nine matches. A&M faces Portland, Butler, Nevada and
Washington State at the Portland Nike Invitational on Sept. 1-3 and
then travels to Nacogdoches, Sept. 9-10, for the Ladyjack Invitational,
where the Aggies take on Stephen F. Austin and Northern Illinois.
A&M concludes its non-conference road schedule against Xavier,
Toledo and Michigan, Sept. 16-17, at the Michigan/adidas Invitational in
Ann Arbor, Mich., before returning home Sept. 21 to host Houston
Baptist in the Aggies' final non-conference match of the regular season.
AGGIES ON THE INTERNET:
Free video streaming and live scoring of A&M's 14 home matches will
be available at AggieAthletics.com, as well as free audio broadcasts of
select home and away matches.