Tournament Schedule (all times are Pacific):
Thursday, September 1
12 p.m. Portland
vs. Butler
7 p.m. Portland
vs. Texas A&M
Friday,
September 2
10 a.m. Washington
State vs. Nevada
12 p.m. Butler
vs. Texas A&M
5:30 p.m. Nevada
vs. Butler
7:30 p.m. Portland
vs. Washington State
Saturday,
September 3
10 a.m. Nevada
vs. Texas A&M
12 p.m. Washington
State vs. Butler
5:30 p.m. Texas A&M vs. Washington State
7:30 p.m. Portland
vs. Nevada
A&M opens the tournament against the host Pilots (1-2) at 7 p.m. Pacific on Thursday. The Aggies take on Butler (0-3) Friday at 12 p.m. and conclude the tournament Saturday with a pair of matches, meeting Nevada (0-3) at 10 a.m. and Washington State (2-1) at 5:30 p.m.
A link to live video of A&M's match against Portland as well as the link to live scoring of all A&M matches is available on AggieAthletics.com.
The Aggies went 3-0 last weekend to win their own Texas A&M Invitational. Led by tournament MVP Kelsey Black, the Aggies opened the season with a 3-0 win against Creighton and then swept UTSA. Then in a rematch against the Bluejays, A&M prevailed, 3-1, to clinch the tournament title.
Black, a senior outside hitter who led the tournament field with 4.20 kills and 4.95 points per set, posting double-doubles in kills and digs in every match, was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates junior right-side hitter Alisia Kastmo, junior middle blocker Lindsey Miller and sophomore setter Allie Sawatzky.
On Tuesday, A&M hosted the Israel National Team. The Aggies won the first two sets but dropped the final three sets to the more experienced Israelis. Black led A&M with 12 kills, and senior middle blocker Elise Hendrickson added 10. Junior libero Megan Pendergast led all players with 18 digs, and junior outside hitter Tori Mellinger pitched in 12 digs along with five aces. Miller led the Aggies with six blocks, including two solos, and Sawatzky dished out 37 assists.
AGGIE QUICK HITS:
- Texas A&M coach Laurie Corbelli, who is in 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 in 2010) and sophomore setter Allie Sawatzky (9.71 aps in 2010), who were both selected to the 2011 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.
- 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 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.
- Corbelli is 379-186 in her 19th year at the helm of the Aggies and 479-292 in the 26th season of her head coaching career.
- A&M is slated to play a total of 13 matches against teams that appeared in the 2010 NCAA Championship tournament, including six matches against schools that advanced to at least the Sweet 16. With two wins last weekend over Creighton, which advanced to the second round of the 2010 NCAA tournament, the Aggies are already 2-0 against 2010 NCAA participant teams.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS:
Portland
- The Portland Pilots are 1-2 after opening the 2011 season with a third place finish in the Aztec Invitational last weekend in San Diego, Calif. The Pilots recorded a 3-2 win against Nevada and then fell to San Diego State in five sets and UC Irvine in thee sets.
- Junior outside hitter Kate Bostwick was voted to her first career all-tournament team last weekend, recording 35 kills on a .307 hitting percentage during the tournament.
- Portland, which finished sixth in the West Coast conference last season, returns nine letterwinners, including five starters. The Pilots finished 12-18 in 2010 with a 5-9 record in conference play. The 12 overall wins were the first double-digit win season since 2004, and the five conference victories were the most since 1998.
- Outside hitter Ariel Usher leads the Pilot attack this season with 3.1 kills per set. The 6-1 junior finished second on the team in kills last season and received WCC Honorable Mention.
- Joe Houck, entering the tournament with a lifetime record of 131-76, is in his fourth season as head coach of the Pilots and his eighth season as a collegiate head coach. Houck has led the Pilots to a record of 26-65 over three seasons.
Butler
- Butler is 0-3 after opening the season at the Shamrock Invitational at Notre Dame, Ind. The Bulldogs fell to Idaho, 3-2, Eastern Michigan, 3-2, and Notre Dame, 3-1.
- The Bulldogs went 21-10 and placed second in the Horizon League with a 13-3 ledger in 21010. Butler went on to win the Horizon League Tournament to receive an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. Butler was eliminated by Dayton, 3-0, in the first round.
- Senior middle blocker Maureen Bamiro leads the Bulldogs with 42 kills, 3.00 kills per set and a .337 hitting percentage. She was an All-Horizon League selection in 2010 after finishing second in the Horizon League in blocks with 1.11 per set and fifth in hitting percentage (.289).
- Head coach Sharon Clark is 177-157 in her 12th season as head coach of the Bulldogs. She holds a lifetime record of 279-253.
Nevada
- The Nevada Wolf Pack is 0-3 after opening the season at the Aztec Invitational in San Diego, Calif., last weekend. The Wolf Pack fell to Portland, 3-2, UC Irvine, 3-1 and to tournament champion San Diego State, 3-0. Junior middle blocker Janelle Batista was named to the all-tournament team.
- The Wolf Pack finished 2010 with a 13-17 overall record and a 7-9 conference mark. The team was eliminated in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference tournament.
- Sophomore outside hitter Grace Anxo leads the Wolf Pack with 2.67 kills per set. She was a member of the 2010 freshman All-WAC team.
- Wolf Pack head coach Ruth Lawanson, 19-68 all-time as a head coach, is in her first season at the helm at Nevada. She came to Nevada after two seasons as an assistant coach at the United States Air Force Academy. Before joining the staff at Air Force, she was the head coach at NCAA II Angelo State for three seasons. Lawanson has experience on the playing side as well, as she was a former All-American at Fresno State and played for the bronze medal-winning 1992 United States Olympic team in Barcelona.
Washington State
- Washington State went 2-1 at the season-opening Seattle University Fall Colley Tournament last weekend. WSU defeated the Redhawks, 3-2, (19-25, 25-21, 17-25, 26-24, 15-12) and based on the head-to-head win over Santa Clara, the Cougars won the title.
- Senior Meagan Ganzer was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player and became the 11th Washington State player to reach the 1,000 career kills mark. She leads the Cougars with 5.14 kills per set and a .300 hitting percentage. The senior received All-Pac 10 Honorable Mention in 2010 after leading the Cougars with 467 kills on the season.
- The Cougars finished the 2010 season with a 6-22 record overall and a 0-18 conference record.
- Jen Greeny is in her first season as head coach of the Cougars She was the head volleyball coach at Lewis-Clark State College (Lewiston, Idaho) for the past four years, accumulating a 112-24 record and a .824 winning percentage. Greeny is a former WSU player herself and was an assistant coach for the Cougars as well.
ALL-TIME SERIES RECORDS:
- A&M will be meeting both Portland and Butler for the first time.
- A&M is 1-0 against Nevada, having defeated the Wolf Pack, 3-2 (15-10, 8-15, 9-15, 15-3, 15-13) in 1992.
- A&M holds a 3-1 advantage against Washington State. The Aggies have won the last two meetings, including a 3-0 (30-28, 30-18, 30-10) victory when the teams last met in 2007 at the Montana State Holiday Inn Classic in Bozeman, Mont.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
The Aggies are on the road for the next two weekends, traveling to Nacogdoches, Texas, 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 home matches will be available at AggieAthletics.com, as well as free audio broadcasts of select home and away matches.