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A&M Volleyball Hosts League-Leader ISU Saturday at 6:30 p.m.A&M Volleyball Hosts League-Leader ISU Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Volleyball

A&M Volleyball Hosts League-Leader ISU Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

Texas A&M wraps up the first half of Big 12 Conference play Saturday as the Aggies play host to league-leading and 15th-ranked Iowa State. First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Reed Arena.

TEXAS A&M AGGIES (16-4, 5-2 BIG 12)
vs.
#15 IOWA STATE CYCLONES (15-3, 6-1 BIG 12)

Saturday, Oct. 22, 6:30 p.m.
Reed Arena, College Station, Texas

Promotions:
Autograph Session: A&M volleyball players will be available for autographs after the match
Camper Appreciation Night: Wear a 2011 Texas A&M Volleyball Camp T-shirt and get in free
Honor Roll Night: Elementary honor roll students get in free by presenting flier given to them at school.
Club Volleyball Night: Club volleyball members receive free admission by wearing their club volleyball shirt.

Free live video/stats: AggieAthletics.com

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Texas A&M (16-4, 5-2 Big 12) wraps up the first half of Big 12 Conference play Saturday as the Aggies play host to league-leading and 15th-ranked Iowa State (15-3, 6-1 Big 12). First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Reed Arena.

Several promotions will be taking place, including Camper Appreciation Night and Club Volleyball Night, and anyone wearing a 2011 Texas A&M Volleyball Camp T-shirt or their club volleyball shirt will be admitted free. It also is Honor Roll Night, and all Bryan/College Station elementary school honor roll students can get in free by presenting the flier that was distributed at the schools.

In addition, the Texas A&M volleyball team will be hosting an autograph session after the match.

The Aggies, 7-0 in home matches, are riding a three-match winning streak and are winners of five of their last six matches. Most recently, A&M won its third consecutive five-set match, defeating Texas Tech, 26-24, 21-25, 25-20, 17-25, 15-13, Wednesday in Lubbock. With the win, the Aggies moved into a tie with No. 22 Oklahoma for third place in the Big 12 standings.

Iowa State also is riding a three-match winning streak and is tied with Texas for the top spot in the Big 12 standings. The Cyclones, whose only conference loss was a 3-2 setback against the No. 8 Longhorns, had a bye on Wednesday and have not played since crushing Baylor, 25-19, 25-14, 25-18, last Saturday in Ames.

Saturday's contest will be a match-up between the Big 12's top two teams in kills and assists. The Aggies lead the conference in both kills (13.84) and assists (12.83) per set for the full season. The Cyclones are a close second in both statistics, averaging 13.77 kills and 12.78 assists per set. In addition, ISU leads the league in digs (15.89) per set and is second in opponent hitting percentage, holding foes to a .154 hitting efficiency.

AGGIE QUICK HITS:

  • Each of A&M's last three matches have been decided in five sets, with the Aggies winning all three. It marks the fourth time in program history A&M has played three consecutive five-setters (2005, 2006, 2008), and only the second time A&M has won all three. A&M has never played four consecutive five-set matches.
  • A&M's come-from-behind wins against Kansas and Oklahoma earlier this month marked the first time in school history the Aggies have overcome 2-0 set deficits in consecutive matches. The win against No. 22 Oklahoma was the 12th time in school history the Aggies have dropped the first two sets and come back to win, and it was the fourth time in school history A&M accomplished the feat against a ranked opponent.
  • Junior middle blocker Lindsey Miller has been on fire the last three matches, hitting a combined .410 and averaging 4.0 kills, 1.0 blocks and 4.6 points per set. She had back-to-back career highs in kills with 19 at Kansas and 23 against No. 22 OU. The Cinco Ranch High School product, who hit .375 and .455 in the respective matches, then tagged Texas Tech for 18 kills while hitting at a .395 clip. Miller also posted seven blocks against both the Sooners and Red Raiders.
  • Miller is ranked fourth in the Big 12 with a .349 hitting percentage for the full season. In Big 12 matches only, Miller is fourth with a .371 hitting percentage, sixth in blocks (1.17) per set, eighth in points (3.98) per set and ninth in kills (3.23) per set.
  • Junior outside hitter Tori Mellinger, who was the team's designated libero the first two seasons of her career, needs two digs to become the 19th player in school history to post 1,000 career digs. Mellinger was the starting libero for the first three matches this season and has since started 14 matches on the left side and is averaging 2.72 digs per set this season.
  • Three A&M players are in the top 10 in the Big 12 for aces per set for the full season. Senior middle blocker Elise Hendrickson is second in the league with 0.38 aces per set, and senior outside hitter Kelsey Black (0.24 aps) and junior right-side hitter Alisia Kastmo (0.23 aps) are ninth and 10th, respectively. As a team, the Aggies are second in the Big 12 with 1.39 aces per set.
  • Hendrickson has had at least one ace in 15 of 20 matches and has tallied two or more aces in 10 matches.
  • Setter Allie Sawatzky is averaging 10.6 assists per set over the last three matches and ranks fifth in the Big 12 with 10.27 assists per set for the full season. She also ranks fifth in conference matches only with a 10.17 average. Her career-high 60 assists in the win against Oklahoma is the most by an A&M player since Kristen Schevikhoven had 60 in a 3-1 victory at Colorado on Nov. 21, 2007, using the 30-point scoring format.
  • Earlier this season, Sawatzky recorded the first triple-double of her career with 11 kills, 46 assists and 11 digs in A&M's 3-2 victory against Baylor on Sept. 28. She is the first A&M player to post a triple-double since the 25-point scoring format went into effect in 2008, and she is the first player with a triple double since 2004 when All-American middle blocker Melissa Munsch accomplished the feat three times. Sawatzky is the first Aggie setter with a triple-double since 2001 when All-American Jenna Moscovic tallied a nation-leading five triple-doubles while directing A&M to its second-ever NCAA regional final.
  • Junior libero Megan Pendergast has played in 19 matches and has led or tied for the team lead in digs 12 times, more than any other player. She has posted double figures in digs in a team-leading 15 matches and has posted 20 or more digs in two matches. She leads the team and is ranked fifth in the Big 12 with 3.97 digs per set for the full season and is eighth in the league with 3.59 digs per set on conference matches only.
  • A&M is 22nd in the NCAA's first RPI (Ratings Power Index) of the season, released on Monday. Among Big 12 schools, only Iowa State (third) and Texas (eighth) are ahead of A&M. Other Big 12 schools in the top 50 are Oklahoma (25th), Kansas State (30th), Missouri (36th), Kansas (39th) and Baylor (45th).
  • A&M is 7-0 in home matches, 4-3 in away matches, 5-1 at neutral sites and 1-2 against ranked opponents
  • The Aggies are receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 Poll for the seventh consecutive week and entered this week listed 30th.
  • Kelsey Black, who is averaging a team-leading 3.89 points and 3.42 kills and is second on the team with 3.18 digs per set, recorded her 1,000th career point against the Sooners on Oct. 12, becoming the sixth A&M player to reach the milestone since rally scoring began in 2001. The senior needs 46 digs and 136 kills to reach 1,000 in those respective categories.
  • In the win against Baylor on Sept. 28, A&M had five players reach double figures in kills for first time in the 25-point scoring era and the first since August 26, 2006, when five players tallied double-digit kills in a season-opening 3-1 victory at Colorado State using the 30-point scoring system. The Baylor match also marked the first time A&M had five double-figure kill performers and five double-digit dig performers in the same match since the 2006 victory at Colorado State.
  • Junior right-side hitter Alisia Kastmo and junior middle blocker Lindsey Miller have each posted a performance in which they had 12 kills while committing no errors. Kastmo had 12 kills and no errors in 19 attempts for a .632 hitting efficiency in a three-set win against Creighton, and Miller had 12 kills and no errors in 20 attempts for a .600 hitting percentage in a sweep against Washington State.
  • Miller's career-high nine blocks in the sweep against Kansas State on Oct. 1 is still the most by a Big 12 player in a three-set conference match and ties for the most by a Big 12 player in all three-set matches this season.
  • Black, who had a career-high and match-high 26 digs and also posted a match-high 17 kills in the win against Baylor (Sept. 28), leads A&M with 13 double-doubles. She has posted double figures in kills in 16 of 20 matches.
  • Black, Miller, Sawatzky and Hendrickson have started every match in 2011, and only Sawatzky has played in all 75 sets. Kastmo has started all but four matches in which senior Sarah Grace started for her in the back row rotation.
  • The Aggies are 8-2 in three-set matches, 4-1 in four-set matches and 4-1 in five-set matches.
  • A&M is 15-0 when leading its opponent in kills and 13-1 when leading in attack percentage. The Aggies also are 8-0 when leading in blocks and 14-1 when winning the first set.
  • The 3-2 win against Baylor on Sept. 28 broke a string of six consecutive five-set losses for the Aggies. Prior to the Baylor match, A&M, which went 2-7 in five-set matches last year and lost to Xavier in five sets earlier this season, had not won a five-setter since defeating Colorado on Sept. 29, 2010, in Boulder, Colo.
  • A&M began the season winning its first nine matches and capturing three tournament titles. The Aggies came within one win of matching the 2007 team for the best start in school history before falling to Xavier, 3-2, at the Michigan/adidas Invitational in the 10th match of the season.
  • A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli is 392-190 in her 19th year at the helm of the Aggies and 492-296 in 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 Sweet 16. The Aggies are currently 5-3 against 2010 NCAA participants. Wins were against Sweet 16 participant Oklahoma, Creighton (2), which reached the second round, and first-round participants UTSA and Butler. Losses were to Final Four participant Texas, Missouri, which advanced to the Sweet 16, and Michigan, which was eliminated in the first round.

A&M-ISU SERIES RECORDS:

  • A&M leads ISU, 24-9, since the teams first met in 1981, including 22-8 in Big 12 matches only.
  • A&M is 12-3 against the Cyclones in matches played in College Station.
  • ISU has won eight of the last 10 meetings against A&M, including each of the last four.
  • A&M's last win against ISU was Nov. 12, 2008 at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
  • Last year, ISU swept the season series for only the third time, defeating A&M, 25-22, 21-25, 25-11, 26-24, on Oct. 16 at Ames High School in Ames, Iowa, and 25-23, 16-25, 25-17, 25-23 at Reed Arena.

IOWA STATE NOTES:

  • The 15th-ranked Cyclones are 15-3 overall and tied with No. 10 Texas for first place in the Big 12 with a 6-1 record. They are 7-2 in all away matches.
  • ISU, which had a bye on Wednesday, is coming off a 25-19, 25-14, 25-18 thrashing of the Baylor Bears last Saturday in Ames. Every available Cyclone saw playing time, and 10 of the 14 players had at least one kill.
  • The Cyclones held Baylor to a .023 hitting percentage, outblocking the Bears, 13-3 in the sweep. Sophomore middle Tenisha Matlock collected a match-high eight blocks and also had eight kills and no errors in 18 attempts for a .444 hitting percentage to earn Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors.
  • Sophomore libero Kristen Hahn had 17 digs against the Bears and leads the Big 12 and is ranked ninth in the nation with 5.64 digs per set for the full season. Hahn, who has posted double figures in digs in every match this season, also leads the league with 5.62 digs per set in Big 12 matches only.
  • ISU is holding Big 12 opponents to a league-best .140 hitting percentage. The Cyclones are hitting .264, which ranks second in the Big 12.
  • Senior Carly Jenson leads the Cyclones and is ranked fifth in the Big 12 with 3.77 kills and 4.21 points per set in all matches. In conference matches only, the 5-11 outside hitter leads the team and is fifth in the Big 12 with 3.83 kills per set and ranks fourth in the league with 4.60 points per set.
  • ISU returns five starters from last year's team that went 20-9 and ranked 25th in the final Top 25 Poll after being upset by Creighton in the first round of the NCAA Championship.
  • The Cyclones, who tied Oklahoma for third place in the Big 12 last year, were picked to tie the Sooners for second place this year, according to a preseason poll of the league's head coaches.
  • Cyclone redshirt freshman outside hitter Hannah Willms was named the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. Junior middle Jamie Straube and junior setter Alison Landwehr were named to the All-Big 12 Preseason Team.
  • Christy Johnson-Lynch (Nebraska '96) is in her seventh season as head coach of the Cyclones and boasts a 140-70 (.667) record. She was the starting setter for Nebraska's national championship team in 1995, when current A&M Athletics Director Bill Byrne was the A.D. for the Huskers. Lynch's husband, Joe Lynch, serves as the volunteer assistant for the Cyclones.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE:

Texas A&M has a bye on Wednesday, Oct. 26 and then begins the second half of Big 12 play on Sunday, Oct. 30 at home against Kansas. First serve against the Jayhawks is slated for 2 p.m. at Reed Arena. It will be A&M's Breast Cancer Awareness match, and fans are encouraged to wear pink.