vs.
TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (15-9, 1-8 BIG 12)
Wednesday, Nov. 2, 6:30 p.m.
Reed Arena, College Station,
Texas
Promotion:
"Local
Heroes Night": All members of the Bryan/College Station fire and police departments
as well as the Texas A&M campus police and security get in free, and their
family members can purchase a specially discounted $3 ticket by using the link
provided in an email that will be sent to the departments.
Free live video/stats: AggieAthletics.com
A&M-Tech
All-Time Series (since 1976):
Overall: A&M leads,
53-26
In
College Station: A&M leads, 25-8
In
Lubbock: A&M leads, 21-12
In
Big 12 matches only:
A&M leads, 24-7
Streak: A&M has won
the last nine meetings
Recent Results: A&M defeated Kansas, 3-1, at Reed on Sunday. Tech defeated Baylor, 3-2, Saturday in Lubbock.
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Texas A&M (17-5, 6-3 Big 12) concludes a three-match home stand Wednesday as the Aggies play host to the Texas Tech Red Raiders (15-9, 1-8 Big 12). First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Reed Arena.
It is "Local Heroes Night" at the match, and all members of the Bryan/College Station fire and police departments as well as the Texas A&M campus police and security will be admitted free. Their family members can purchase a specially discounted $3 ticket by using the link provided in an email that will be sent to the departments.
The Aggies, who lead the Big 12 in kills (12.99), assists (13.99) and aces (1.36) per set, have won four of their last five matches and are 8-1 in home matches. Most recently, A&M defeated Kansas, 25-21, 25-20, 24-26, 25-20, Sunday at Reed and moved into a tie with Oklahoma for third place in the Big 12 standings.
Texas Tech, the Big 12 leader in blocks (2.98) per set, as well as the league leader in opponent hitting percentage (.135), assists allowed (10.51) and kills allowed (11.33) per set, snapped a seven-match losing skid and is coming off its first conference victory of the season after defeating Baylor 3-2 (25-13, 18-25, 26-24, 10-25, 15-13) on Oct. 26 in Lubbock.
Due to unusual scheduling, A&M and Tech each have played only two matches since the teams last met on Oct. 19 in Lubbock. In that match, the Aggies held off a much-improved Red Raider team, 26-24, 21-25, 25-20, 17-25, 15-13, at the United Spirit Arena, for their ninth consecutive win against Tech. The Red Raiders, who had been swept by A&M in the previous seven meetings, did snap a 23-set losing skid to the Aggies and posted 19 blocks in the match, the most by an A&M opponent this season.
AGGIE QUICK HITS:
- Texas A&M moved up two spots to 18th in the latest NCAA RPI rankings, released on Monday. Among Big 12 schools, only Iowa State (third) and Texas (fourth) are ahead of A&M. Other Big 12 schools in the top 50 in RPI are Oklahoma (23rd), Kansas State (31st), Missouri (32nd), Kansas (42nd) and Baylor (47th).
- The Aggies are receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 Poll for the ninth consecutive week and moved up one spot to 29th in this week's rankings. A&M ranks 22nd in home attendance, averaging 1,593 per match.
- Senior middle blocker Elise Hendrickson leads the league with 0.37 aces per set. She has had at least one ace in 17 of 22 matches and has tallied two or more aces in 10 matches.
- Junior middle blocker Lindsey Miller is ranked fourth in the conference in hitting percentage (.340), fifth in blocks (1.18) per set and 10th in points (3.75) per set in Big 12 matches only.
- Setter Allie Sawatzky is averaging 11.06 assists per set over the last four matches and moved into fourth in the Big 12 rankings with 10.35 assists per set for the full season. The sophomore from Manitoba, who moved into 10th place in the A&M career records for assists with 1,848 after posting 50 assists at Texas Tech, also has posted double figures in digs in three of the last four matches.
- Sawatzky's career-high 60 assists in the win against No. 22 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 outside hitter Tori Mellinger, who was the team's designated libero the first two seasons of her career, had 13 digs against Iowa State to give her 1,011 for her career. She became the 19th player in school history to join the 1,000 digs club and currently has 1,024 to rank 14th in the A&M career records. Mellinger was the starting libero for the first three matches this season and has since started 16 matches on the left side and is averaging 1.78 kills and 2.78 digs per set this season.
- Outside hitter Kelsey Black leads the team and ranks sixth in the Big 12 with 3.40 kills per set for the full season. She is seventh in the league with 3.88 points per set and is tied with Alisia Kastmo for 10th in the league with 0.24 aces per set. Black recorded her 1,000th career point against Oklahoma on Oct. 12, becoming the sixth A&M player to reach the milestone since rally scoring began in 2001. The senior needs 21 digs and 110 kills to reach 1,000 in those respective categories.
- Junior libero Megan Pendergast has played in 21 matches and has led or tied for the team lead in digs 14 times, more than any other player. She has posted double figures in digs in a team-leading 17 matches and has posted 20 or more digs in three matches, including a career-high 22 in A&M's last outing. She leads the team and is ranked fifth in the Big 12 with 3.99 digs per set for the full season and is seventh in the league with 3.89 digs per set in conference matches only.
- 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 leads A&M with 14 double-doubles. She has posted double figures in kills in 17 of 22 matches overall and double figures in digs in 16 matches, including in each of the last five matches.
- Black, Miller, Sawatzky and Hendrickson have started every match in 2011, and only Sawatzky has played in all 83 sets. Junior right-side hitter Alisia Kastmo has started all but five matches in which senior Sarah Grace started for her in the back row rotation.
- Kastmo and 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.
- A&M is 8-1 in home matches, 4-3 in away matches, 5-1 at neutral sites and 1-3 against ranked opponents.
- The Aggies are 8-2 in three-set matches, 5-2 in four-set matches and 4-1 in five-set matches.
- The loss to No. 15 Iowa State on Oct. 22 marked the only time this season the Aggies have lost a match after leading in kills. It also was the only time A&M lost after winning the third set and the only time A&M has lost a home match. A&M is 16-1 when leading its opponent in kills and 14-1 when leading in attack percentage. The Aggies are 8-0 when leading in blocks and 15-1 when winning the first set.
- A&M's three matches leading into the Iowa State match were decided in five sets, with the Aggies winning all three. It marked the fourth time in program history A&M played three consecutive five-setters (2005, 2006, 2008), and only the second time A&M won all three. A&M has never played four consecutive five-set matches.
- A&M's come-from-behind wins against Kansas and Oklahoma during the first half of conference play 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.
- 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.
- 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 393-191 in her 19th year at the helm of the Aggies and 493-297 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 5-4 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 and Iowa State, who were each eliminated in the first round.
A&M-TEXAS TECH SERIES RECORDS:
- A&M is 53-26 against Texas Tech since 1976, including 24-7 in Big 12 matches only.
- A&M is 25-8 against the Red Raiders in matches played in College Station and 21-12 in matches played in Lubbock .
- Tech is A&M's second most all-time opponent since 1976. Only Texas has played the Aggies in more matches.
- The Aggies have won the last nine meetings.
- A&M has swept the season series nine times since Big 12 play began in 1996, including each of the last four seasons. The teams have split the Big 12 season series five times.
- Texas Tech's most recent win against the Aggies was a 30-25, 30-23, 30-27 victory on Nov. 18, 2006, at United Spirit Arena, completing Tech's first and only Big 12 season sweep against A&M.
- In the most recent meeting, A&M played and won its third consecutive five set match, defeating Tech, 26-24, 21-25, 25-20, 17-25, 15-13 in Lubbock. After trading sets over the first four frames, there were seven ties and three lead changes in the fifth set. The score was tied at 8-8 when Tech committed three consecutive errors. The Red Raiders later got within 12-11 before Lindsey Miller and Allie Sawatzky posted back-to-back kills to put A&M at match point. Tech fought off two match points before Miller recorded her team-leading 18th kill. Kelsey Black finished with 12 kills, and Elise Hendrickson had a season-high 11 kills. Alisia Kastmo also finished with 11 kills, and Sawatzky dished out 50 assists for the Aggies. Megan Pendergast had a match-high 18 digs in the win. Amanda Dowdy led Tech with 22 kills.
TEXAS TECH NOTES:
- Texas Tech (15-9, 1-8 Big 12) is ranked seventh in the country and leads the Big 12 with 2.98 blocks per set.
- Junior libero Tory Vaughan was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week Monday after recording a career-high 31 digs in the Red Raiders' five-set victory over Baylor on Wednesday. Her dig total was the most for a Tech player in the rally scoring era. It also marked the most digs by a Red Raider since Ann Romjue set the school record with 36 against Texas A&M on Nov. 18, 2000.
- Three Red Raiders are ranked in the top 10 in the Big 12 for blocks per set for the full season. Dravon Rangel leads the league with a 1.53 block average. Aubree Piper is sixth in the Big 12 with 1.12 blocks per set, and freshman Mikia Mills is eighth with 1.09 blocks per set.
- Senior outside hitter Amanda Dowdy, a preseason all-Big 12 unanimous selection, is ranked third in the Big 12 and 40th in the nation with 4.06 kills per set. She also is third in the league and 49th in the country with 4.54 points per set.
- Dowdy and A&M senior outside hitter Kelsey Black were teammates on the 2009 USA Junior National Team. A&M associate head coach John Corbelli served as an assistant coach of the team.
- Tech is picked to finish ninth in the Big 12 according to a preseason vote of the league coaches.
- Don Flora is in his first season as head coach of the Red Raiders. He spent the past two seasons as an assistant at New Mexico State.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
Texas A&M travels to Manhattan, Kan., to take on the Kansas State Wildcats. The time of the match has been changed to 3 p.m. at Ahearn Field House. The time was changed when it was announced that the Wildcats' televised football game at Oklahoma State would kick off at 7 p.m. on ABC.