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TEXAS A&M TO FACE #6 USC, #13 SAN DIEGO AT USC CLASSICTEXAS A&M TO FACE #6 USC, #13 SAN DIEGO AT USC CLASSIC
Volleyball

TEXAS A&M TO FACE #6 USC, #13 SAN DIEGO AT USC CLASSIC

The Texas A&M volleyball team (5-1) embarks on a challenging road trip this week as the Aggies face both No. 6 USC (6-0) and No. 13 San Diego (5-1), Thursday and Friday, at the USC Classic at Galen Center in Los Angeles.

USC Classic Schedule (*all times are PT)

Thursday, September 11
5 p.m.         #13 San Diego vs. #10 Florida
8 p.m.         Texas A&M vs. #6 USC

 Friday, September 12
4:30 p.m.     Texas A&M vs. #13 San Diego
7:30 p.m.    #6 USC vs. #10 Florida

Television (USC matches): Pac 12 Network
Audio (Texas A&M vs. San Diego): usctrojans.com
Live Stats (all matches): usctrojans.com
A&M In-Game Updates: Twitter.com/@AggieVolleyball

LOS ANGELES -- The Texas A&M volleyball team (5-1) embarks on a challenging road trip this week as the Aggies face both No. 6 USC (6-0) and No. 13 San Diego (5-1), Thursday and Friday, at the USC Classic at Galen Center in Los Angeles. A&M faces the undefeated Women of Troy in their home season opener on Thursday at 8 p.m. PT (10 p.m. CT). The match will be televised by the Pac 12 Network with Tammy Blackburn and Krista Blunk calling the action.

On Friday, A&M takes on San Diego at 4:30 p.m. PT (6:30 CT). A free audio broadcast will be available at usctrojans.com with USC radio personality Paul Duchesne and 12th Man Productions analyst Chelsea Reber teaming to call the action.

Southeastern Conference foe and 10th-ranked Florida also will be competing in the tournament but will not face the Aggies.

The match against USC is the first of four consecutive top-15 opponents on tap for the Aggies, who return home to Reed Arena on Sept. 19-20, for a two-match series against No. 7 Florida State.

FOLLOW THE ACTION:

  • All USC matches will be televised on Pac 12 Network (check local cable/satellite provider for availability) with Tammy Blackburn and Krista Blunk on the call for the A&M-USC match.
  • Audio of the non-USC matches will be available at usctrojans.com, with a link to the A&M-San Diego broadcast also provided at 12thMan.com. 12th Man Productions analyst Chelsea Reber will join USC radio personality Paul Duchesne to call the action.
  • GameTracker stats for all tournament matches will be available at usctrojans.com.
  • Updates and other information regarding Texas A&M matches can be found by following AggieVolleyball on Twitter.

TEXAS A&M QUICK HITS:

  • The 2014 season marks the 40th season of volleyball at Texas A&M. The Aggies are 937-516-2 all-time.
  • A&M is 5-1 this season and coming off its second consecutive tournament championship after going 3-0 at the Baymont Inn & Suites Invitational, hosted by Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, last weekend. The Aggies swept both Ohio and Virginia Tech and came back from a 2-1 set deficit to defeat VCU to capture the title.
  • Sophomore outside hitter Emily Hardesty was named tournament MVP at the Baymont Inn & Suites Invitational, and junior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan and freshman setter Stephanie Aiple were named to the all-tournament team.
  • The Aggies also won the season-opening Texas A&M Invitational, August 29-30 at Reed Arena. A&M tied Iowa and UTSA with a tournament-best 2-1 record but was awarded the championship based on sets won-lost ratio.
  • Texas A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli is in her 22nd season at the helm of the Aggies and the 29th year of her head coaching career. She is 548-319 overall and 448-213 at A&M, where she has directed the Aggies to 17 NCAA appearances.
  • Corbelli returns four starters -- juniors Angela Lowak (6-0, OH) and Shelby Sullivan (6-2, MB) and sophomores Jazzmin Babers (6-2, MB) and Emily Hardesty (6-3, OH) -- and five other letterwinners from last year's team that went 19-12 and made a third consecutive appearance in the NCAA second round before being eliminated by Texas for the second straight year.
  • There are eight newcomers on the A&M roster, including a six-person freshman recruiting class that was recognized by both Volleyball Magazine and PrepVolleyball.com. High school All-Americans Stephanie Aiple (6-1, S/OPP), who joined the team in January, and lefty Ashlie Reasor (6-1, OPP), as well as Kiara McGee (5-11, OH), Amy Nettles (5-4, L/DS), Olivia Thorpe (5-11, OH) and Uche Ukadike (5-11, MB) make up the freshman class.

RECENT RESULTS:

  • Texas A&M went undefeated last weekend to win the Baymont Inn & Suites Invitational, hosted by Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.
  • The Aggies spoiled Ohio's home opener, defeating the Bobcats 25-23, 25-20, 26-24. Freshman setter Stephanie Aiple drew the first start of her young career and directed the Aggie offense to a .291 hitting percentage. Shelby Sullivan led A&M with 12.5 points and tied Angela Lowak for the team lead in kills with 10.
  • In A&M's second match of the tournament, the Aggies held off Virginia Tech, 25-22, 25-22, 25-22. Aiple posted the first double-double of her career with 28 assists and a team-high 11 digs. Lowak led with nine kills.
  • In A&M's final match, VCU was first to reach the 15-point mark in every set except the decisive fifth set as A&M came from behind to top the Rams, 25-20, 19-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-11. Emily Hardesty had career highs in both kills (15) and digs (19) and tallied the first double-double of her career to lead the Aggies. Sullivan had 14 kills while hitting .393 and also added four blocks. Lowak also posted double figures in kills with 11. Libero Victoria Arenas had a match-high 25 digs, her second 20-plus dig performance of the season, and Aiple had a career-high 52 assists. A&M also got key contributions off the bench from several players, including freshman outside hitter Kiara McGee (8 kills, 2 solo blocks), sophomore middle blocker Darby Graff and senior defensive specialist Sydney Wilhelm (3 aces).
  • Hardesty was named tournament MVP, and Sullivan and Aiple were named to the all-tournament team.

UPCOMING:

  • The Aggies return home to Reed Arena for a two-match series against No. 7 Florida State, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 19-20. The Friday match begins at 6 p.m., and the Saturday match begins at 11 a.m.
  • A&M upset the then 16th-ranked Seminoles, 3-0, last year in College Station en route to winning the Texas A&M Invitational.
  • It will be “Social Media Night” at the Friday night match against the Seminoles. Like or follow AggieVolleyball and receive a limited edition T-shirt while supplies last.
  • A&M hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday, Sept. 22 at 6:30 p.m. at Reed. It is the final tune-up for SEC play, which opens Sunday, Sept. 28 as the Aggies host Auburn at 1 p.m.
  • All A&M home matches will be broadcast on either SEC Network or SEC Network +.

SERIES VS.  USC:

  • USC leads the all-time series against the Aggies, 8-0, including 2-0 in matches played at USC.
  • Three of A&M's losses to the Trojans occurred at the NCAA tournament, including 3-0 losses in 2002 and 2003 when USC went on to win the national championship. The other postseason loss was a 3-1 second-round setback in 1998 in Los Angeles.
  • The most recent meeting was Aug. 24, 2012, at the Texas A&M Invitational at Reed Arena. USC won the match, 3-1 (26-28, 25-14, 25-18, 25-20).

SCOUTING USC:

  • Sixth-ranked USC has started the season 6-0 for the second consecutive year.
  • The Trojans went 3-0 at the Commonwealth Classic last weekend in Lexington, Ky., to win their second consecutive tournament title. USC swept both 16th-ranked Kentucky and Northern Iowa, and defeated Creighton, 3-1, to capture the championship.
  • Ebony Nwanebu was the MVP of the tournament, and Samantha Bricio and Brittany Abercrombie were named to the all-tournament team.
  • Bricio leads the nation with 0.91 aces per set. Alicia Ogoms is 39th in the nation with 1.38 blocks per set.
  • Nwanebu, a 6-4 sophomore outside hitter from Lucas, Texas, and the 2013 AVCA National Freshman of the Year, leads USC with 3.70 kills per set while hitting .390.
  • As a team, USC is hitting .282 and is averaging 14.00 kills, 1.77 aces, 15.77 digs and 2.50 blocks per set. Opponents are hitting .134 and averaging 10.45 kills, 0.59 aces, 15.82 digs and 1.80 blocks.
  • Mick Haley is in his 14th season as head coach of the Trojans and in the 38th season of his head coaching career. Previously he was the head coach at A&M-rival Texas from 1980 to 1996 before stepping down to become the head coach of the USA National women's team through the 2000 Olympics.

SERIES VS. SAN DIEGO

·         A&M and San Diego have met only once, with the Toreros winning 3-0 on Sept. 13, 2008, at San Diego.

SCOUTING USD:

  • San Diego has won its last four matches -- all in three sets-- to improve to 5-1 on the season.
  • Most recently the Toreros swept Brown, Villanova and Northwestern at the USD-SDSU 2014 Challenge.
  • USD moved up two spots to No. 13 in this week's AVCA Top 25 poll.
  • The Toreros' only loss this season was a 3-0 setback at No. 8 Purdue in the second match of the season.
  • USD is seventh in the nation with 14.79 kills per set, 13th in the country with 13.68 assists per set, and 19th with 1.89 aces per set.
  • The Toreros are outhitting their opponents .267 to .208.
  • Alaysia Brown leads USD with 3.63 kills per set and is hitting at a .321 clip. Libero Hunter Jennings averages a team-best 4.33 digs per set.
  • Jennifer Petrie (William & Mary '92) is 281-98 in her 13th season as head coach at USD and in her head coaching career.

TEXAS A&M NOTES:

California-Coach Connections:
Aggie head coach Laurie Corbelli spent the first seven years of her coaching career in California before coming to A&M in 1993. She spent four years as head coach at San Francisco before taking a job at Santa Clara, where she coached for three years. She coached against her husband, A&M associate head coach John Corbelli, who coached concurrently at San Jose State from 1990-92. A&M assistant coach Steve Greene is a California native. He is from Orange County and graduated from CSU Monterey Bay in 2008.

Aiple Named SEC Freshman Player of the Week:
Texas A&M setter Stephanie Aiple is the reigning SEC Freshman Player of the Week for volleyball. Aiple was named to the all-tournament team at Ohio University's Baymont Inn & Suites Invitational last weekend after leading A&M to three consecutive victories and the Aggies' second consecutive tournament championship. The Round Rock (Texas) High School product drew the first start of her collegiate career in A&M's tournament opener against host Ohio and had 39 assists and seven digs in the sweep against the Bobcats. Aiple followed that performance with her first double-double, tallying 28 assists and a team-high 11 digs in the Aggies' 3-0 victory against Virginia Tech. In A&M's third and final match of the tournament, Aiple had a career-high and team season-high 52 assists along with two kills, seven digs, two blocks and an ace as the Aggies came back to defeat VCU, 3-2, to finish the tournament undefeated. Overall, Aiple started every match and was on the court for every play throughout the 11 sets A&M played during the tournament. She averaged 10.82 assists per set and was third on the team with 2.27 digs per set.

Hardesty Garners MVP Honors:
Sophomore outside hitter Emily Hardesty was named MVP at the Baymont Inn & Suites Invitational after leading A&M in kills (32), kills per set (2.91) and hitting percentage (.329). She was second on the team in total digs (32) and digs per set (2.91). She led A&M with a .533 hitting percentage in the sweep against host Ohio and a .368 hitting percentage in the sweep against Virginia Tech. Hardesty posted the first double-double of her career with a team-leading and career-high 15 kills along with a career-high 19 digs in the win against VCU. She also had a career-high 15.5 points in the win against the Rams as the Aggies went undefeated at the tournament.

Freshman Recruiting Class Recognized:
Texas A&M volleyball's incoming freshman class received honorable mention in Volleyball Magazine's list of the nation's top 10 recruiting classes. A&M is the only Texas school mentioned in the listing, which recognized 15 classes as honorable mention in addition to the top-10 ranked teams. High school All-Americans Stephanie Aiple (6-1, S), and Ashlie Reasor (6-1, OPP) headline the Aggies' six-member incoming freshman class, which was ranked 17th in the nation by Prepvolleyball.com earlier this year. Kiara McGee (5-11, OH), Amy Nettles (5-4, L), Olivia Thorpe (5-11, OH) and Uche Ukadike (5-11, MB) complete the heralded class.

SEC Preseason Poll:
Texas A&M, which tied for sixth place in the SEC standings last season with a 10-8 mark, is picked to finish sixth this year, according to a preseason vote of the league coaches. Florida is picked to win the team championship, having received the maximum 12 first-place votes for 144 points. Kentucky is projected to finish second, having received 129 points. Defending SEC champion Missouri received the only other first-place vote and is picked to place third with 114 total points, followed by LSU (105 points) and Alabama (102 points). A&M received 89 points and Arkansas is seventh with 87 points. Georgia (65 points), Auburn (54), Ole Miss (50) and Tennessee (33). South Carolina (29) and Mississippi State (13) round out the 13-team poll. Vanderbilt does not sponsor volleyball.

Sullivan Named to Preseason All-SEC Team:
Texas A&M junior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan was named to the 2014 Preseason Volleyball All-SEC Team, announced by the conference office earlier this month. Sullivan, who earned All-SEC Team honors as a sophomore after hitting .386 and averaging 2.75 kills per set, is one of nine members on the star-studded team, which was voted on by the league's 13 head coaches. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players. Preseason league-favorite Florida led all schools with three selected to the team: Alex Holston, ?iva Recek and Taylor Unroe. Others named to the preseason team are Carly Kan and Whitney Little of Missouri, Krystal Rivers of Alabama, Brianna Holman from LSU and Kentucky's Morgan Bergren, who is the only player on the 2014 preseason team who was not on the 2013 season-ending  All-SEC Team.

A Look at the Season Schedule:
A&M is scheduled to play seven matches against teams currently ranked in the top 20 of the AVCA Top 25 poll, including a four-match stretch that includes contests against No. 6 USC and No. 13 San Diego at the USC Classic in Los Angeles, followed by back-to-back matches against No. 7 Florida State, Sept. 19-20 in College Station during the pre-conference season. A&M will play three matches against SEC teams currently listed in the top 20: No. 10 Florida, and two matches against No. 16 Kentucky.

RANDOM NOTES:

  • A&M has used three different starting lineups over six matches. Middle blockers Jazzmin Babers and Shelby Sullivan and outside hitters Angela Lowak and Emily Hardesty have started every match. Opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor has started five matches with freshman defensive specialist Amy Nettles starting in the back row for Reasor against VCU. Sophomore Kaysie Shebeneck started the first three matches at setter, and freshman Stephanie Aiple has started the last three. Sophomore Victoria Arenas has been the designated libero to start all six matches.
  • Babers and Sullivan, both AVCA All-South Region honorable mentions in 2013, started every match last season, and after starting the first six matches of 2014, they have now each appeared in 37 consecutive starting lineups. Sullivan has played in 133 consecutive sets.
  • Babers set a school record with 13 blocks assists against UTSA (Aug. 30). Her 14 total blocks ties for second in the A&M record books.
  • As a team, A&M's 34 block assists against UTSA equals the fourth most block assists in program history and is the most in a match since the 25-point scoring format went into effect in 2008.
  • Texas A&M is outhitting its opponents, .224 to .162. The Aggies also lead in kills (12.59 to 12.27), assists (11.68 to 10.86), aces (1.23 to 1.14) and blocks (2.55 to 2.00). Opponents are outdigging A&M, 16.00 to 15.14.
  • Sophomore libero Victoria Arenas, who had a career-high and team-high 28 digs against UTSA, leads A&M and is fifth in the SEC with 4.09 digs per set. Arenas also had 25 digs against VCU.
  • Junior outside hitter/middle blocker Shelbi Vaughan will redshirt and focus on track and field. The 6-2 junior was the NCAA champion in the discus in 2014.

Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M volleyball team on Facebook and on Twitter by following @AggieVolleyball.