The match will be broadcast on SEC Network +, only on WatchESPN and available through participating TV providers. Casey Richardson and Chelsea Reber will be calling the action.
Texas A&M is 7-3 after dropping back-to-back matches against sixth-ranked Florida State on Friday and Saturday at Reed Arena. The matches ended A&M's five-match win streak and marked the end of a stretch in which the Aggies played four consecutive matches against teams ranked in the top 15. A&M defeated both then-No. 6 USC and then-No. 13 San Diego on Sept. 11-12 at the USC Classic before returning home to host the Seminoles.
The Islanders are 7-9 on the year after going 3-2 at their season home-opening Emerald Beach Islanders Classic, Sept. 18-20 at the Dugan Wellness Center. A&M-Corpus Christi posted wins against Incarnate Word, Omaha and Texas-Pan American and fell to Houston, as well as Boise State to conclude the tournament.
TICKETS:
Regular-price 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 purchased at Reed Arena beginning one hour before match time or in advance at 12thManFoundation.com. Students who purchased a sports pass should enter Reed at the student entrance.
UPCOMING:
- Texas A&M begins its third season of play in the Southeastern Conference on Sunday, September 28, as the Aggies play host to Auburn at Reed Arena. First serve is slated for 1 p.m.
- The match concludes A&M's four-match home stand, the Aggies' longest of the season.
- A&M will be making its first of nine slated appearances on the SEC Network. Paul Sunderland will be calling the play-by-play, and Nell Fortner will provide commentary.
- It will be Camper Reunion Day, and 2014 Texas A&M volleyball campers receive free admission by wearing their A&M volleyball camp T-shirt. In addition, it is “Take a Kid to the Match” day in which up to four kids get in free with the purchase of one regular-priced adult ticket. A Kids Zone area will be set up on the concourse level.
TEXAS A&M QUICK HITS:
- The 2014 season marks the 40th season of volleyball at Texas A&M. The Aggies are 939-518-2 all-time.
- Texas A&M broke into the AVCA Top 25 Poll at No. 21 last week, marking the Aggies' first top 25 ranking since a No. 21 showing in the 2009 final poll.
- Last week, freshman setter Stephanie Aiple became A&M's first player in program history to be named the ESPNW national player of the week, and she was selected SEC Freshman Player of the Week for the second consecutive week after directing A&M to back-to-back wins over No. 6 USC and No. 13 San Diego.
- The Aggies played in three pre-conference tournaments. They 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. A&M also won Ohio's Baymont Inn & Suites Invitational, Sept. 5-6 in Athens, Ohio. A&M went 2-0 at the USC Classic, but a tournament champion was not crowned.
- 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 550-321 overall and 450-215 at A&M, where she has directed the Aggies to 17 NCAA appearances.
- Corbelli returns four starters -- juniors and team captains 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:
#21 Texas A&M vs. #6 Florida State, Friday, Sept. 19
- After winning five consecutive matches away from home, the Aggies returned to Reed Arena to host sixth-ranked and undefeated Florida State in two matches in two days.
- The teams first faced Friday night in a hard-fought match that saw 15 lead changes and 45 ties over four sets. There was never more than a five-point lead by either team, and the Seminoles prevailed, 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 26-24, 25-21), to improve to 10-0.
- Junior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan led A&M with 13 kills while hitting .333, and junior outside hitter Angela Lowak also reached double-digit kills with 12 and also tied her season high with five blocks to lead the team with 15.5 points. Sophomore libero Victoria Arenas tallied a team-high 16 digs, and sophomore outside hitter Emily Hardesty added 11 digs, and sophomore middle blocker Jazzmin Babers took team-high honors in blocks with seven. Stephanie Aiple, the then-reigning ESPNW national player of the week and two-time SEC player of the week after leading the Aggies to back-to-back victories over then-No. 6 USC and then-No. 13 San Diego at the USC Classic in Los Angeles, dished out 42 assists.
#21 Texas A&M vs. #6 Florida State, Saturday, Sept. 20
- After a closely contested match on Friday night, Florida State and Texas A&M returned to the court Saturday morning for round two. The Seminoles steadily pulled away in the rematch, winning 25-20, 25-16, 25-8, to improve to 11-0. The Aggies suffered their first sweep of the season and dropped to 7-3.
- FSU hit .367 for the match and held the Aggies to a season-low.129. A&M also was held to season lows in kills (28), attack attempts (93), assists (27), digs (32), total blocks (5) and points (34.0), and the Aggies tied their season low for aces with one.
- Sullivan led A&M with nine kills while hitting .444. Hardesty and Arenas led in digs with six apiece, and freshman Amy Nettles, who for the first time in her career was the libero in the third set, finished with five digs. Babers led the Aggies with four blocks.
SERIES VS. TAMU-CC:
- The Aggies lead the all-time series against the Islanders, 1-0.
- The first and only other meeting was Aug. 24, 2007, at G. Rollie White Coliseum. The Aggies won the match, 30-18, 30-11, 30-27.
SCOUTING TAMU-CC
- The Islanders are 7-9 overall after going 3-2 at their home-opening Emerald Beach Islanders Classic, Sept. 18-20 at the Dugan Wellness Center. A&M-Corpus Christi posted wins against Incarnate Word, Omaha and Texas-Pan American and fell to Houston, as well as Boise State in three sets to conclude the tournament.
- Junior outside hitter Haley Satterwhite and freshman middle blocker Brittany Gilpin each earned a spot on the all-tournament team. Satterwhite recorded 3.08 kills per set in the classic, while Gilpin registered 41 kills and 2.28 kills per set. Gilpin also racked up 16 blocks in the five matches.
- Senior right-side hitter Brianna Brink, the only player on the squad to have seen action in all 62 sets for the year, leads the Islanders with 3.19 kills per set for the full season. Freshman setter Kristyn Nicholson averages a team-best 8.60 assists per set. Junior libero/defensive specialist Hailey King averages a team-leading 3.66 digs per set, and freshman middle blocker Madeleine Doud leads the Islanders with 0.82 blocks per set.
- As a team, the Islanders are hitting .186 and averaging 12.26 kills, 11.35 assists. 1.29 aces, 17.16 digs and 1.69 blocks per set. Opponents are hitting .214 and averaging 13.31 kills, 12.31 assists, 1.21 aces, 18.16 digs and 2.34 blocks per set.
- Following the match at College Station, the Islanders open Southland Conference play at Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond, La., on Thursday. The Islanders, who went a school-best 13-5 in conference play last year, were picked to finish third in the SLC this season behind preseason favorite Central Arkansas and Northwestern State, according to a preseason poll of the conference head coaches.
- Senior right side Brianna Brink and junior Ivy Baresh were named to the preseason All-SLC first team, and senior outside hitter Ashley Phelps was named to the second-team.
- Tony Graystone (Grand Valley State, 1992) is in his sixth season as head coach of the Islanders. He is the third Islanders coach in program history, and he has improved the team's record each season at the helm He is assisted by Kendra Potts (West Texas A&M, 2004) and Morgan Thomas (USC Upstate, 2012).
TEXAS A&M: BY THE NUMBERS
- As a team, A&M is outhitting its opponents, .232 to .194. The Aggies are averaging 12.66 kills, 11.76 assists, 0.92 aces, 14.16 digs and 2.58 blocks per set. Opponents are averaging 13.21 kills, 12.05 assists, 1.34 aces, 15.53 digs and 2.03 blocks per set.
- Jazzmin Babers entered last week ranked 23rd in the nation with 1.42 blocks per set. She has since improved to 1.45 blocks per set, fourth-best in the SEC (updated national stats not available). Earlier this season, the redshirt sophomore set a school record with 13 block assists against UTSA (Aug. 30). Her 14 total blocks against the Roadrunners ties for second in the A&M record books.
- Shelby Sullivan leads the Aggies' attack and ranks 10th in the SEC with a .339 hitting percentage. She also leads A&M with 3.51 points and 2.76 kills per set, ranking with 15th and 20th, respectively, in the SEC. She is second on the team and 11th in the league with 1.08 blocks per set.
- Sullivan has posted double-figure kills in a team-leading six matches, including in four of the last five matches. Over the last five matches combined, Sullivan is hitting .406 with 3.05 kills and 3.76 points per set.
- Stephanie Aiple is fifth in the SEC with 10.33 assists per set. The freshman had a career-high 56 assists in the 3-2 victory at No. 6 USC on Sept. 11.
- Libero Victoria Arenas has tallied double-digit digs in a team-best seven matches, including three matches in which she has posted 20 or more digs. She had a career high and a team season-high 28 digs in a 3-2 loss to UTSA. Arenas, who has been A&M's designated libero in all but one set this season, leads the Aggies and is fifth in the SEC with 4.05 digs per set for the full season.
- Angela Lowak leads the Aggies with 0.25 aces per set. She is second on the team with 2.61 kills and 3.15 points per set.
- A&M is 7-0 when winning the first set and 0-3 when dropping the first set.
- A&M has used three different starting lineups over eight 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 seven 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 each of the last seven. Sophomore Victoria Arenas has been the first-set designated libero in all 10 matches.
- Freshman Amy Nettles appeared as the libero for the first time in her young career in the third set against No. 6 Florida State on Sept. 20. She drew the first and only start of her career as a defensive specialist against VCU. The San Antonio native has appeared in 26 of 38 sets in nine of 10 matches and is averaging 1.42 digs per set for the full season.
- Babers and Sullivan, both AVCA All-South Region honorable mentions in 2013, have made 41 consecutive starts dating back to the 2013 season opener. In addition, Sullivan has played in 149 consecutive sets.
RANDOM NOTES:
A&M Celebrates 40 Years of Women's Athletics
The 2014-15 academic year marks the 40th season of women's varsity athletics at Texas A&M. As part of a year-long celebration, numerous recognitions and activities will be held leading up to the official 40th anniversary date on June 15, 2015. Although some Aggie women's sports teams were already participating in intercollegiate competitions as early as 1971, it wasn't until the Texas A&M Athletic Council's milestone decision on June 15, 1975, that women's athletics were brought under the umbrella of the Texas A&M Athletics Department. Individual women's sports celebrating their 40th seasons under the Athletics Department are golf, swimming and diving, softball, tennis, track and field and volleyball. Over the past 40 years, Texas A&M's women's sports have accounted for 19 national titles, 44 conference championships and four Olympic medals. Volleyball has made 24 postseason appearances and won one conference divisional title
Aiple Named ESPNW National Player of the Week:
Honors continue to accumulate for Texas A&M freshman setter Stephanie Aiple, who last Wednesday was named the espnW national volleyball player of the week for her performances in the Aggies' back-to-back victories over then-No. 6 USC and then-No. 13 San Diego last week at the USC Classic in Los Angeles. Aiple, the first Texas A&M player to earn the espnW national honor, also was named to the USC Classic all-tournament team following the victories over the favored Trojans and Toreros, and is a two-time SEC Freshman Volleyball Player of the Week.
Freshman Recruiting Class Recognized:
Texas A&M volleyball's 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 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.
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