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No. 19 Texas A&M Battles No. 9 FloridaNo. 19 Texas A&M Battles No. 9 Florida
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No. 19 Texas A&M Battles No. 9 Florida

The 19th-ranked Texas A&M volleyball team takes on its sixth top-15 ranked opponent in 10 matches as the Aggies face No. 9 Florida Sunday in Gainesville. First serve against the Gators is at 1 p.m. CT at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

Complete Match Notes

Sunday, October 12
No. 19 Texas A&M at No. 9 Florida, 1 p.m. CT
Stephen C. O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Florida
TV: SEC Network

The 19th-ranked Texas A&M volleyball team takes on its sixth top-15 ranked opponent in 10 matches as the Aggies face No. 9 Florida Sunday in Gainesville. Fla. First serve against the preseason SEC-favored Gators is at 1 p.m. CT at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

The match will be broadcast on the SEC Network with Melissa Lee and Missy Whittemore calling the action.

A&M is 11-4 overall and in a three-way tie with Arkansas and South Carolina for third place in SEC play with a 3-1 record after rallying to defeat Alabama, 3-2, Friday in College Station. The Gators, tied with Kentucky for first place, won their sixth consecutive match and improved to 11-3 overall and 5-0 in SEC play after sweeping Georgia Friday in Gainesville.

TEXAS A&M QUICK HITS:

  • Texas A&M climbed two spots to No. 19 in this week's AVCA Top 25 Poll. It is A&M's highest ranking since a No. 15 showing on Sept. 12, 2005. Unranked and not receiving votes in the Top 25 Poll to start the 2014 season, the Aggies broke in at No. 21 on Sept. 15 following a weekend in which they upset both No. 6 USC and No. 13 San Diego at the USC Classic. The ranking marked A&M's first appearance in the Top 25 since a No. 21 ranking in the 2009 final poll.
  • A&M is No. 18 in the first NCAA RPI rankings of the season.
  • 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 a preseason poll of the league's head coaches.
  • After playing four SEC matches, A&M middle blockers Shelby Sullivan and Jazzmin Babers are No. 1 and 2 in the league in hitting percentage, hitting .559 and .478, respectively. As a team, A&M leads the league with a .347 hitting percentage in SEC matches only.
  • Freshman setter Stephanie Aiple entered the weekend ranked 25th in the nation and is currently fifth in the SEC with 10.98 assists per set. In conference matches only, the two-time SEC Freshman of the Week is averaging 11.64 assists per set, fourth-best in the league. Last week against Tennessee and Kentucky, Aiple averaged 13.17 assists per set for the week, and her 48 assists against Kentucky is an A&M record for assists in a three-set SEC match.
  • Junior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan entered the weekend ranked 37th in the nation with a .390 hitting percentage. The co-captain currently leads A&M and is fourth in the SEC with a .391 hitting efficiency for the full season. In A&M's five matches vs. top-15 opponents only, Sullivan has hit a combined .410 and averaged 3.05 kills, 1.05 blocks and 3.76 points per set.
  • Texas A&M has tweaked its lineup over the last three matches, moving 6-3 Emily Hardesty from outside hitter to libero, making her the tallest libero in the SEC. Hardesty, who had started the first 12 matches on the outside, tied her career high with 19 digs in three sets against Kentucky and is 17th in the league with 2.78 digs per set for the full season.
  • With Hardesty moving to libero, Sydney Wilhelm, a fifth-year senior who is in her first season on the team after playing the last two years on the A&M club volleyball team, has started the last three matches at the outside hitter position, marking the first starts of her career.
  • Freshman opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor has had career-high performances in each of the last three matches. After posting back-to-back career-high dig performances, scooping nine digs at Tennessee and tallying 15 digs at Kentucky, Reasor set a career high with 18.5 points and tied her career high with 14 kills in the win against Alabama.
  • Junior outside hitter Angela Lowak set a career high and a team season high with four aces in the victory against the Crimson Tide on Friday. The co-captain is third in the league with 0.50 aces per set in SEC matches only. She is averaging 0.31 aces per set for the full season, ranking ninth in the league.
  • For the second time in its three-year membership in the SEC, A&M has opened league play 3-1. In their first season as a member of the SEC in 2012, the Aggies opened conference play 3-1 and went on to win the 2012 SEC Western Division Championship.
  • 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. The 1984 Olympic silver medalist is 554-322 overall and 454-217 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.
  • The 2014 season marks the 40th season of volleyball as an intercollegiate varsity sport at Texas A&M. The Aggies are 943-519-2 all-time.
A&M SERIES RECORD VS. FLORIDA:
  • Florida leads the all-time series, 9-0, against the Aggies, including 4-0 in matches played in Gainesville and 3-0 in SEC matches.
  • A&M has lost in three sets in each of its last three visits to Florida. The only time A&M won a set in Gainesville was a 3-1 loss in the first-ever meeting on Oct. 28, 1988.
  • Last year, A&M fell at No. 3 Florida, 25-9, 25-23, 25-17 in Gainesville, but forced the then-No. 5 Gators to a fifth set for the second consecutive year at College Station before dropping the 24-26, 25-23, 25-8, 24-26, 16-14 decision at Reed Arena.
  • In the most recent meeting, Florida narrowly persevered behind All-American senior middle blocker Chloe Mann's match-leading and career-high 22 kills, as well as the effective serving of junior libero Taylor Unroe, whose sixth ace of the match clipped the top of the net and fell in untouched to close out the Gators' victory. Sophomore outside hitter Angela Lowak led A&M with 18 kills while hitting .406, and A&M sophomore middle blocker Shelby Sullivan hit .387 with 15 kills.

SCOUTING FLORIDA:

  • Florida was picked to win the SEC according to a preseason vote of the league's head coaches.
  • Florida is No. 9 in the AVCA Top 25 Poll this week and No. 10 in the first NCAA RPI rating of the season.
  • The Gators are 10-3 overall and 4-0 in SEC play entering a home match against Georgia on Friday.
  • Florida is 2-2 against ranked opponents. Like A&M, the Gators defeated both No. 6 USC and No. 13 San Diego at the USC Classic, Sept. 11-12, and suffered a loss to Florida State.
  • The Gators only losses were a 3-2 loss at No. 8 Florida State on Sept. 4, as well as a 3-1 loss against Texas on Sept. 6, and a 3-2 loss against Marquette on Sept. 19 in their only two home losses of the season.
  • Florida, 6-2 in home matches, is riding a six-match win streak overall after sweeping Georgia, 25-14, 25-15, 25-16, on Friday.
  • Freshman 6-4 middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan entered the weekend fourth in the nation and tops in the SEC with a .476 hitting percentage. She hit .636 with eight kills in the sweep against Georgia to increase her hitting percentage to .484.
  • As a team, Florida is hitting an SEC-best .292 for the full season. The Gators hit .317 against Georgia while holding the Bulldogs to a .022 hitting percentage.
  • Junior setter Mackenzie Dagostino is second in the league with 11.33 assists per set.
  • Sophomore right side Alex Holston leads Florida and is fifth in the SEC with 3.99 points per set.
  • Mary Wise (Purdue, 1981) is in her 24th season as the head coach at Florida.

TEXAS A&M RECENT RESULTS:

#19 Texas A&M def. Alabama, 3-2 (Friday, Oct. 10)

  • No. 19 Texas A&M rallied from a 2-1 set deficit to defeat Alabama,  20-25, 25-14, 21-25, 25-20, 15-5, Friday evening at Reed Arena.
  • A&M posted five of its season-high 10 aces in the decisive fifth set and outhit the Tide, .625 to -.250 in the final frame.
  • A&M freshman opposite hitter Ashlie Reason had a career-high 18.5 points and led a trio of Aggies in double-figure kills with 14, tying her career high.
  • Junior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan added 13 kills, and senior outside hitter Sydney Wilhelm pitched in 10 kills. Junior outside hitter Angela Lowak and sophomore middle blocker Jazzmin Babers nearly reached double digits, finishing with nine kills each.
  • Freshman setter Stephanie Aiple dished out 49 assists and directed the balanced offense to a .347 hitting efficiency.
  • Freshman Kat Hutson was a one-man show for the Tide, finishing with 27 kills, the most by an A&M opponent this season, while hitting .365. Brittany Thomas added 12 kills but was held to a .185 hitting efficiency. No other Alabama player had more than six kills, and the Tide was held to a .191 hitting efficiency.
  • Wilhelm led the Aggies with eight digs, and Sullivan and Babers tied for match-high in blocks with six apiece as A&M outblocked the Tide, 12-6.

TEXAS A&M: BY THE NUMBERS:

  • A&M is 5-3 in home matches and 3-1 in away matches this season.
  • A&M is 2-3 against ranked opponents with wins against No. 6 USC and No. 13 San Diego and two losses to No. 6 Florida State as well as a loss at No. 13 Kentucky.
  • A&M is 9-0 when winning the first set and 2-3 when dropping the first set.
  • A&M is 10-0 when leading in attack percentage, 7-0 when leading in points and 5-0 when leading in aces.
  • Shelby Sullivan leads the Aggies' attack and ranks fourth in the SEC with a .391 hitting percentage. She also leads A&M with 3.83 points and 3.09 kills per set, ranking eighth and 12th, respectively, in the SEC. She is second on the team and seventh in the league with 1.11 blocks per set.
  • Sullivan, who had a career-high 20 kills with only one error in 23 attempts for a .826 hitting efficiency in the Aggies' SEC opening 3-0 win against Auburn, leads the SEC with a .559 hitting percentage in conference matches only.
  • Sullivan has posted double-digit kills in a team-leading nine matches and is hitting .409 when recording 10 or more kills in a match.
  • Jazzmin Babers leads A&M and is fifth in the SEC with 1.22 blocks per set for the full season. 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.
  • Babers has made 46 consecutive starts dating back to the 2013 season opener. Sullivan has played in 46 consecutive matches, having started 45 of them.

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:

Texas A&M freshman setter Stephanie Aiple was named the espnW national volleyball player of the week on Sept. 17 for her performances in the Aggies' back-to-back victories over then-No. 6 USC and then-No. 13 San Diego 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. 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.

Preseason Success:

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.

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.