Wednesday, Oct. 15, 6 p.m. CT
Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
TV: SEC Network (Adam Amin & Maria Taylor)
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The 20th-ranked Texas A&M volleyball team returns to Reed Arena on Wednesday to play host to the Arkansas Razorbacks. First serve is at 6 p.m., and the match will be televised by the SEC Network with Adam Amin and Maria Taylor calling the action.
The Aggies are 11-5 overall and in a three-way tie with South Carolina and Missouri for fifth place in the SEC standings with a 3-2 conference record. Most recently, the Aggies fell, 3-0 (25-12, 25-23, 25-17), to ninth-ranked and SEC preseason-favorite Florida on Sunday at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida. The match against the Gators was A&M's sixth contest against a top-15 opponent in 10 matches.
Arkansas, 10-8 overall, is one win ahead of the Aggies and in third place in the conference standings with a 4-1 league mark. The Razorbacks, in search of their first away victory of the season as well as their first victory in the all-time series against the Aggies, are riding a two-match win streak after sweeping Ole Miss last Wednesday and holding off Georgia, 3-2, on Sunday at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville.
Texas A&M features the top two players in hitting percentage in SEC matches only, with middle blockers Shelby Sullivan and Jazzmin Babers hitting a league-best .494 and .458, respectively. Meanwhile, Arkansas fields the league's kills and points leader in senior outside hitter Meredith Hays, who tops the charts with 5.26 kills and 5.74 points per set in conference play.
Promotion: It will be “Pies and Pints Night,” and Double Dave's pepperoni rolls will be given away to the first 250 fans at the Reed Arena north entrance. In addition, the first 250 fans will receive a coupon for a free Texas A&M pint glass. The coupons will be distributed at the 12th Man marketing tables located at the main and north entrances, and the coupons can be redeemed at the tables for the free glass immediately following the match.
Tickets: 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.
TEXAS A&M QUICK HITS:
- Texas A&M dropped one spot to No. 20 in this week's AVCA Top 25 Poll after defeating Alabama, which is receiving votes, 3-2, and then falling 3-0 at Florida, which climbed one spot to No. 8 this week.
- A&M is No. 19 in this week's NCAA RPI rankings, down one spot from last week's first RPI ranking 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.
- A&M is 5-3 in home matches, 3-2 in away matches and 3-0 at neutral sites this season.
- A&M is 2-4 against ranked opponents, all of which were ranked in the top 15 when the match was played.
- After playing five SEC matches, A&M middle blockers Shelby Sullivan and Jazzmin Babers are No. 1 and 2 in the league in hitting percentage, hitting .494 and .458, respectively. As a team, A&M is second in the league with a .309 hitting percentage in SEC matches only.
- Sullivan is hitting .383 for the full season, ranking 39th in the national statistics. As a team, A&M is hitting .256 for the full season, 41st-best in the nation.
- In A&M's six matches vs. top-15 opponents only, Sullivan hit a combined .388 and averaged 2.91 kills, 1.00 blocks and 3.57 points per set.
- After starting the first 12 matches of the season at outside hitter, 6-3 sophomore Emily Hardesty has been A&M's designated libero over the last four matches, making her the tallest libero in the SEC. Four liberos in the league are listed at 5-9 -- including Arkansas' Monica Bollinger -- and are tied for second tallest in the conference.
- 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 four matches at the outside hitter position, marking the first starts of her career.
- 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 fourth in the league with 0.41 aces per set in SEC matches only. She is averaging 0.29 aces per set for the full season, ranking 11th in the league.
- 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 554-323 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 943-520-2 all-time.
A&M SERIES RECORD VS. ARKANSAS:
- A&M leads the all-time series, 3-0, including 2-0 in matches played at Reed Arena.
- The Aggies have dropped the opening set in all three meetings against Arkansas.
- The teams met once last year, with A&M winning 3-1 (27-29, 25-20, 25-23, 25-22) at Reed. A&M outhit the Razorbacks, .313 to .236 and Babers and Sullivan led the Aggies to a 10-5 advantage in blocks. Arkansas' Meredith Hays led all players with 21 kills.
- The teams first met on Oct. 12, 2012, A&M's first year in the SEC. A&M survived in five sets, 21-25, 25-15, 25-16, 23-25, 15-3, at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville.
- A&M went on to sweep the 2012 season series, defeating Arkansas, 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-17) on Nov. 4 in College Station.
SCOUTING ARKANSAS:
- Arkansas is 10-8 overall and riding a two-match win streak after defeating Ole Miss and Georgia last weekend.
- The Razorbacks are 4-1 in SEC matches and are third in the SEC standings behind undefeated leaders Kentucky and Florida.
- Arkansas' only SEC loss was a 3-2 setback at LSU on Oct. 5, falling 17-15 in the decisive fifth set.
- Arkansas is 8-3 in home matches and 0-3 in away matches.
- Arkansas is 0-1 against ranked opponents after falling at No. 24 Kansas, 3-1 (25-16, 25-11, 27-29, 25-18) on Sept. 20
- Senior outside hitter Meredith Hays leads the SEC and is 14th in the nation with 4.59 kills per set. She is 16th in the country with 5.12 points per set.
- Arkansas associate head coach Carol Price-Torok is Texas A&M Class of '04. She played middle blocker and right side for Aggie coach Laurie Corbelli from 2000-03. A&M reached at least the NCAA second round every year during Price-Torok's career, reaching the regional finals in 2001 and the regional semifinals in 2003. Price-Torok also lettered in basketball in 2003-04, Gary Blair's first year as head coach of the A&M women's basketball team.
- Robert Pulliza (Ball State, 1996) is in his seventh season as head coach of the Razorbacks. He celebrated his 100th career victory in the 3-2 win against Georgia in the Razorbacks' most recent outing
TEXAS A&M RECENT RESULTS:
#9 Florida def. #19 Texas A&M, 3-0
- No. 9 Florida remained undefeated in SEC play and ran its win streak to seven matches with a 25-12, 25-23, 25-17 victory over No. 19 Texas A&M Sunday, Oct. 12 at the Stephen O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla.
- The Aggies struggled to get in sync offensively and were held to a season-low .119 hitting efficiency. Meanwhile, Florida (12-3, 6-0 SEC), favored to win the conference according to a preseason poll of the league's coaches, hit .395, a season high by an A&M opponent.
- Jazzmin Babers led A&M with eight kills while hitting .357. Babers also led A&M with four blocks, including three solos to tie her career high.
- Victoria Arenas and Emily Hardesty tied for the team lead in digs with eight apiece.
- Alex Holston paced the Gators with 13 kills while hitting .545.
TEXAS A&M: BY THE NUMBERS:
- Last week's No. 19 showing marks 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 2-4 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 3-0 road losses at No. 13 Kentucky and No. 9 Florida
- 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.
- Freshman setter Stephanie Aiple is fifth in the SEC with 10.73 assists per set for the full season and 10.76 assists per set in SEC matches only. Against No. 13 Kentucky, Aiple dished out 48 assists, an A&M record for a 3-set SEC match.
- Shelby Sullivan leads the Aggies' attack and ranks fourth in the SEC with a .383 hitting percentage for the full season. She also leads A&M with 3.75 points and 3.04 kills per set, ranking 10th and 11th, respectively, in the SEC. She is second on the team and seventh in the league with 1.09 blocks per set.
- 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 47 consecutive starts dating back to the 2013 season opener. Sullivan has played in 47 consecutive matches, having started 46 of them.
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.