Volleyball Faces Gamecocks Sunday in Columbia, S.C.
Oct 17, 2014 | Volleyball
No. 20 Texas A&M vs. South Carolina
Sunday, Oct. 19, 12:30 p.m. CT
Volleyball Competition Facility, Columbia, S.C.
Broadcast: SEC Network + (WatchESPN)
Talent: Derek Scott and Kim Hudson-Williams
#20 Texas A&M Aggies:
Record: 11-6, 3-3 SEC
Streak: Lost 2
Most recent: lost to Arkansas, 3-1 (20-25, 25-12, 25-21, 27-25), Wed., Oct. 15, Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
Up Next: vs. Georgia, Friday, Oct. 24, 6 p.m., Reed Arena (SEC Network +)
South Carolina Gamecocks
Record: 13-5, 3-3 SEC
Streak: Lost 2
Most recent: lost to No. 8 Florida, 3-1 (19-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-19), Wed., Oct. 15, Volleyball Competition Facility, Columbia, S.C.
Up Next: at Coastal Carolina, Tues., Oct. 21, Conway, S.C.
The 20th-ranked Texas A&M volleyball team hits the road this weekend for a Sunday match at South Carolina. First serve is at 12:30 p.m. CT at the Volleyball Competition Facility in Columbia, S.C., and the match will be broadcast on SEC Network + with Derek Scott and Kim Hudson-Williams calling the action.
A&M and South Carolina enter the weekend tied with Missouri for sixth place in the SEC standings with 3-3 league marks. Both the Aggies and Gamecocks are looking to end two-match losing skids and avoid a three-match losing streak for the first time this season.
A&M is 11-6 overall and has dropped three of its last four matches after falling to Arkansas, 3-1 (20-25, 25-12, 25-21, 27-25) on Wednesday in College Station. The other losses during the four-match stretch were at then-No. 13 Kentucky and then-No. 9 Florida, who are both undefeated in SEC play. The match against the Gators on Oct. 12 was A&M's sixth contest against a top-15 opponent in a 10-match span.
South Carolina is 13-5 overall after falling to No. 8 Florida, 3-1 (19-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-19), on Wednesday in Columbia. The Gamecocks won the opening set, marking only the second time the Gators dropped a set to an SEC opponent this season. It was only the second home loss for South Carolina, whose only other loss in nine home appearances was against No. 14 Kentucky, also by a 3-1 score.
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 No. 9 Florida last 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 3-2 in away matches. The two losses were at No. 13 Kentucky on Oct. 5 and at No. 9 Florida on Oct. 12.
- Four of A&M's six losses this season were against teams ranked in the top 15. The Aggies lost two against No. 6 Florida State in addition to the road losses at No. 9 Florida and No. 13 Kentucky. The other two losses against UTSA, 3-2, and Arkansas, 3-1 at Reed Arena.
- The Aggies are 2-4 against ranked opponents, with wins coming against No. 6 Southern California and No. 13 San Diego at the USC Classic on Sept. 11-12 in Los Angeles.
- A&M is mired in a two-match losing skid for the second time this season. The only other time the Aggies lost consecutive matches was a two-match series against then-No. 6 Florida State on Sept. 19-20 in College Station.
- As a team, A&M is third behind Florida and Kentucky with a .278 hitting percentage in conference matches only, but the Aggies are 11th with a .249 opponent hitting percentage.
- Six matches into the SEC schedule, A&M junior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan continues to lead the league in hitting percentage and is currently hitting .430. Sophomore middle blocker Jazzmin Babers is third in the league with a .407 hitting efficiency in conference matches only.
- For the full season, Sullivan is hitting .374 for the, ranking 50th in the national statistics. As a team, A&M is hitting .251, 49th-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.
- Outside hitter Sydney Wilhelm, who is in her first season with the team after playing the last two seasons on the A&M club team, has been the only senior to appear in the starting lineup this season, having started each of the last five matches. Middle blocker Shelby Sullivan was the only junior in the most recent starting lineup. The Aggies also started sophomores Jazzmin Babers (MB) and Victoria Arenas (DS) and freshmen Stephanie Aiple (S) and Ashlie Reasor (OPP) against the Razorbacks. Sophomore Emily Hardesty was the libero.
- 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 six matches, making her the tallest libero in the SEC. The next tallest liberos in the league are 5-9.
- Freshman setter Stephanie Aiple has started each of the last 14 matches and is fifth in the SEC and 59th in the nation with 10.64 assists per set for the full season. She also is fifth in the league with 10.52 assists per set in SEC matches only. The Round Rock, Texas native dished out 48 assists against No. 13 Kentucky, an A&M record for a three-set SEC match.
- 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 554-324 overall and 454-218 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 943-521-2 all-time.
A&M SERIES RECORD VS. SOUTH CAROLINA:
- A&M leads South Carolina, 5-1, in the all-time series that dates back to Oct. 10, 1993, Laurie Corbelli's first year as head coach of the Aggies.
- In SEC matches only, A&M leads the series, 3-1.
- A&M won the first four meetings before the Gamecocks got their first win in the series last year in Columbia.
- The teams split a two-match home-and-home series last year with South Carolina upsetting A&M, 25-23, 25-20, 20-25, 25-23, on Oct. 6 at the Volleyball Competition Facility and A&M avenging the loss with a 25-22, 25-6, 25-18 victory at Reed Arena on Nov. 27 in both teams' regular season finale.
- A&M is 2-1 against the Gamecocks in matches played in Columbia and 3-0 in matches played in College Station. The teams have never met at a neutral site.
SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA:
- The Gamecocks are 13-5 overall and in a three-way tie with Texas A&M and LSU for third place in the SEC standings with a 3-3 conference record.
- Like the Aggies, the Gamecocks have lost their last two matches, falling to Alabama, 3-1, in Tuscaloosa on Oct. 12 and dropping a 3-1 decision to No. 8 Florida in Columbia. It equals the team's longest losing streak of the season, having fallen to Clemson and Furman in back-to-back matches, Sept. 5-6.
- South Carolina is 7-2 in home matches.
- Freshman 6-2 outside hitter Taylr McNeil, whose older sister Kelly McNeil is the starting setter at South Carolina, leads the Gamecocks and is sixth in the SEC with 3.51 kills per set and is hitting .243. She also is seventh in the league with 3.93 points per set for the full season. She led the Gamecocks with 16 kills against the Gators on Wednesday.
- South Carolina is second in the SEC for both opponent hitting percentage (.164) and blocks per set (2.57) in all matches. Individually, junior middle blocker Darian Dozier is second in the SEC and 21st in the nation with 1.41 blocks per set, and Mikael Christiaansen is third in the SEC with 4.41 digs per set.
- The Gamecocks were picked to finish 12th in the SEC according to a preseason vote of the conference coaches.
- Scott Swanson (Arizona State, 1995) is 57-54 in his fourth season as head coach of the Gamecocks. He is 107-115 in the eighth season of his head coaching career.
TEXAS A&M RECENT RESULTS:
Arkansas def. #20 Texas A&M, 3-1
- For the second consecutive match, Texas A&M's offensive struggled to get in sync and the 20th-ranked Aggies fell to Arkansas, 20-25, 25-12, 25-21, 27-25, Wednesday at Reed Arena.
- It was Arkansas' first away victory of the season and their first victory against Texas A&M in the four-match all-time series.
- A&M, which entered the match 9-0 when winning the first set, was outhit .265 to .178
- Jazzmin Babers led A&M with 12 kills, and Shelby Sullivan added 11. Sydney Wilhelm took match-high honors in digs with a career high 17, and Emily Hardesty also posted double-figure digs with 12. Aggie setter Stephanie Aiple, who posted her team-leading third double-double with 38 assists and 10 digs, tied Babers and Sullivan for the team lead in blocks with three.
- Arkansas' Meredith Hays, who leads the SEC in kills and points per set, led all players with 23 kills and 23.5 points as the Razorbacks bettered A&M in kills, 62-48.
TEXAS A&M: BY THE NUMBERS:
- A&M's No. 19 ranking on Oct. 6 marks the school'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 9-1 when hitting above .200. The Aggies also are 9-1 when winning the first set and 9-1 when winning the second set.
- A&M is 10-0 when leading in attack percentage, 7-0 when leading in points, 6-0 when leading in kills and 5-0 when leading in aces.
- Shelby Sullivan has posted double-digit kills in a team-leading 10 matches and is hitting .393 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 48 consecutive starts dating back to the 2013 season opener. Sullivan has played in 48 consecutive matches, having started 47 of them.
- Sophomore defensive specialist/libero Victoria Arenas is the only A&M player to see action in all 63 sets this season. She is averaging a team-leading 3.33 digs per set for the full season, ranking 12th in the SEC.
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.
