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No. 24 Texas A&M Hosts Georgia, No. 16 KentuckyNo. 24 Texas A&M Hosts Georgia, No. 16 Kentucky
Volleyball

No. 24 Texas A&M Hosts Georgia, No. 16 Kentucky

The 24th-ranked Texas A&M volleyball team (12-6, 4-3 SEC) returns to Reed Arena for a pair of home matches this weekend, playing host to Georgia (10-9, 2-5 SEC) on Friday at 6 p.m. and No. 16 Kentucky (17-3, 7-1 SEC) Sunday at 11 a.m.

Complete Match Notes

Friday, October 24
No. 24 Texas A&M vs. Georgia, 6 p.m.
Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
SEC Network +

Sunday, October 26
No. 24 Texas A&M at No. 16 Kentucky, 11 a.m.
Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
SEC Network

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The 24th-ranked Texas A&M volleyball team (12-6, 4-3 SEC) returns to Reed Arena for a pair of home matches this weekend, playing host to Georgia (10-9, 2-5 SEC) on Friday at 6 p.m. and No. 16 Kentucky (17-3, 7-1 SEC) Sunday at 11 a.m.

The A&M-Georgia match will be broadcast on SEC Network +, on WatchESPN with Casey Richardson and Chelsea Reber calling the action, and the Kentucky match will be televised on the SEC Network with Paul Sunderland and Nell Fortner on the call.

The Aggies are tied with Missouri for sixth place in the SEC standings, only a half game behind fifth-place LSU. Most recently A&M posted a 3-2 road victory at South Carolina on Sunday. Georgia is coming off a 3-0 home victory against Tennessee and is in 10th place in the SEC standings. Kentucky, which plays at Arkansas on Friday, is currently in second place after suffering its first conference loss, falling to LSU, 3-2 (25-21, 25-15, 24-26, 25-9, 16-14) on Sunday in Lexington, snapping the Wildcats' 11-match win streak.

Promotions: Friday will be the A&M's annual “Dig Pink” match, and fans who wear pink will be admitted for only $3. In addition, the first 250 fans will receive a free limited edition Dig Pink T-shirt. There also will be a silent auction featuring autographed memorabilia, men's basketball tickets to the A&M-Kentucky game and football tickets to the A&M-Missouri game, with proceeds being donated to the Side-Out Foundation for breast cancer research.

Sunday is the Aggies CAN food drive, the largest student-athlete run canned food drive in the nation. Fans who donate two canned food items will be admitted free. Sunday also is the “Take a Kid to the Match” promotion in which four kids get in free with the purchase of one regular-priced adult ticket. In addition, Fall Festival will be held on the concourse with pumpkin painting, face painting and Halloween treats. Kids are encouraged to wear their Halloween costume.

Recent Results:

Texas A&M:

  • The Aggies are coming off a 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 19-25, 25-12, 15-13) victory at South Carolina on Sunday. Each team entered the match tied for sixth place in the SEC standings and aiming to snap a two-match losing skid to avoid their first three-match losing streak of the season.
  • Emily Hardesty, a 6-3 sophomore who was the designated libero in the preceding five matches, returned to the outside hitter position, where she had started the first 12 matches of the season. Sophomore Victoria Arenas returned to the libero position. Hardesty had nine kills and led A&M with 12 digs. Freshman defensive specialist Amy Nettles posted her first double-figure dig performance with a career-high 11 digs.
  • With the decisive fifth set tied at 13-13, freshman setter Stephanie Aiple connected with junior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan for back-to-back kills to clinch the victory. Sullivan led all players with 16 kills while hitting .480. Angela Lowak and Jazzmin Babers also had double-digit kills with 13 and 11, respectively.
  • A&M outhit Carolina .253 to .106 and led in kills, 61-48, but committed a season-high 17 service errors. The Aggies had already amassed nine service errors after the second set, equaling the previous season high established in a five-set win at USC.
  • Freshman Taylr McNeil had 13 kills for the Gamecocks and was the only Carolina player to reach double digits. Jacqy Angermiller led Carolina to a 12-9 lead in blocks, posting a match-high seven blocks before leaving the match with an injury with A&M leading 7-5 in the fifth set.

Georgia:

  • The Bulldogs snapped a season-high three-match losing skid on Sunday with a commanding 25-17, 25-17, 25-21 victory over last-place Tennessee (7-15, 0-8 SEC) in Athens, Ga.
  • Tirah Le'au paced the Bulldogs with team highs in kills (11), digs (11) and aces (4) and hit .320 for the match
  • Georgia outhit the Lady Vols, .404 to .120, and led in kills, 44-31, as the Bulldogs improved to 6-4 in home matches.

Kentucky:

  • The Wildcats, who are at Arkansas on Friday, were unable to capitalize on a 2-0 set lead against LSU on Sunday and suffered their first loss to an unranked opponent this season as the Tigers rallied to win, 22-25, 15-25, 26-24, 25-9, 16-14 in Lexington.
  • LSU hit .260 with 70 kills and also posted 13 blocks while holding UK to a .209 hitting percentage with 61 kills and nine blocks.
  • Senior Lauren O'Conner led the Wildcats with 15 kills. Shelby Workman added 13, and Anni Thomasson had a double-double with 10 kills and a team-high 21 digs.

TEXAS A&M QUICK HITS:

  • Texas A&M dropped four spots to No. 24 in this week's AVCA Top 25 Poll after falling to Arkansas, 3-1, and defeating South Carolina, 3-2, last week.
  • A&M is No. 21 in this week's NCAA RPI rankings, down two spots from last week.
  • 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.
  • The Aggies are tied with Missouri for fifth place in the SEC standings. They are a half game behind fifth-place Alabama, which hosts third-place Arkansas on Sunday.
  • Starting with the Georgia match, five of A&M's next seven matches will be at home.
  • A&M is 5-4 in home matches, including 2-1 in SEC home matches only, 4-2 in away matches and 3-0 at neutral sites.
  • The Aggies are 2-4 against ranked opponents, with wins coming against No. 6 Southern California and No. 13 San Diego on back-to-back days at the USC Classic on Sept. 11-12 in Los Angeles.
  • Four of A&M's six losses this season were against teams ranked in the top 15. The Aggies lost two at home against No. 6 Florida State and also suffered road losses at No. 9 Florida and No. 13 Kentucky. The other two losses were against UTSA, 3-2, and Arkansas, 3-1 at Reed Arena.
  • Texas A&M junior middle blocker and go-to player Shelby Sullivan leads the SEC with a .438 hitting percentage in conference matches only.  Sullivan also ranks sixth with 1.12 blocks per set, is eighth with 3.96 points per set and is tied for ninth with 3.17 kills per set in SEC matches.
  • In A&M's SEC season opener against Auburn on Sept. 28, Sullivan hit a career-high .826, setting an A&M SEC record and a Reed Arena record for hitting percentage when making 10 or more attack attempts. She also broke A&M records for kills (20) and points (25.0) in a three-set SEC match in the sweep against the Tigers.
  • Sophomore middle blocker Jazzmin Babers is hitting .406 in conference matches only, ranking second in the league.
  • For the full season, Sullivan is hitting .380, ranking 41st in the national statistics. As a team, A&M is hitting .251, 50th-best in the nation.
  • 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 555-324 overall and 455-218 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. GEORGIA:

  • A&M leads Georgia, 10-3, in the all-time series and has won the last five meetings.
  • A&M, 3-0 against Georgia in SEC matches only, leads the series 3-1 in matches played in College Station, 4-1 in matches played in Athens, and 3-1 in matches played at neutral sites.
  • Two of the three meetings as conference foes have been decided in five sets. Both of those matches were in Athens.
  • Last year, A&M defeated the Bulldogs, 25-20, 25-17, 25-12, in both teams' SEC season opener on Sept. 29 at Reed Arena and then held on to win, 25-22, 21-25, 25-19, 20-25, 15-9, at the Ramsey Student Center in Athens on Nov. 24 in the Aggies' final road match of the regular season.
  • Angela Lowak paced the Aggies with a career-high 23 kills while hitting .351 in the most recent meeting. Then-senior libero Heather Reynolds had 35 digs, the most by an A&M player since rally scoring began in 2001 and tying for the fourth most digs in a match in school history.
  • Georgia's most recent victory was in 1994, when the 19th-ranked Bulldogs defeated A&M, 3-1 (15-11, 7-15, 15-7, 15-6) at G. Rollie White Coliseum.

SCOUTING GEORGIA:

  • The Bulldogs are 10-9 overall and are in 10th place in the SEC standings with a 2-5 record.
  • Georgia is 1-4 in away matches for the full season and is aiming for its first SEC road win of the season after losing its first three conference road matches of the season
  • Georgia is 0-2 against ranked opponents, having been swept by both No. 9 Florida and No. 12 Kentucky.
  • Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Desiree McCray is 28th in the nation and second in the SEC with 1.35 blocks per set for the full season. As a team, Georgia is 43rd in the country and leads the SEC with 2.51 blocks per set in all matches.
  • Senior outside Tirah Le'au leads the Bulldogs with 2.75 kills and 3.41 points per set in all matches. She also leads the team and is 12th in the league with 2.88 kills per set in SEC matches only.
  • The Bulldogs were picked to finish eighth in the SEC according to a preseason vote of the conference coaches.
  • Lizzy Stemke (Wisconsin, 2004) is 57-54 in her fourth season as head coach of the Bulldogs and in the fourth season of her head coaching career. The former Lizzy Fitzgerald was a two-time All-American at Wisconsin and was a senior starting setter when A&M swept the sixth-ranked Badgers in the 2001 NCAA regional semifinals to advance to the Elite Eight for the second time in school history.

A&M SERIES RECORD VS. KENTUCKY:

  • Kentucky leads the all-time series, 7-5, and has won the last seven meetings.
  • The Wildcats are 4-0 against A&M in SEC matches only, including a 3-0 (25-20, 28-26, 30-28) victory against the Aggies on Oct. 5 in Lexington.
  • The series is tied, 3-3, in matches played in College Station.
  • In the only SEC meeting played at Reed Arena, Kentucky defeated the Aggies, 3-2 (25-23, 24-26, 25-18, 25-20, 15-12) on Sept. 23, 2012. It was A&M's first conference loss in SEC history after opening its inaugural season in the league, 2-0, in conference matches.
  • A&M won the first five meeting of the series, which began in 1982. The Aggies' most recent victory against the Wildcats was Oct. 4, 1985, at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
  • In the most recent meeting, A&M's Jazzmin Babers had a career-high 16 kills while hitting .412, and freshman outside hitter Kiara McGee came off the bench to post a personal-best nine kills, but it was a match of missed opportunities for the Aggies who were at set point a combined six times over the last two sets. Freshman setter Stephanie Aiple dished out 48 assists against the Wildcats, an A&M record for a three-set SEC match.
  • Lauren O'Conner led the Wildcats with 17 kills, and Anni Thomasson posted six aces as Kentucky had nine aces for the match, which still ties for the most by an A&M opponent this season.

SCOUTING KENTUCKY:

  • Kentucky enters the weekend 17-3 overall and in second place in the SEC with a 7-1 mark.
  • The Wildcats dropped four spots to No. 12 in this week's AVCA Top 25 after their 11-match win streak was snapped and they suffered their first SEC loss in a 3-2 setback to LSU in Lexington on Sunday.
  • Kentucky is No. 9 in this week's NCAA RPI listing.
  • Kentucky is 5-1 in road matches, with the only blemish being a 3-1 loss at No. 17 North Carolina on Sept. 12.
  • Kentucky is 1-2 against ranked opponents, with its ranked win being a 3-0 victory over then-No. 21 Texas A&M on Oct. 5 in Lexington. Losses were at No. 17 North Carolina and at home against No. 6 Southern California, a team A&M defeated, 3-2, in Los Angeles.
  • Kentucky enters the weekend leading the SEC and ranked 14th in the nation with 14.27 kills per set. The Wildcats also lead the league and are 29th in the country with 13.04 assists per set.
  • Kentucky is outhitting its opponents, .265 to .185 for the full season.
  • Kentucky has a league-leading three players ranked in the top 15 in the SEC for points per set for the full season: Lauren O'Conner (8th, 3.82), Shelby Workman (11th, 3.67) and Anni Thomasson (14th, 3.38).
  • Senior libero Jackie Napper is No. 2 in the SEC with 4.45 digs per set in all matches.
  • Freshman defensive specialist Ashley Dusek is from East Bernard, Texas, approximately 90 miles from College Station. She has appeared in 69 of 73 sets.
  • Kentucky was picked to finish second in the SEC according to a preseason vote of the conference coaches.

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 10-1 when hitting above .200. The Aggies also are 10-1 when winning the first set and 9-1 when winning the second set.
  • A&M is 11-0 when leading in attack percentage, 8-0 when leading in points, 7-0 when leading in kills and 6-0 when leading in aces.
  • Shelby Sullivan has posted double-digit kills in a team-leading 11 matches and is hitting .400 and averaging 4.15 points per set when recording 10 or more kills in a match.
  • 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.
  • Jazzmin Babers leads A&M and is fifth in the SEC with 1.13 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 49 consecutive starts dating back to the 2013 season opener. Sullivan has played in 49 consecutive matches, having started 48 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 3.22 digs per set for the full season, ranking 12th in the SEC.
  • 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 five matches prior to the South Carolina match.
  • A&M's most recent lineup consisted of one junior (Sullivan, MB), two sophomores (Babers, MB; Hardesty-OH) and three freshmen (Aiple-S; Reasor-OPP; Nettles-DS). Sophomore Victoria Arenas was the libero.
  • After starting the first 12 matches of the season at outside hitter, 6-3 sophomore Emily Hardesty spent the next five matches at libero, making her the tallest libero in the SEC. Hardesty returned to the starting outside hitter position against South Carolina.
  • Freshman setter Stephanie Aiple has started each of the last 15 matches and is fifth in the SEC and 76th in the nation with 10.50 assists per set for the full season. She is seventh in the league with 10.23 assists per set in SEC matches only. The Round Rock, Texas native dished out 48 assists against No. 13 Kentucky on Oct. 5, an A&M record for a three-set SEC match.

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.