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Texas A&M Hosts Tennessee, Sunday 1 p.m.Texas A&M Hosts Tennessee, Sunday 1 p.m.
Volleyball

Texas A&M Hosts Tennessee, Sunday 1 p.m.

Texas A&M wraps up a three-match home stand Sunday as the Aggies play host to Tennessee. First serve is at 1 p.m., and the match will be broadcast on SEC Network +, available on WatchESPN, with Casey Richardson and Chelsea Reber calling the action.

Complete Match Notes

Sunday, November 16
Texas A&M vs. Tennessee, 1 p.m.
Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
SEC Network +

Texas A&M-Tennessee All-Time Series Record: Tennessee leads 6-5 (1-3 in SEC matches)
A&M Home: Tied 2-2| Away: Tied 3-3| Neutral: Tennessee leads 1-0
Last Meeting: A&M won, 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-15), Oct. 3, 2014, Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tenn.
Streak: A&M won 3

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M wraps up a three-match home stand Sunday as the Aggies play host to Tennessee. First serve is at 1 p.m., and the match will be broadcast on SEC Network +, available on WatchESPN, with Casey Richardson and Chelsea Reber calling the action.

Promotions:

  • Military Appreciation Day:  All active and retired military members will be admitted free. In addition, anyone with a family member currently deployed will receive free admission.
  • Take a Kid to the Match: Up to four kids get in free with the purchase of one regular-priced adult ticket.
  • $3 Admission with football ticket: Any fan who shows a ticket from the Texas A&M-Missouri football game can get in for only $3.

Texas A&M (16-8, 8-5 SEC) had a bye this week and has not played since defeating Ole Miss, 3-1 (19-25, 25-26, 25-23, 25-18) on Sunday, Nov. 9 at Reed Arena. The Aggies are fifth place in the SEC standings.

Tennessee is 8-20 overall and 1-13 in SEC matches. The Lady Vols are in 13th place in the SEC standings, a half-game behind Mississippi State, and they are looking to snap a five-match losing skid after falling at LSU, 3-1 (25-14, 25-16, 21-25, 25-16) Friday in Baton Rouge, La.

TEXAS A&M QUICK HITS:

  • A&M climbed two spots and is a season-high No. 15 in this week's NCAA RPI.
  • The average RPI of A&M's final five opponents is 141.6. Ole Miss, which A&M faces in the regular-season finale, holds the highest RPI amongst remaining opponents at No. 68, while Mississippi State is the lowest at No. 245. Others are: Arkansas (79), Missouri (108) and Tennessee (208).
  • For the first time since Sept. 8, the Aggies are not ranked or mentioned in the AVCA Top 25.
  • A&M is 8-5 in home matches, 5-3 in away matches and 3-0 at neutral sites.
  • In SEC matches only, A&M is 5-2 at home and 3-3 in away matches.
  • Over the last four matches, A&M won the two matches in which it lost the first set -- 3-1 victories against both Missouri and Ole Miss -- and lost the two matches in which it won the first set, both 3-2 setbacks to Alabama and LSU.
  • Most recently, A&M had four players reach double figures in kills in the 3-1 win against Ole Miss on Sunday, Nov. 9. It was the third time this season A&M had four players record double-digit kills. The other matches were a 3-2 win at then-No. 6 USC on Sept. 11 and a 3-1 victory against then-No. 16 Kentucky on Oct. 26 at Reed Arena.
  • A&M will play three of its final four regular season matches on the road, playing at Arkansas on Wednesday, and closing out the season at Mississippi State and at Ole Miss on Nov. 26 and 28, respectively.
  • The Aggies' only home match remaining following the Tennessee match is against defending SEC champion Missouri on Sunday, Nov. 23. Lone senior Sydney Wilhelm will be honored following the match against the Tigers.
  • Texas A&M redshirt sophomore middle blocker Jazzmin Babers leads the SEC with a .443 hitting percentage in conference matches only. She also is 11th in blocks (0.91), 12th in both points (3.42) and kills (2.91) per set in SEC matches.
  • Babers has posted double-digit kills in each of the last eight matches and in 12 matches overall. She is hitting .457 and averaging 3.04 kills and 3.65 points per set when posting 10 or more kills
  • Junior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan has posted double-figure kills in a team-leading 16 matches, including in seven of the last eight matches. She is hitting .399 and averaging 3.20 kills and 3.92 points when posting 10 or more kills in a match
  • Sullivan ranks sixth in the SEC with a .398 hitting percentage in league play. She also is ninth in blocks (0.98), 10th in points (3.58) and 13th in kills (2.90) per set in SEC matches only.
  • Freshman setter Stephanie Aiple, who averages 10.72 assists per set in SEC play, directs an A&M offense that ranks third in the league with a .267 team hitting percentage in SEC matches.
  • A&M also is third in the league with a .212 opponent hitting percentage in conference matches.
  • Since moving to the libero position for the final four sets against Georgia on Oct. 24, freshman Amy Nettles is averaging 4.26 digs per set, and she has had three 20-plus dig performances over the last five matches. Prior to the Georgia match, Nettles was averaging 1.63 digs per set for the full season and 1.75 digs per set in SEC play, having seen action in only 12 sets in four SEC matches leading up to the Georgia match.
  • Nettles, the SEC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 27, now leads the Aggies and is ninth in the league with 3.49 digs per set in conference matches only. She is 20th in the SEC with 2.68 digs per set for the full season.
  • Freshman opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor, the only lefty on the team, has posted double-figure kills in four of the last six matches. She is hitting .232 and averaging 2.11 kills and 2.50 points per set for the full season.
  • Outside hitter Emily Hardesty leads A&M with 13 double-figure dig performances this season. The sophomore, who has three double-doubles, is 16th in the SEC with 2.72 digs per set in conference matches only.
  • The Aggies are 3-4 against ranked opponents. Wins were 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, as well as No. 16 Kentucky on Oct. 26.
  • Four of A&M's seven 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 losses were against UTSA and Arkansas at Reed Arena and at Alabama.
  • 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 559-326 overall and 459-220 at A&M, where she has directed the Aggies to 17 NCAA tournaments, including each of the last three years.
  • 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 four 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.
  • 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 2014 season marks the 40th season of volleyball as an intercollegiate varsity sport at Texas A&M. The Aggies are 948-523-2 all-time.

A&M SERIES RECORD VS. TENNESSEE:

  • Tennessee leads the all-time series, 6-5, although A&M has won the last three meetings and is 3-1 in SEC matches only.
  • The series is tied, 2-2, in matches played in College Station.
  • A&M's first SEC road match of the 2014 season was at Tennessee on Oct. 3. The then-No. 21 Aggies swept the Lady Vols, 25-14, 25-21, 25-15, at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville.
  • Thirteen of 15 A&M players saw action in the most recent meeting. A&M's Angela Lowak led all players with 13 kills while hitting .370. Aggie setter Stephanie Aiple dished out 31 assists as eight different A&M players had at least one kill and helped A&M outhit UT .333 to .159 as a team. Sydney Wilhelm and Ashlie Reasor tied for match-high honors in digs with nine apiece. Darby Graff, who drew the first start of her career, and Aiple tied for match-high honors in blocks with three each.
  • Kelsey Bawcombe led the Lady Vols with 10 kills while hitting .318.
  • Tennessee's most recent win against the Aggies was Oct. 19, 2012, in the first meeting between the two teams as SEC foes. UT swept A&M, 25-21, 25-19, 25-21, at Reed Arena.

 SCOUTING TENNESSEE:

  • Tennessee is coming off a 3-1 (25-14, 25-16, 21-25, 25-16) loss at LSU, which extended is win streak to 11.
  • Kanisha Jimenez led the Lady Vols with 11 kills but was held to a .095 hitting percentage. Megan Hatcher led in digs with 17.
  • LSU outhit UT .244 to .052 and outblocked the Lady Vols, 15-2.
  • The match at A&M concludes a three-match road swing by the Lady Vols.
  • Like A&M, the Lady Vols have only one senior on the roster, 6-3 middle blocker Shealyn Koloksy. UT also lists three juniors,   six sophomores and six freshmen on its 16-player roster.
  • Tennessee's one SEC win this season was a 3-0 sweep against Ole Miss on Oct. 26.
  • Freshman Kendra Turner has led the Lady Vols in kills in four of the last five matches and in nine matches overall. In SEC matches only, she is 16th in the league with 2.79 kills per set and is 20th with 3.05 points per set.
  • Iesha Bryant, a freshman middle blocker from Carthage, Texas, is ninth in the league with 1.00 blocks per set for the full season, and sophomore middle Raina Hembry is fifth in the conference with 1.05 blocks per set in conference matches only.
  • As a team, UT is sixth in the league with 1.99 blocks per set in conference play.
  •  Sophomore Bridgette Villano is 12th in digs with a 3.06 average for the full season.
  • Head coach Rob Patrick (Miami [Ohio], '83) is in his 18th season as the head coach at Tennessee, where he has spent his entire head coaching career. He has 359-205 and has led the Lady Vols to nine NCAA appearances, including the 2005 NCAA semifinals.

TEXAS A&M: BY THE NUMBERS:

  • A&M is 13-2 when hitting above .200. The Aggies also are 11-3 when winning the first set and 13-1 when winning the second set.
  • A&M is 15-1 when leading in attack percentage, 10-0 when leading in points, 10-0 when leading in kills and 7-1 when leading in aces.
  • In A&M's SEC season opener against Auburn on Sept. 28, junior middle blocker Shelby 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.
  • In A&M's seven matches vs. top-16 opponents only, Sullivan hit a combined .382 and averaged 2.88 kills, 1.04 blocks and 3.56 points per set.
  • Jazzmin Babers leads A&M and ranks fifth in the SEC with 1.10 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 55 consecutive starts dating back to the 2013 season opener. Sullivan has played in 55 consecutive matches, having started 54 of them.
  • 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.
  • A&M's most recent starting lineup consisted of two juniors (Lowak, OH; Sullivan, MB), two sophomores (Babers, MB; Hardesty, OH) and two freshmen (Aiple, S; Reasor, OPP). Freshman Amy Nettles was the starting libero for the fifth consecutive match and the fourth time in her career.
  • 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 and has remained at the outside. Most recently, she recorded her third double-double of the season with 10 kills and 13 digs in the 3-1 win against Ole Miss.
  • Freshman setter Stephanie Aiple has started each of the last 21 matches and is fifth in the SEC and leads the conference's rookie setters with 10.72 assists per set for the full season. The Round Rock, Texas native is sixth in the league with 10.74 assists per set in SEC matches only.
  • Aiple dished out 48 assists against No. 13 Kentucky on Oct. 5, an A&M record for a three-set SEC match.
  • Entering the weekend, Babers was 26th in the nation in hitting percentage (.394) and Sullivan was 39th (.375). Aiple was 58th in the country with 10.72 assists per set. As a team, A&M was 41st in the nation with a .254 hitting percentage.

TEXAS A&M RECENT RESULTS:

  • Four Texas A&M players posted double-figure kills to lead the Aggies to a 19-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-18 victory over Ole Miss Sunday, Nov. 9 at  Reed Arena.
  • A&M improved to 9-0 in the all-time series against the Rebels, including 4-0 in SEC matches only.
  • Outside hitter Angela Lowak paced the Aggie offense with a season-high 16 kills. She also led A&M with a team-high 15 digs to tally her fourth double-double of the season. Middle blockers Jazzmin Babers and Shelby Sullivan finished with 13 kills each, and outside hitter Emily Hardesty had 10 kills without an error and also scooped up 13 digs to register her third double-double of the year.
  • A&M setter Stephanie Aiple set up the balanced offense, dishing out 51 assists as the Aggies outhit the Rebels, .324 to .232 for the match. Aiple also pitched in on defense, accounting for 12 digs to notch her team-leading sixth double-double of the season.
  • Nakeyta Clair led the Rebels with 17 kills while hitting .405, and Ty Laporte and Lexi Thompson added 13 kills apiece in the loss.

UPCOMING:

  • Texas A&M heads to Fayetteville, Ark., for a rematch against the Razorbacks on Wednesday, Nov. 19. First serve is at 6 p.m. at Barnhill Arena, and the match will be televised on the SEC Network with Adam Amin and Hannah Werth calling the action.
  • Arkansas upended then-No. 20 Texas A&M, 3-1 (20-25, 25-12, 25-21, 27-25), when the teams met on Oct. 15 at Reed Arena in College Station. It marked the Razorbacks' first win against the Aggies in the four-match series history.

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.