Texas A&M Announces 2015 Volleyball Schedule

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M volleyball team will play an exciting and challenging 29-match schedule in 2015, highlighted by a 13-match home slate, Aggie head coach Laurie Corbelli announced today.
 
"This certainly is one of the toughest schedules we have ever had during my tenure at Texas A&M," said Corbelli who is entering her 23^rd season at the helm of the Aggies. "At the same time, the schedule presents an exciting opportunity and challenge for our veteran team that returns starters at every position and includes three honorable mention All-Americans."
 
Ten matches will be against teams that reached at least the second round of the NCAA Championship tournament and were ranked in the top 25 or received votes in the final 2014 AVCA Division I Coaches Poll.
 
The Aggies open the season with an especially intriguing match-up as they take on perennial national title contender Stanford at the Stanford Invitational on August 28. The Cardinal return four All-Americans from last year's team that reached the semifinals of the 2014 NCAA Championship, finished 33-2 and was ranked No. 2 in the AVCA final poll and No. 1 in the NCAA's Rating Percentage Index (RPI).
 
A&M closes out the tournament against Minnesota of the Big Ten Conference on August 29. The Golden Gophers list 11 returning letterwinners including nine with starting experience from last year's team that finished 19-12 overall and No. 54 in the RPI.
 
"That is such an exciting first trip," Corbelli said. "We are starting off against a Final Four team that competes in one of the toughest conferences in the country, and Minnesota is going to really test us, too. Our team will be prepared and benefit a ton from playing them. It will be an incredible challenge and it will help us improve the intensity and excitement of our two-a-days."
 
The Aggies then make their home debut as they host the four-team Texas A&M Invitational, Sept. 4-6 at Reed Arena. Two non-A&M matches will be played Friday, Sept. 4, and the Maroon and White takes the court against Wichita State on Saturday, Sept. 5 at 1 p.m. The Shockers are coming off their 12^th consecutive 20-win season.
 
A&M also will take on Abilene Christian, Saturday at 7 p.m., before concluding the tournament against New Mexico State on Sunday, Sept. 6 at 1 p.m.
 
"It is going to be great to be in front of the 12^th Man at Reed Arena and play against teams that have great success within their conferences, which is something we've always strived to have in our tournament," Corbelli noted. "It will be some awesome competition to start our season here at home."
 
The Aggies then return to the road to compete at the University of Iowa Tournament, Sept. 11-12. A&M opens against former Big 12 Conference opponent Iowa State, which finished the 2014 season with a No. 17 RPI after reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament.
 
A&M will then have a first-ever meeting against Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which went 17-14 after advancing to the finals at the 2014 Horizon League Tournament Championship, before closing out the event against the host Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big Ten Conference.
 
"We have the opportunity to play against a Big 12 team and a Big Ten team on the road, and it will mimic so much of what we have ahead of us in the next couple of months," Corbelli said. "We'll be going up against some very physical athletes, because both teams are really, really big and have size and power."
 
The Aggies return to Reed Arena Sept. 15 for a rare Tuesday match against six-time defending Mountain West Conference champion Colorado State. The Rams were ranked as high as No. 6 nationally in 2014 and are coming off a 31-3 campaign in which they advanced to the NCAA regional semifinals.
 
"CSU is good every single year," Corbelli said. "They always have great size and great athleticism. They play a very fast and very physical game, and they win their conference just about every year. It is going to be a lot of fun to play that match."
 
The Aggies wrap up their pre-conference slate with a trip to the Sunshine State where they take on Florida State and Florida A&M in Tallahassee on Sept. 18-19. FSU, which won two matches against the Aggies last year at Reed Arena, reached the NCAA regional semifinals and finished with a 30-3 record, a No. 10 final ranking and a No. 3 RPI in 2014. Texas A&M and Florida A&M will be meeting for the first time.
 
"Finishing the preseason with these teams is just a great springboard into the SEC," Corbelli said. "Florida State is a lot like Colorado State, super physical and well coached. A definite top-10 team that returns a lot of top attackers, FSU has come to Reed two years in a row, and now it is our turn to go there. They play in a small gym that gets very full and very loud. It is a pretty intimidating atmosphere, which we also experience when we go on the road in the SEC, so it will be a great warm-up for all of that.
 
"I'm not as familiar with Florida A&M, but it is nice that we can go across town and get another match in. They have several foreign players, and we are going to have to deal with different styles of play that we don't see that often. We have our hands full with that trip."
 
A&M then opens its 18-match Southeastern Conference schedule Sunday, Sept. 27 at home against Arkansas. The match against the Razorbacks is the first of nine SEC matches to be played at Reed.
 
The Aggies conclude their home slate against defending SEC champion Florida on Sunday Nov. 22. The Gators went 18-0 in league play last year and were ranked No. 6 in the final Top 25 Poll after going 25-3 overall and reaching the NCAA regional finals, where they fell to Stanford.
 
A&M wraps up the overall regular season with a rematch at Arkansas on Saturday, Nov. 28.
 
NCAA Championship first and second round matches will be played Dec. 3-5 at campus sites, and regional matches will be played Dec. 11-12 in San Diego, Des Moines, Iowa, Lexington, Ky., and Austin, Texas. Semifinal matches and the championship match will be played Dec. 17 and 19, respectively, in Omaha, Neb.
 
Corbelli returns 11 letterwinners -- including six starters plus the libero -- from last year's team that went 21-9, made its fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament and finished with a No. 22 RPI. She also expects to welcome five freshmen when the team begins preseason practice in early August.
 
Season tickets will go on sale soon and will be available for purchase online at 12thManFoundation.com or by calling 888-99-AGGIE.
 
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.