Match Day Preview: Iowa Comfort Suites Challenge

Comfort Suites Challenge Schedule:
 
Friday, September 11
11 a.m.      Iowa vs. Milwaukee
1:30 p.m.   #25 Texas A&M vs. Iowa State
6 p.m.        Texas A&M vs. Milwaukee
8 p.m.        Iowa State vs. Iowa
 
Saturday, September 12
4 p.m.        Milwaukee vs. Iowa State
7 p.m.        Texas A&M vs. Iowa
 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The 25th-ranked Texas A&M volleyball team (4-1) aims to take home its second consecutive tournament title this weekend as the Aggies compete at the University of Iowa's Comfort Suites Challenge at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. The Aggies, in the Top 25 for the first time this season after winning their own Texas A&M Invitational last weekend and extending their win streak to four matches, opens the tournament against their former Big 12 Conference-foe Iowa State (4-2) on Friday at 1:30 p.m. A&M returns to the court at 6 p.m. on Friday to take on Milwaukee (2-5) and closes out the tournament Saturday at 7 p.m. against the host Hawkeyes, who enter the tournament 3-3.
 
AGGIES WIN TEXAS A&M INVITATIONAL

• Texas A&M went 3-0 last weekend in its home season debut, defeating Wichita State, 3-0, Abilene Christian, 3-1, and New Mexico State, 3-2, to win its own Texas A&M Invitational at Reed Arena.
• Junior middle blocker Jazzmin Babers was named the tournament MVP after leading all players in the tournament with a .507 hitting percentage and 4.71 points per set and also finishing second among the field with 3.67 kills and 1.50 blocks per set.
• Outside hitters Emily Hardesty and Kiara McGee also were named to the all-tournament team.
• In the opening sweep against Wichita State, the Aggies hit .470, marking the sixth highest hitting percentage in program history as well as the all-time highest hitting percentage by any team in a match played at Reed Arena.
• Against Abilene Christian, Hardesty had a career-high 18 kills and Babers tied her then-career high with 19 kills while hitting .586.
• Both Babers and McGee recorded career highs in kills with 20 apiece in the win over New Mexico State while sophomore setter Stephanie Aiple set a career high and tied the Reed Arena record with 60 assists in the 3-2 victory that clinched the tournament title for A&M.
• Freshman Kaitlyn Blake made the first start of her career in A&M's tournament opener against Wichita State. After starting at the opposite hitter position against the Shockers, Blake started the next two matches at middle blocker. She had 11 kills and nine blocks in the championship match against NM State and finished as the tournament leader with 1.75 blocks per set.

 
A&M CRACKS TOP 25

• Texas A&M broke into the American Volleyball Coaches Association's Top 25 Poll on Monday, coming in at No. 25 following a weekend in which the Aggies went 3-0 to win their own Texas A&M Invitational at Reed Arena.
• The Aggies previously were receiving votes and were listed 30th in the preseason poll and 27th in the first regular-season poll released last week.
• The No. 25 ranking marks A&M's first appearance in the Top 25 since a No. 23 showing on Oct. 27, 2014.
• A&M is No. 17 in the PrepVolleyball.com College Top 50 and No. 24 in PVB's College Top 25 Composite Poll, which averages the team ranking in the AVCA Coaches' Poll, the RichKern.com Poll, the RichKern.com Power Index and the Pablo Rankings, as well as its own Top 50 poll.

 
BABERS IS SEC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• Jazzmin Babers was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week for volleyball after earning MVP honors at the Texas A&M Invitational last weekend.
• Babers led all players in the tournament with a .507 hitting percentage and 4.71 points per set and was second in the tournament field with 3.67 kills and 1.50 blocks per set.
• Babers, who has started every match of her career (66), had back-to-back career-high kill performances, tying her personal best with 19 kills in a 3-1 victory against Abilene Christian while hitting at a .586 clip and then posting 20 kills while hitting .432 in a 3-2 victory over New Mexico State in the tournament championship match.
• Babers also tallied 10 blocks against the Aggies of New Mexico State to record the second double-double of her career and finish the match with a match-high and career-high 27 points.

 
SULLIVAN IS CANDIDATE FOR SENIOR CLASS AWARD

• Texas A&M middle blocker Shelby Sullivan has been selected as a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award for volleyball.
• An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
• From Richardson, Texas, Sullivan is one of 30 candidates representing NCAA Division I volleyball student-athletes who were selected based on their notable achievements in four areas: competition, classroom, character and community.
• The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2015 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship in December.

 
AIPLE NAMED PVB SETTER OF THE WEEK

• Aggie sophomore Stephanie Aiple is one of three players named Setter of the Week by PrepVolleyball .com.
• Aiple directed the Aggies to a 3-0 record and the championship of the Texas A&M Invitational after leading the tournament field with 12.30 assists per set.
• Aiple set a career high and tied the Reed Arena record for most assists in a match with 60 in the 3-2 victory against New Mexico State.

 
TEXAS A&M NOTES

• Aggie head coach Laurie Corbelli returns 11 letterwinners -- including nine with starting experience – and a redshirted player from last year's team that tied for fourth in the Southeastern Conference with a 13-5 league record and finished 21-9 overall and No. 22 in the final national ratings percentage index (RPI) after advancing to the first round of the NCAA tournament. Corbelli also welcomes the addition of five freshmen.
• Corbelli is in her 23rd season as head coach of the Aggies and the 30th year of her head coaching career. She is 568-328 overall and 468-222 at A&M, where she has directed the Aggies to 18 NCAA appearances.
• Texas A&M's season schedule includes 10 matches 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.
• Seven of A&M's matches are against teams ranked in the top 25 in this week's AVCA Top 25 Poll: No. 3 Stanford, No. 14 Colorado State and No. 19 Florida State, as well as two matches each against No. 2 Florida and No. 21 Kentucky.
• The Aggies are picked to finish fourth in the Southeastern Conference according to a preseason vote of the league's head coaches. Florida, the 2014 SEC champion after posting a perfect 18-0 record in conference play, is picked to defend its title.
• Senior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan was named to the nine-member Preseason Volleyball All-SEC Team for the second consecutive year. She was an All-SEC Team selection at the conclusion of each of the last two seasons and she was the 2014 SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year.

 
SCOUTING IOWA STATE

• The Cyclones are 4-2 overall and are coming off a 3-2 (25-22, 25-16, 18-25, 20-25, 15-9) loss at Virginia in the championship match at the Fairfield Inn and Suites Cavalier Classic in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend.
• ISU was No. 21 in the AVCA preseason Top 25 Poll but dropped out after a 3-0 loss to unranked Marquette in the opening weekend.
• The Cyclones are outhitting their opponents, .226 to .177, and averaging 13.25 kills, 12.29 assists, 1.46 aces, 15.83 digs and 1.67 blocks per set. Opponents are averaging 11.33 kills, 10.38 assists, 1.08 aces, 13.67 digs and 2.08 blocks per set.
• Freshman Jess Schaben was named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week on Monday after being named to the Fairfield Inn and Suites Cavalier Classic all-tournament team. The 6-2 outside hitter had an ISU freshman-record 28 kills and hit .397 in a 3-2 victory against Appalachian State.
• Schaben leads the Cyclones with 3.46 kills per set for the full season.
• Senior libero Caitlin Nolan, who like Aggie freshman Paige Panter hails from Southlake Texas and attended Southlake Carroll High School, leads ISU and is second in the Big 12 with 5.42 digs per set. An AVCA third-team All-American in 2014 and the 2014 Big 12 Libero of the Year had 34 digs in the 3-2 victory against the Appalachian State Mountaineers and joined Schaben on the Fairfield Inn and Suites Cavalier Classic all-tournament team.
• Christy Johnson-Lynch (Nebraska '96) is 213-102 in her 11th season as the head coach of the Cyclones. She has directed ISU to the NCAA tournament each of the last nine years.

 
A&M-ISU SERIES HISTORY

• A&M is 25-11 all-time against ISU, including 12-4 in home matches, 11-5 in away matches and 2-2 at neutral sites.
• Although A&M holds a significant lead in the series, Iowa State has won six of the last seven meetings.
• The teams last met Aug. 31, 2013, at the UND Classic in Grand Forks, N.D., where No. 15 ISU won, 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-23, 27-25). It was the first meeting between the two teams following A&M's 2012 departure from the Big 12 Conference to join the SEC.
• A&M's most recent victory was Nov. 26, 2011, in the final meeting as Big 12 Conference foes. A&M upset the 14th-ranked Cyclones, 3-1 (10-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-16, at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.
• A&M owned a 23-9 record against ISU in Big 12 matches only.

 
SCOUTING MILWAUKEE

• Milwaukee, picked to finish second in the Horizon League, is 2-5 and looking to snap a five-match losing skid when it opens the tournament against Iowa on Friday morning.
• Most recently, the Panthers went 0-3 at North Dakota State's Baymont Inn & Suites Classic last weekend in Fargo, N.D. Milwaukee fell to host NDSU, 3-2 in the tournament finale, dropping the fifth set, 15-13.
• Milwaukee is being outhit, .234 to .169.
• Senior right side Maggie Dunbar leads the Panthers with 2.96 kills per set.

 
A&M SERIES HISTORY VS. MILWAUKEE

• This will be the first meeting between A&M and Milwaukee.

 
SCOUTING IOWA

• Iowa evened its record at 3-3 and snapped a three-match losing skid with a 3-1 (25-15, 21-25, 25-22, 25-19) victory over American to close out the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic.
• Iowa will be playing its third ranked opponent in six matches when the Hawkeyes face the Aggies. Last weekend, Iowa fell to No. 17 Hawaii, 3-1 and No. 25 UCLA, 3-0, in Honolulu.
• Bond Shymansky is in his second season as head coach of the Hawkeyes. Last year, Iowa went 14-17 overall and 6-14 in Big Ten action.

 
A&M SERIES HISTORY VS. IOWA

• A&M is 4-0 all-time against Iowa, including 2-0 in College Station and 2-0 at neutral sites.
• This will be the first time the teams have faced off in Iowa City.
• The teams last met in the 2014 season opener at the Texas A&M Invitational with the Aggies  winning 25-17, 25-17, 25-21 at Reed Arena
• A&M, which outhit Iowa, .327 to .174, was led by Angela Lowak's 10 kills. Jess Janota and Alex Lovell had 11 and 10 kills, respectively, for the Hawkeyes.

 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE

• Texas A&M returns to Reed Arena on Tuesday to host No. 14 Colorado State. First serve is at 6:30 p.m.
• It will be Fish Camp Night, and fans wearing their camp shirt will be eligible to win numerous giveaways, including a $200 gift card.
• The Aggies face their second consecutive top-20 opponent next weekend as they take on No. 19 Florida State on Friday, Sept. 18 in Tallahassee, Fla.
• A&M closes out preconference play Saturday, Sept. 19 at Florida A&M in Tallahassee.

 
2014 TEXAS A&M HIGHLIGHTS

• With a 21-9 record, Texas A&M (21-9, 13-5 SEC) reached the 20-win milestone for the third time in four years and for the 15th time in Laurie Corbelli's 22-year tenure as head coach of the Aggies.
• Texas A&M's Stephanie Aiple, Jazzmin Babers and Shelby Sullivan were named Honorable Mention All-America by the AVCA. All three Aggies received the honor for the first time in their careers, while Aiple, a freshman setter, and Babers, a redshirt sophomore middle blocker, became A&M's first underclassmen to garner the accolade from the AVCA.
• The Aggies made their fourth consecutive and 22nd overall appearance in the NCAA tournament, including their 18th appearance under Corbelli, making A&M one of only 14 teams in the nation that has made at least 18 NCAA tournament appearances since she was hired in 1993.

 
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 and Instagram by following @AggieVolleyball.