TEXAS A&M TAKES ON SOUTH CAROLINA SUNDAY IN COLUMBIA

Sunday, October 11

Columbia, S.C.

12:00 PM

Texas A&M

South Carolina

Oct 10, 2015 | Volleyball

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

Texas A&M (9-6, 2-2 SEC) vs. South Carolina (7-11, 0-5 SEC)
Sunday, Oct. 11, 12 p.m. (1 p.m. ET)
Carolina Volleyball Center, Columbia, S.C.
SEC Network

Texas A&M-South Carolina All-Time Series Record: A&M leads 6-1
A&M Home: A&M leads 3-0 | Away: A&M leads 3-1| Neutral: 0-0| SEC: A&M leads 4-1
Last Meeting: A&M won, 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 19-25, 25-12, 15-13), Oct. 19, 2014, Carolina Volleyball Center, Columbia, S.C.
Streak: A&M won 2

The Texas A&M volleyball team concludes a two-match SEC road swing Sunday as the Aggies take on South Carolina. First serve is at 1 p.m. at the Carolina Volleyball Center in Columbia, S.C., and the match will be televised by the SEC Network.

Texas A&M had its two-match win streak snapped Friday as the Aggies fell to defending SEC champion and preseason favorite Florida, 3-0 (25-9, 25-23, 25-18) at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville. The Aggies enter the match against the Gamecocks 9-6 overall and in sixth place in the SEC with a 2-2 league mark.

South Carolina, 7-11 overall and 0-5 in SEC play, has lost its last six matches and is in search of its first conference win after falling to Auburn, 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 31-29) Friday night at the Carolina Tennis Center.

A&M IN THE SEC

This marks A&M's fourth season as a member of the SEC.
Last year, A&M went 13-5 in SEC play, tying Alabama for fourth place.
A&M's best SEC finish was in 2012, its inaugural season in the conference. The Aggies went 16-4, winning the SEC Western Division and placing second overall.
A&M is 41-19 all-time in SEC matches -- 21-9 in home SEC matches and 20-10 in away SEC matches.
A&M is 1-1 in SEC road matches this season, having swept Auburn at Auburn Arena on Sept. 30 and falling at No. 17 Florida, 3-0, in Gainesville on Oct. 9.
The Aggies are 1-1 in home SEC matches in 2015, opening SEC play with a 3-1 loss to Arkansas on Sept. 27 and defeating Ole Miss, 3-0, on Oct. 4 at Reed Arena.
Last year A&M went 4-5 in SEC away matches and 7-2 in conference home matches.
The Aggies are picked to finish fourth in the SEC in 2015 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.

A&M-SOUTH CAROLINA ALL-TIME SERIES

A&M leads the all-time series, 6-1, and has won the last two meetings.
South Carolina's only victory in the series was Oct. 6, 2013, in Columbia as the Gamecocks upset A&M, 25-23, 25-20, 20-25, 25-23.
A&M is 3-1 in matches played in Columbia.
In the only meeting last year, No. 20 Texas A&M came back from a 2-1 set deficit to defeat South Carolina, 25-21, 23-25, 19-25, 25-12, 15-13, at the Volleyball Competition Facility in Columbia. Both teams entered the match aiming to avoid their first three-match losing skid of the season. The fifth set was knotted 13-all before Aggie setter Stephanie Aiple connected with middle blocker Shelby Sullivan for back-to-back kills to close out the victory. Sullivan led all players with 16 kills while hitting .480. She also paced the Aggies with six blocks, including a career-high tying three solo blocks. Angela Lowak and Jazzmin Babers also posted double-digit kills for A&M with 13 and 11, respectively, as A&M led the Gamecocks in kills, 61-48, and also led in hitting percentage, .253 to .106. Emily Hardesty, who returned to the outside hitter position after being the libero in the last five matches, led the Aggies with 12 digs, and defensive specialist Amy Nettles pitched in a then career-high 11 digs. A&M committed a season-high 17 service errors. Taylr McNeil was the only Gamecock to post double figures in kills with 13. Libero Mikael Christiaansen led all players with 17 digs.
A&M all-time records/results vs. South Carolina: H: 3-0 A: 3-1 N: 0-0 SEC: 4-1

Oct. 10, 1993     A        W       15-7, 15-8, 15-7
Dec. 3,   1995     H        W       15-6, 17-15, 15-12
Oct. 5,   2012     H        W       25-12, 25-16, 25-16
Oct. 28, 2012     A        W       25-19, 25-16, 25-23
Oct. 6,   2013     A        L         23-25, 20-25, 25-20, 23-25
Nov. 27, 2013     H        W       25-22, 25-6, 25-18
Oct. 19, 2014     A        W       25-21, 23-25, 19-25, 25-12, 15-13

TEXAS A&M RECENT RESULTS

No. 17 Florida got back into the win column and snapped Texas A&M's two-match win streak with a 25-9, 25-23, 25-18 victory Friday at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla.
The Gators (10-4, 2-3 SEC), who entered the match mired in their first three-match losing streak since 1990, hit a blistering .517 in the match, a season high by an A&M opponent. Sophomore 6-4 middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan led the Gators with a career-high 18 kills while hitting .810. Junior right-side hitter Alex Holston, the 2014 SEC Player of the Year, added 12 kills and hit at a .524 clip as Florida improved to 11-0 in the all-time series against the Aggies.
Junior middle blocker Jazzmin Babers, the reigning SEC Player of the Week, led Texas A&M with 13 kills while hitting .588.

TEXAS A&M QUICK HITS

A&M is 2-4 in away matches this season.
A&M leads the SEC in hitting percentage (.290) in conference matches only. The Aggies rank second in assists per set (12.92) and third in kills per set (13.85) and blocks per set (2.69) in SEC matches only.
For the full season, A&M is ranked third in the SEC in hitting percentage (.271).
A&M is last in the league in opponent hitting percentage (.237) and aces per set (0.95).
A&M is 9-0 when leading its opponent in attack percentage, 8-0 when leading in blocks, 7-0 when leading in points and 6-0 when leading in kills.
The Aggies are 0-5 when dropping the first set and 9-1 when winning the first set.
A&M is 3-0 in five-set matches.
A&M is 38th in the NCAA's first released RPI of the year. Last year A&M finished 22nd.
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.
Ten of A&M's matches are against teams ranked in the top 25 in this week's AVCA Top 25 Poll: No. 7 Stanford, No. 11 Minnesota, No. 17 Florida State and No. 21 Colorado State, as well as two matches each against No. 17 Florida, No. 20 Kentucky and No. 22 Arkansas.

TEXAS A&M PLAYER QUICK HITS

A&M has used 11 different starting lineups over 15 matches. Redshirt junior middle blocker Jazzmin Babers and sophomore libero Amy Nettles are the only two players to have appeared in all 15 matches. Meanwhile, sophomore setter Stephanie Aiple (foot), senior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan (knee) and senior outside hitter Angela Lowak (ankle, knee) all have missed multiple starts due to injuries.
Middle blocker Jazzmin Babers has started every match of her career (76) and is hitting .364 for her career.
Babers leads the SEC with a .515 hitting efficiency in conference matches only. She is second in the league with 1.69 blocks per set in SEC play. For the full season, Babers ranks second in the league with a .421 hitting percentage and is third with 1.41 blocks per set.
Babers has led or tied for the team lead in blocks in 14 of 15 matches this season.
Babers, who has posted double-figure blocks twice this season, ranks seventh in the A&M all-time career records with 313 block assists. She also ranks 10th in the career records for total blocks with 357. While Babers needs 80 block assists to climb into fifth, she needs only 10 total blocks to move into ninth place for career total blocks.
Sophomore setter Stephanie Aiple is third in the SEC with 11.07 assists per set. After missing two matches with a foot injury suffered against No. 15 Colorado State on Sept. 15, Aiple returned to the court in the second set against Arkansas on Sept. 27. Aiple returned to the starting lineup in the sweep against Auburn on Sept. 30, directing the Aggie offense to a .481 hitting percentage, the fifth highest team hitting percentage in program history and setting an A&M record for highest hitting percentage in a three-set SEC match.
Senior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan is hitting .374 this season and .378 for her career, putting her on pace to shatter the A&M career record for hitting percentage (.342) held by Sherri Brinkman (1983-85).
Outside hitter Angela Lowak is out indefinitely after suffering a knee injury (dislocated patella) at Florida State on Sept. 19. The senior co-captain had posted double-figure kills in four consecutive matches leading up to the FSU match, and she was leading the team with 3.22 kills per set before suffering the injury.
Sophomore outside hitter Kiara McGee has stepped up in the matches following Lowak's knee injury, hitting .319 and averaging 3.12 kills and 3.47 points per set over the last five matches. Prior to the Florida State match, McGee was hitting .172 with 2.67 kills and 3.07 points per set. For the season, McGee is hitting .216 with 2.81 kills and 3.16 points per set.
Sophomore libero Amy Nettles has led or tied for the team lead in digs in all but one match this season. She is averaging a team-high 3.74 digs per set for the full season, ranking 10th in the SEC.
Nettles, who has posted double-figure digs in a team-leading 11 matches, is the only A&M player to have played in all 57 sets this season. She also is the only player to reach 20 or more digs in a match this season, posting a season-high and tying her career high with 27 in the 3-2 win against No. 15 Colorado State and notching 20 digs in a 3-1 win against Milwaukee.
Junior outside hitter Emily Hardesty and sophomore setter Stephanie Aiple lead A&M in double-doubles with three apiece.
The versatile freshman Kaitlyn Blake has started seven matches as either an opposite hitter or middle blocker. She is hitting .271 and averaging 2.00 kills and 0.77 blocks per set for the season.
Junior setter Kaysie Shebeneck made her first three starts of the season at No. 18 Florida State, at Florida A&M and at home against Arkansas after Aiple suffered a foot injury in the second set against Colorado State. Shebeneck, who led the Aggies to a 3-2 victory against the Rams, is averaging 8.88 assists per set and directed the Aggie offense to a .500 hitting percentage against Florida A&M, marking the third highest hitting percentage in program history. Shebeneck started four matches at setter last season. As a freshman, she started five at the opposite hitter position.
Freshman 6-7 outside hitter/middle blocker Montse Castro has returned to the team after spending two weeks competing for Mexico at the Women's U20 World Championship in Puerto Rico. Castro, believed to be the tallest player in the history of the A&M program, has yet to appear in a match.
Four players -- Jazzmin Babers, Katelyn Labhart, Angela Lowak and Shelby Sullivan -- each received their Aggie Ring on Friday, Sept. 25, celebrating one of the most revered and symbolic traditions at Texas A&M. The tradition began with the Class of 1889.

SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA

South Carolina is 7-11 overall and 0-5 in SEC matches entering a match against Auburn on Friday in Columbia.
Junior Dessaa Legros leads the Gamecocks and is sixth in the SEC with 3.35 kills per set for the full season.
Freshman setter Aubrey Ezell leads the SEC with 11 double-doubles.
In SEC matches only, Ezell leads the league with 0.67 aces per set.
Most recently, South Carolina lost to Auburn, 3-0, (25-23, 25-20, 31-29) Friday at Carolina Volleyball Center. Koko Atoa-Williams led the Gamecocks with 16 kills while hitting .303.
South Carolina, which tied Missouri for eighth place in the 2014 final standings with a 7-11 record, were picked to finish 11th this season according to a preseason vote of the league coaches.

UPCOMING

The Aggies return home Friday, Oct. 16 to host Alabama. First serve is at 6:30 p.m. at Reed Arena. The match, which marks the start of a three-match home stand, will be the Aggies' "Dig Pink" match. Go to the volleyball page on 12thMan.com to learn more about joining the Aggies as they help raise awareness in the fight against breast cancer.

SULLIVAN SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE

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.
In the classroom, the 2014 SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year for volleyball sports a 3.841 cumulative grade-point average as a student in Texas A&M's highly regarded Mays Business School five-year Professional Program in which she is simultaneously earning a bachelor's degree in accounting and a master's degree in finance.

BABERS TABBED SEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Texas A&M middle blocker Jazzmin Babers was named both the SEC Player of the Week and the SEC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday.
Babers averaged 2.50 blocks, 5.25 points and 4.0 kills per set and hit .568 for last week to lead Texas A&M to sweeps against both Auburn and Ole Miss. The redshirt junior from Bowling Green, Ohio, tallied a combined 15 total blocks in the two three-set sweeps, including a match-high eight block assists against the Tigers, giving her 304 for her career and moving her from ninth place to sixth place in the A&M career record books for block assists. The eight blocks also gave her 348 total blocks for her career, moving her into 10th place in the A&M all-time career records for total blocks.
Offensively, Babers began the Auburn match 11-for-11 in attack attempts. She went on to post a team-high 14 kills with only one error for a .765 hitting efficiency, tying the A&M SEC match record for highest hitting percentage when making 15-19 attempts.
Babers led all players with seven blocks and 13.5 points and also hit .400 with 10 kills in the sweep against Ole Miss.