Texas A&M Hosts Alabama, Mississippi State to Begin 3-Match Homestand

Friday, October 16

College Station

6:30 PM

Texas A&M

Alabama

Buy Tickets

Oct 15, 2015 | Volleyball

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

Texas A&M (10-6, 3-2 SEC) vs. Alabama (8-10, 2-2 SEC)
Friday, Oct. 16, 6:30 p.m.
Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
SEC Network +

Promotions:

Dig Pink: Fans wearing pink will be admitted for only $3;
Free T-Shirt: Free Dig Pink T-shirts will be given to the first 250 fans;
Chalk Talk: Arrive early for a free pre-match chalk talk with Aggie volleyball head coach Laurie Corbelli in the volleyball practice gym 40 minutes before the start of the match. Coach Corbelli will go over the team's game plan against Alabama, as well as discuss how the team is progressing as it nears the halfway point of the SEC season;
Silent Auction (on the concourse): Items include team autographed memorabilia, tickets to the Texas A&M-South Carolina football game, tickets to the A&M men's basketball game against Baylor, as well as other Aggie gear. Proceeds benefit the Side-Out foundation;
Rudy's Jason's Deli, Whataburger, Ace shirts and more: Throughout the match fans will get the chance to win free Rudy's, Jason's Deli and Whataburger items, and more. And for every ace A&M serves, Yell Leaders will throw an "ACE" shirt to a lucky fan.

Texas A&M-Alabama All-Time Series Record: A&M leads 5-2
A&M Home: A&M leads 3-0 | Away: UA leads 2-1 | Neutral: A&M leads 1-0| SEC: A&M leads 3-2
Last Meeting: UA won, 3-2 (20-25, 28-26, 17-25, 25-20, 15-11), Oct. 31, 2014, Foster Auditorium, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Streak: UA won 1

Texas A&M vs. Mississippi State
Sunday, Oct. 18, 1:30 p.m.
Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
SEC Network +

Promotions:

Military Appreciation Day: All active or retired military personnel receive free admission. The free tickets can be claimed at: http://12mf.info/?5ZdBnm with promo code: MILITARY!
Camo bags: Free Texas A&M volleyball camo drawstring bags to the first 250 fans;
Sunday Funday: Up to four kids are admitted free with the purchase of one regular-priced adult ticket;
Kids' Court: arts and crafts, games and volleyball at the volleyball practice gym prior to first serve.

Texas A&M-Mississippi State All-Time Series Record: A&M leads 4-0
A&M Home: A&M leads 2-0 | Away: A&M leads 2-0| Neutral: 0-0| SEC: A&M leads 4-0
Last Meeting: A&M won, 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-10), Nov. 26, 2014, Newell-Grissom Bldg., Starkville, Miss.
Streak: A&M won 4

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The Texas A&M volleyball team begins a crucial three-match homestand this weekend as the Aggies play host to Alabama and Mississippi State, Friday and Sunday, respectively, at Reed Arena. The match against the Crimson Tide begins at 6:30 p.m., and it is the Aggies' annual "Dig Pink" match. First serve against Mississippi State is at 1:30 p.m., and both matches will be broadcast on SEC Network +, available on WatchESPN.com and SECNetwork.com.

Texas A&M is 10-6 overall and in a four-way tie for third place in the SEC standings with a 3-2 conference record following its come-from-behind 3-2 (27-29, 25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 15-4) victory at South Carolina on Sunday.

Alabama (8-10, 2-2 SEC), picked to finish second in the league according to a preseason vote of the league's head coaches, also is coming off a come-from-behind 3-2 victory. The Tide got 22 kills each from Kat Hudson and Krystal Rivers to defeat Missouri, 25-21, 25-27, 23-25, 25-17, 15-11, Sunday in Tuscaloosa, handing the Tigers their first loss in SEC play.

Much improved Mississippi State, under the direction of first-year head coach David McFatrich, is 13-6 overall and 3-3 in conference play entering a Friday contest at LSU.

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 42-19 all-time in SEC matches -- 21-9 in home SEC matches and 21-10 in away SEC matches.
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 7-2 in conference home matches and 4-5 in SEC away 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-ALABAMA ALL-TIME SERIES

A&M leads the all-time series, 5-2, but Alabama has won two of the last three meetings.
A&M is 3-0 against the Crimson Tide in matches played in College Station.
Both of Alabama's victories were in A&M's last two visits to Tuscaloosa, including a 3-2 (20-25, 28-26, 17-25, 25-20, 15-11) victory at Foster Auditorium in the most recent meeting (Oct. 31, 2014).
While the teams will meet only once this season, the teams split the home-and-home series last year with the home team winning in five sets in each match.
The teams met at Reed Arena on Oct. 10, 2014, and No. 19 Texas A&M rallied from a 2-1 set deficit, posting five of its season-high 10 aces in the decisive fifth set to defeat Alabama, 20-25, 25-14, 21-25, 25-20, 15-5. Then-freshman Ashlie Reasor had a career-high 18.5 points and led a trio of Aggies in double-figure kills with 14, tying her career high. Shelby Sullivan added 13 kills, and senior outside hitter Sydney Wilhelm pitched in 10 kills as setter Stephanie Aiple dished out 49 assists and directed the balanced offense to a .347 hitting efficiency. Then-freshman Kat Hutson was a one-man show for the Tide, hitting .365 with 27 kills, the second most kills by an A&M opponent in 2014. The Tide was held to a .191 hitting efficiency overall.
The most recent meeting was Oct. 31, 2014, in Tuscaloosa, where Jazzmin Babers had a then-career-high 19 kills while hitting .581, but it wasn't enough as Alabama pulled away for a 20-25, 28-26, 17-25, 25-20, 15-11 victory at Foster Auditorium. Alabama's Krystal Rivers led all players with 28 kills, and setter Sierra Wilson had 70 assists, both season highs by an A&M opponent in 2014. Kate Hudson added 25 kills while hitting .368. A&M libero Amy Nettles led all players with a career-high 27 digs, and Emily Hardesty also set a career-high with 20 digs.
A&M's all-time records/results vs. Alabama: H: 3-0 A: 1-2 N: 1-0 SEC: 3-2

Sept. 24, 1993           N         W        15-5, 15-13, 10-15, 15-3
Sept. 14, 1996           H         W        15-6, 15-8, 15-5
Sept. 30, 2012           A          W        25-22, 25-20, 25-20
Nov.   2,   2012           H         W        25-22, 25-20, 25-20
Oct.   18, 2013           A          L          31-33, 22-25, 23-25
Oct.   10, 2014           H         W        20-25, 25-14, 21-25, 25-20, 15-5
Oct.   31, 2014           A          L          25-20, 26-28, 25-17, 20-25, 11-15

A&M-MISSISSIPPI STATE ALL-TIME SERIES

A&M is 4-0 and has not dropped a single set in the all-time series against Mississippi State.
All four meetings were as SEC foes.
The teams met once last year, with A&M getting contributions from all 14 players to defeat the Bulldogs, 25-14, 25-18, 25-10, on Nov. 26, 2014, at the Newell-Grissom Building in Starkville, Miss. Emily Hardesty took match-high honors with 10 kills as the Aggies outhit the Bulldogs, .339 to .080 en route to their fifth consecutive win and their 20th victory of the season.
A&M's all-time records/results vs. Mississippi State: H: 2-0 A: 2-0 N: 0-0 SEC: 4-0

Oct.   7,       2012        H         W        25-8, 25-14, 25-10
Oct. 11,      2013        H         W        25-19, 25-21, 25-16
Nov. 8,       2013        A          W        25-17, 25-21, 25-15
Nov. 26,      2014        A          W        25-14, 25-18, 25-10

TEXAS A&M RECENT RESULTS

Texas A&M overcame a 2-1 set deficit to defeat a feisty South Carolina team, 27-29, 25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 15-4, Sunday at the Carolina Volleyball Center.
It marked the first time in six matches that the Aggies came back to win a match after losing the first set.
Jazzmin Babers and Ashlie Reasor propelled the Aggies, each posting career highs in kills with 23 and 19, respectively. Reasor also posted a personal best .615 hitting efficiency, and Babers hit at a .486 clip as setter Stephanie Aiple orchestrated the offense to an overall .247 team hitting percentage while dishing out 56 assists.
Libero Amy Nettles led the Aggies defensively with 14 digs. Emily Hardesty pitched in 12 digs, and sophomore defensive specialist Gabby Litwin finished with a career-high 10 digs. Freshman defensive specialist Amy Houser also set a career high, scooping up nine digs, and Shelby Sullivan tied her season high with a team-leading six blocks.

TEXAS A&M QUICK HITS

A&M is 5-1 in home matches this season.
A&M is second in the SEC with a .279 hitting efficiency in conference matches only.
For the full season, the Aggies rank third in the league and 19th in the nation with a .269 hitting efficiency.
A&M is last in the league in opponent hitting percentage (.237) and aces per set (0.95).
A&M is 10-0 when leading its opponent in attack percentage, 8-0 when leading in blocks, 8-0 when leading in points and 7-0 when leading in kills.
The Aggies are 9-1 when winning the first set and 1-5 when dropping the first set.
A&M is 4-0 in five-set matches.
A&M remained 38th in the NCAA's second 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.
Eight of A&M's matches are against teams ranked in the top 25 in this week's AVCA Top 25 Poll: No. 6 Stanford, No. 11 Minnesota, No. 18 Florida State and No. 21 Colorado State, as well as two matches each against No. 17 Florida and No. 20 Kentucky. A&M has an additional four matches against teams receiving votes: two against both Arkansas (28th) and Missouri (36th).

TEXAS A&M PLAYER QUICK HITS

After using 10 different starting lineups over the first 13 matches, A&M has used the same starting lineup in each of the last four contests: Stephanie Aiple (setter); Emily Hardesty and Kiara McGee (outside hitters), Amy Houser (defensive specialist), and Jazzmin Babers and Shelby Sullivan (middle blockers).
Amy Nettles is the only player to have appeared in all 62 sets -- all at the libero position -- and Babers is the only player to have started every match. 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.
Babers has started every match of her career (77) and is hitting .367 for her career.
Babers, the SEC Player of the Week on Oct. 5 and a two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Week this season, leads the SEC with a .505 hitting efficiency in conference matches only. She is fourth in the league with 1.39 blocks per set in SEC play.
For the full season, Babers ranks third in the league and 12th in the country with a .428 hitting percentage, and she is third in the league and 28th in the nation with 1.34 blocks per set.
Babers has led or tied for the team lead in blocks in 14 of 16 matches this season.
Babers, who has posted double-figure blocks twice this season, ranks seventh in the A&M all-time career records with 316 block assists. She also ranks 10th in the career records for total blocks with 360 and needs only seven more total blocks to move into ninth place, surpassing Amy Cumings, who had 366 total blocks from 1987-90.
Sophomore setter Stephanie Aiple is third in the SEC and 30th in the nation with 11.07 assists per set for the full season. 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 .348 this season and .375 for her career, putting her on pace to shatter the A&M career record for hitting percentage (.342) held by Sherri Brinkman (1983-85).
In home matches only, Sullivan is hitting a team-leading .466 with 2.73 kills per set. Sophomore outside hitter Kiara McGee is averaging a team-best 3.65 kills per set at Reed while hitting at a .265 clip.
Outside hitter Angela Lowak is out indefinitely after suffering a knee injury (dislocated patella) at Florida State on Sept. 19. The senior co-captain 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 is second on the team among active players with 2.66 kills and 2.99 points per set for the full season and 2.75 kills and 3.03 points per set in SEC matches only.
Sophomore libero Amy Nettles has led or tied for the team lead in digs in all but one match this season and has posted double-figure digs in a team-leading 15 matches. She is averaging a team-high 3.66 digs per set for the full season, ranking 10th in the SEC. In home matches only, Nettles is averaging 4.21 digs per set.
Nettles 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 .254 and averaging 1.98 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 spent two weeks competing for Mexico at the Women's U20 World Championship in Puerto Rico in September. 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 Sept. 25, celebrating one of the most revered and symbolic traditions at Texas A&M. The tradition began with the Class of 1889.

SCOUTING ALABAMA

Alabama (8-10, 2-2 SEC) is in ninth place in the SEC standings and is coming off a 3-2 win against Missouri on Sunday.
The Crimson Tide, 2-4 in away matches for the full season, is 0-2 in away SEC matches.
Senior setter Sierra Wilson is ninth in the nation and first in the SEC with 11.58 assists per set for the full season. She had 63 assists along with a team-high 20 digs in the 3-2 win against Missouri on Sunday.
Sophomore 6-3 outside hitter Kat Hutson is third in the SEC with 4.24 kills and 4.82 points per set in SEC matches only, and junior middle blocker Krystal Rivers is 10th with 3.12 points per set and seventh with 4.09 points per set.
Rivers and Hutson, who led Alabama with 22 kills apiece in the 3-2 victory against Missouri on Sunday, had the top three most kills by an A&M opponent in 2014. Rivers had 28 kills in the Tide's 3-2 victory at Alabama on Oct. 31, and Hutson had 27 in the 3-2 loss to the Aggies in College Station on Oct. 10 and 25 kills in Tuscaloosa.
Last year Alabama won its first-ever NCAA match, defeating Samford, 3-2, in the first round. The Tide then fell to No. 6 Florida State, 3-0, in Tallahassee. Alabama finished the season with a record-26 wins with only eight losses.
Freshman setter Shannon Mikesky is from Schulenburg, Texas, and freshman outside hitter Tabitha Brown attended Klein Collins High School in Spring, Texas. Senior middle blocker Bruna Evangelista also has Texas ties as she attended Blinn College, where she earned MVP honors at the 2013 NJCAA National Championship.
Ed Allen (Ball State, 1988) is 87-62 in his fifth season as head coach at Alabama and 581-245 in the 24th year of his head coaching career.

SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE

Mississippi State is 13-6 overall and in eighth place in the SEC with a 3-3 record entering a Friday contest at LSU.
Under the direction of first-year head coach David McFatrich (Arkansas, 1986), the Bulldogs have already surpassed their total number of SEC wins in 2014, when MSU finished 12th with a 2-16 record.
Most recently, the Bulldogs defeated Georgia, 25-17, 25-11, 25-18, Sunday in Starkville.
MSU enters the weekend 2-3 in away matches, including 1-2 in SEC away matches.
MSU is holding its opponents to an SEC-best .147 hitting percentage for the full season.
MSU leads the SEC with 1.68 aces per set in SEC matches only.
Senior right side hitter Alex Warren, who attended Roosevelt High School in San Antonio, leads the Bulldogs and is fourth in the SEC with 3.95 kills and 4.68 points per set.

UPCOMING

The Aggies conclude their three-match homestand, Wednesday, Oct. 21 as they play host to LSU. First serve is at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena, and the match will be televised on the SEC Network.

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.

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.