Volleyball Plays Host to LSU Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, October 21

College Station

7:00 PM

Texas A&M

LSU

Buy Tickets

Oct 20, 2015 | Volleyball

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

Texas A&M Aggies (12-7, 5-2 SEC) vs. LSU Tigers (8-10, 4-3 SEC)
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 7 p.m.
Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
SEC Network (Tiffany Greene and Missy Whittemore)

Texas A&M-LSU All-Time Series Record: A&M leads 24-15
A&M Home: LSU leads 7-6 | Away: A&M leads 8-3 | Neutral: A&M leads 10-5| SEC: Tied 2-2
Last Meeting: LSU won, 3-2 (20-25, 25-16, 25-9, 22-25, 15-13), Nov. 6, 2014, Reed Arena, College Station
Streak: LSU won 1

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Texas A&M puts its three-match win streak on the line Wednesday as the Aggies play host to the LSU Tigers at Reed Arena. First serve is at 7 p.m., and the match will be nationally televised on the SEC Network with Tiffany Greene and Missy Whittemore calling the action.

The Aggies, 7-1 in matches played at Reed Arena, are 12-6 overall and in sole possession of third place in the SEC standings with a 5-2 league mark. Led by SEC Setter of the Week Stephanie Aiple and SEC Offensive Player of the Week Shelby Sullivan, Texas A&M most recently swept both Alabama and Mississippi State last weekend at Reed.

LSU (8-10, 4-3 SEC) is in fifth place and is coming off a weekend in which the Tigers swept Mississippi State on Friday and then dropped a five-set match to Alabama Sunday in Baton Rouge, snapping the Tigers' two match win streak.

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 44-19 (.698) all-time in SEC matches -- 23-9 (.719) in home SEC matches and 21-10 (.677) in away SEC matches.
The Aggies are 3-1 in home SEC matches in 2015. Since suffering its only home loss of the season in the SEC opener to Arkansas, A&M has won its last three home matches all in three-set sweeps, having defeated Ole Miss, Alabama and Mississippi State.
Last year A&M went 7-2 in conference home matches and 6-3 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-LSU ALL-TIME SERIES

A&M is 24-15 all-time against LSU, the Aggies' most common opponent among teams in the SEC
The series is tied at 2-2 when meeting as SEC foes.
Six of the last 10 meetings have been decided in five sets.
LSU won the only meeting last year, defeating A&M, 3-2 (20-15, 25-16, 25-9, 22-25, 15-13) on Nov. 6, 2014, at Reed Arena to take a 7-6 series lead in matches played in College Station.
In matches played in Baton Rouge, A&M leads the series, 8-3. The Aggies are 10-5 against LSU at neutral sites.
LSU has won the last three meetings in College Station, and A&M has won the last three meetings in Baton Rouge.
In the only meeting last year, Texas A&M was unable to snap LSU's nine-match win streak as the Aggies' late charge came up short in a 20-25, 25-16, 25-9, 22-25, 15-13 loss to the Tigers at Reed Arena. LSU outhit A&M, .305 to .192, for the match with Briana Holman leading the way with a match-high 18 kills while hitting .444. A&M was led by sophomore middle blocker Jazzmin Babers' 13 kills. Shelby Sullivan joined Babers in double-figure kills with 11. Stephanie Aiple finished with 43 assists, and freshman libero Amy Nettles had a team-leading 21 digs. Babers led all players with four blocks.
In last year's fifth set, LSU was hot out of the gates, jumping out to an 11-4 lead. A&M then began to gain momentum, scoring three straight to get within 11-7. Back-to-back kills by Emily Ehrle put the Tigers within two points of the victory, but LSU's next attack sailed wide. A&M's Angela Lowak then finished off a long rally with a kill down the block, and Babers followed with an off-speed shot to put A&M within 13-10, forcing LSU to call a timeout. The Aggies would score their fourth consecutive point coming out of the timeout, with Lowak sacrificing the body with a bench-crashing, point-saving play that eventually ended with Babers and Aiple teaming for a block to put the Aggies within 13-11. A&M had an attack error on the next play to put the Tigers at set point, but Babers got a huge one-on-one block against Holman to keep the Aggies alive. Freshman Ashlie Reasor then put down her eighth kill of the match as the Aggies fought off a second match point and got within 14-13. But A&M's hopes of a comeback ended on the next play, as A&M hit wide to close out the match.
In 2012, A&M's inaugural season in the SEC, the Aggies defeated LSU, 3-1, in Baton Rouge and went on to win the SEC Western Division, snapping the Tigers' streak of seven consecutive division championships.
In 2013, A&M and LSU were co-favorites to win the SEC Western Division according to the coaches' preseason poll, which was conducted just before the conference athletics directors passed a measure to no longer recognize division champions in sports other than football and baseball.

A&M's records/results vs. LSU under Corbelli: Overall: 7-5 H: 1-3 A: 3-0 N: 3-2 SEC: 2-2

Sept. 16, 1995     N     W         15-0, 15-7, 15-6
Sept. 11, 1998     N     W         15-5, 15-5, 17-15
Sept. 1, 2002     H     W         30-32, 24-30, 30-16, 30-24, 15-10
Sept. 10, 2005     N     W         28-30, 30-17, 30-28, 29-31, 15-13
Sept. 1, 2006     N     L          32-30, 34-36, 23-30, 16-30
Aug. 29, 2008     N     L          25-23, 21-25, 25-20, 17-25, 18-20
Dec. 5, 2009     A     W         18-25, 2-24, 23-25, 25-23, 15-10
Aug. 28, 2010     H     L          9-25, 17-25, 22-25
Oct. 26, 2012     A     W         25-20, 22-25, 25-11, 25-16
Oct. 9, 2013     H     L          25-20, 25-16, 19-25, 18-25, 10-15
Nov. 13, 2013     A     W         25-21, 25-22, 25-22
Nov. 6, 2014     H     L          25-20, 16-25, 9-25, 25-22, 13-15

TEXAS A&M RECENT RESULTS

Texas A&M middle blockers Shelby Sullivan and Jazzmin Babers combined for 19 kills and a .586 hitting efficiency to lead the Aggies to a convincing 25-19, 25-18, 25-15 victory over Mississippi State Sunday at Reed Arena.
A&M improved to 5-0 in the all-time series against the Bulldogs, with all five victories being three-set sweeps.
The Aggies, who entered the match with an SEC-leading .301 hitting percentage in conference matches, hit above .400 for the second straight match, outhitting the Bulldogs, .410 to .198. Babers hit 1.000, going 9-for-9 in attack attempts, and seven A&M players posted at least three kills apiece in the match with sophomore setter Stephanie Aiple directing the balanced offense with 31 assists.
Texas A&M sophomore libero Amy Nettles led all players with 14 digs, and Sullivan took team-high honors in blocks with three.

TEXAS A&M QUICK HITS

A&M is 7-1 in matches played at Reed Arena, where the Aggies are outhitting their opponents, .310 to .184.
A&M leads the SEC with a .313 hitting efficiency, 13.29 assists and 14.29 kills per set in conference matches only.
For the full season, the Aggies rank third in the league and 11th in the nation with a .282 hitting efficiency.
A&M is last in the league in opponent hitting percentage (.232) and aces per set (0.96) for the full season.
For the first time since the first two matches of the 2009 season, A&M has hit above .400 in back-to-back matches. The Aggies hit .429 in the sweep against Alabama on Friday and .410 in the 3-0 win against Mississippi State on Sunday.
A&M, which hit above .400 only once in 2014 -- .440 in a 3-0 home victory against Auburn -- has hit above .400 five times overall this season, including a season-high .500 at Florida A&M, marking the third highest hitting percentage in school history. A&M hit .481 at Auburn and .470 against Wichita State, which also rank in the top 10 in program history.
A&M is 12-0 when leading its opponent in attack percentage, 10-0 when leading in blocks, 10-0 when leading in points and 9-0 when leading in kills.
The Aggies are 11-1 when winning the first set and 1-5 when dropping the first set.
A&M is 4-0 in five-set matches.
A&M climbed six spots to No. 32 in this week's NCAA RPI after spending the first two weeks at No. 38. Last year A&M finished 22nd.
After using 10 different starting lineups over the first 13 matches, A&M has used the same starting lineup in five of the last six contests: Stephanie Aiple (setter); Emily Hardesty and Kiara McGee (outside hitters), Amy Houser (defensive specialist), and Jazzmin Babers and Shelby Sullivan (middle blockers). In the most recent match, the rotation had opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor starting in place of Houser.
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. 9 Minnesota, No. 11 Stanford, No. 17 Florida State and No. 20 Colorado State, as well as two matches each against No. 17 Florida and No. 21 Kentucky. A&M has an additional four matches against teams receiving votes: two against both Arkansas (37th) and Missouri (35th).

TEXAS A&M PLAYER QUICK HITS

Sophomore Stephanie Aiple and senior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan were named the SEC Setter of the Week and the SEC Offensive Player of the Week, respectively, on Monday after leading the Aggies to sweeps against Alabama and Mississippi State. Aiple averaged 12.67 assists per set and directed the Texas A&M offense to a .420 hitting percentage for the week. Sullivan was on the receiving end of many of Aiple's sets and recorded back-to-back double-figure kill performances while hitting a combined .462 for the week. Sullivan averaged a team-leading 4.83 points, 3.67 kills and 1.50 blocks per set over the two matches.
Redshirt junior middle blocker Jazzmin Babers leads the SEC and is ranked fourth in the nation with a .444 hitting percentage for the full season. Babers also is third in the SEC and 38th nationally with 1.28 blocks per set for the full season.
In SEC matches only, Babers, the SEC Player of the Week on Oct. 5 and a two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Week, leads the SEC with a .535 hitting efficiency in conference matches only. She is fifth in the league with 1.21 blocks per set in SEC play.
Babers has started every match of her career (79) and is hitting .372 for her career.
Babers, who has posted double-figure blocks twice this season and has led or tied for the team lead in blocks in 14 of 18 matches this season, ranks seventh in the A&M all-time career records with 320 block assists. She also ranks 10th in the career records for total blocks with 364 and needs only three 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 21st in the nation with 11.25 assists per set for the full season. Aiple also is third in the conference with 11.22 assists per set in league play.
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 .364 this season and .377 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 .464 with a team-high 3.88 points per set.
Amy Nettles is the only player to have appeared in all 68 sets -- all at the libero position -- and Babers is the only player to have started all 18 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 at some point in the season due to injuries.
Sophomore outside hitter Kiara McGee is averaging a team-best 3.30 kills per set at Reed while hitting at a .253 clip, and Jazzmin Babers is hitting .454 and leads the team with 1.47 blocks per set in home matches only.
McGee is second on the team among active players with 2.62 kills and 2.94 points per set for the full season and 2.64 kills per set in SEC matches only.
During A&M's three-match win streak, sophomore opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor is hitting .517 with 3.45 kills and 3.77 points per set. For the season, Reasor is hitting .236 with 2.08 kills and 2.50 points per set.
Sophomore libero Amy Nettles has led or tied for the team lead in digs in all but two matches this season and has posted double-figure digs in a team-leading 14 matches. She is averaging a team-high 3.69 digs per set for the full season, ranking 10th in the SEC. In home matches only, Nettles is averaging 4.17 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 has appeared in 15 matches overall and is hitting .261 and averaging 2.00 kills and 0.76 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.
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.
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 LSU

LSU (8-10, 4-3 SEC), picked to finish sixth in the SEC according to a preseason vote of the league's coaches, enters the A&M match in fifth place, a half-game behind defending SEC champion and league preseason favorite Florida (5-3) and one game behind the third-place Aggies.
The Tigers are 2-3 in away matches, including 1-1 in away SEC matches only.
LSU leads the SEC and is 45th in the country with 16.11 digs per set.
Sophomore outside hitter Gina Tillis leads LSU and is second in the SEC with 4.22 kills and 4.69 points per set in conference matches.
Tillis had a team-high 19 kills and 21 points in the five-set loss to Alabama in the Tigers' most recent outing. Toni Rodriguez and Cati Leak added 15 and 11 kills, respectively, while Katie Lindelow had a team-high 18 digs.
LSU is being outhit, .196 to .172, in all matches but is outhitting its conference foes, .216 to .207, in league play.
Head coach Fran Flory (Texas '84) is 318-195 in her 18th season at the helm of the Tigers. A former assistant coach at Texas A&M in 1987 under former Aggie head coach Al Givens, Flory is 428-309 in the 24th year of her head coaching career.

UPCOMING

The Aggies have a bye this weekend and then hit the road to take on No. 21 Kentucky in Lexington and Tennessee in Knoxville on Oct. 30 and Nov. 1, respectively.

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.