COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M's Laurie Corbelli has been named the AVCA South Region Coach of the Year, and Aggie student-athletes Stephanie Aiple, Jazzmin Babers and Shelby Sullivan were name to the AVCA All-South Region Team, the American Volleyball Coaches Association announced today. In addition, A&M's Kiara McGee received honorable mention.
Corbelli receives the region coach of the year honor for the third time in her 30-year head coaching career, having also received the distinction in 1992 as head coach at Santa Clara and in 1995 following her third season at the helm of the Aggies. Corbelli recently was voted the SEC Coach of the Year by her peers after directing Texas A&M to its first-ever conference championship. The Aggies were picked to finish fourth in the SEC according to the preseason coaches' poll, but things look grim after senior co-captain Angela Lowak, who was in her third season as a starting outside hitter and was leading the team in kills per set, went down with a knee injury late in the non-conference portion of the schedule, causing her to miss the remainder of the regular season. Although A&M lost its SEC opener while still trying to adjust to the revamped lineup, Corbelli directed the Aggies to a 16-2 overall conference record, including a first-ever win against Florida and season series sweeps against both Kentucky and Missouri as A&M ended the regular season on a school-record 14-match conference win streak. A&M, which was 22nd in the 2014 final NCAA RPI and 38th if the first RPI of the 2015 season, entered the NCAA tournament with a No. 6 RPI and a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Championship, both all-time highs for the program.
Aiple, Babers and Sullivan are each making their second consecutive appearance on the All-South Region Team.
Aiple, who was the 2014 AVCA South Region Freshman of the Year, is coming off a season in which she became the second player in A&M history and the first since 1995 to earn conference player of the year accolades. The sophomore setter from Round Rock, Texas, currently ranks 15th in the nation with 11.44 assists per set and directed an A&M offense that ranks 17th in the country with a .272 hitting percentage, the second highest hitting percentage in program history. Aiple, a two-time SEC Player of the Week and a six-time SEC Setter of the Week, tallied 50 or more assists in eight matches this season, including a career-high 62 in the win at Missouri to clinch the SEC championship.
Babers, a redshirt junior middle blocker from Syracuse, N.Y., is ranked 16th in the nation with a .412 season hitting percentage, breaking the school season record of .400 set by former two-time Aggie All-American Sherri Brinkman in 1984 and tied by Babers last year. Babers is 25th in the nation with 1.37 blocks per set.
An All-SEC Team selection, Babers led the league with a .441 hitting percentage in conference matches only and also ranked second in the SEC with 1.46 blocks per set.
Babers, who has started every match (92) of her career, ranks sixth in the A&M career records with 381 block assists, and she is eighth in career blocks with 434.
Sullivan, who was named to the All-SEC team for a third consecutive year, hit .377 for the year and completed her stellar career with a school-record .379 hitting percentage, smashing the longstanding career record of .342 held by Brinkman since 1985. The senior middle blocker from Richardson, Texas, collected both SEC defensive and offensive player of the week honors this season, and she also was a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award, recognizing notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom character and competition.
McGee, a sophomore from San Antonio, was heavily relied on to take over for Lowak at the outside hitter position. McGee responded, posting double-figure kills in 15 matches and taking team-high honors in kills in nine matches. McGee went on to finish the season ranked second among A&M starters with 2.96 kills and 3.26 points per set for the full season.
Texas A&M reached the 20-win milestone for the fourth time in five years and for the 16th time under Corbelli, finishing the season 24-7 after reaching the second round of the NCAA Championship. It marked A&M's fifth consecutive appearance and 19th overall under Corbelli, making A&M one of only 13 teams in the nation that has made at least 19 NCAA tournament appearances since she was hired in 1993.
All-region members will now be considered for AVCA All-America honors. The 14-member first, second and third teams, along with honorable mention will be announced December 16.
The following is the complete list of 2015 AVCA All- South Region Team
Honorable Mention
Freshman of the Year: Okiana Valle, Arkansas, L
Coach of the Year: Laurie Corbelli, Texas A&M
For the complete list of all-region teams, go to AVCA.org.
Corbelli receives the region coach of the year honor for the third time in her 30-year head coaching career, having also received the distinction in 1992 as head coach at Santa Clara and in 1995 following her third season at the helm of the Aggies. Corbelli recently was voted the SEC Coach of the Year by her peers after directing Texas A&M to its first-ever conference championship. The Aggies were picked to finish fourth in the SEC according to the preseason coaches' poll, but things look grim after senior co-captain Angela Lowak, who was in her third season as a starting outside hitter and was leading the team in kills per set, went down with a knee injury late in the non-conference portion of the schedule, causing her to miss the remainder of the regular season. Although A&M lost its SEC opener while still trying to adjust to the revamped lineup, Corbelli directed the Aggies to a 16-2 overall conference record, including a first-ever win against Florida and season series sweeps against both Kentucky and Missouri as A&M ended the regular season on a school-record 14-match conference win streak. A&M, which was 22nd in the 2014 final NCAA RPI and 38th if the first RPI of the 2015 season, entered the NCAA tournament with a No. 6 RPI and a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Championship, both all-time highs for the program.
Aiple, Babers and Sullivan are each making their second consecutive appearance on the All-South Region Team.
Aiple, who was the 2014 AVCA South Region Freshman of the Year, is coming off a season in which she became the second player in A&M history and the first since 1995 to earn conference player of the year accolades. The sophomore setter from Round Rock, Texas, currently ranks 15th in the nation with 11.44 assists per set and directed an A&M offense that ranks 17th in the country with a .272 hitting percentage, the second highest hitting percentage in program history. Aiple, a two-time SEC Player of the Week and a six-time SEC Setter of the Week, tallied 50 or more assists in eight matches this season, including a career-high 62 in the win at Missouri to clinch the SEC championship.
Babers, a redshirt junior middle blocker from Syracuse, N.Y., is ranked 16th in the nation with a .412 season hitting percentage, breaking the school season record of .400 set by former two-time Aggie All-American Sherri Brinkman in 1984 and tied by Babers last year. Babers is 25th in the nation with 1.37 blocks per set.
An All-SEC Team selection, Babers led the league with a .441 hitting percentage in conference matches only and also ranked second in the SEC with 1.46 blocks per set.
Babers, who has started every match (92) of her career, ranks sixth in the A&M career records with 381 block assists, and she is eighth in career blocks with 434.
Sullivan, who was named to the All-SEC team for a third consecutive year, hit .377 for the year and completed her stellar career with a school-record .379 hitting percentage, smashing the longstanding career record of .342 held by Brinkman since 1985. The senior middle blocker from Richardson, Texas, collected both SEC defensive and offensive player of the week honors this season, and she also was a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award, recognizing notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom character and competition.
McGee, a sophomore from San Antonio, was heavily relied on to take over for Lowak at the outside hitter position. McGee responded, posting double-figure kills in 15 matches and taking team-high honors in kills in nine matches. McGee went on to finish the season ranked second among A&M starters with 2.96 kills and 3.26 points per set for the full season.
Texas A&M reached the 20-win milestone for the fourth time in five years and for the 16th time under Corbelli, finishing the season 24-7 after reaching the second round of the NCAA Championship. It marked A&M's fifth consecutive appearance and 19th overall under Corbelli, making A&M one of only 13 teams in the nation that has made at least 19 NCAA tournament appearances since she was hired in 1993.
All-region members will now be considered for AVCA All-America honors. The 14-member first, second and third teams, along with honorable mention will be announced December 16.
The following is the complete list of 2015 AVCA All- South Region Team
| First Name | Last Name | School | Pos. | Year |
| Stephanie | Aiple** | Texas A&M | S | SO |
| Jazzmin | Babers** | Texas A&M | MB | JR |
| Alyssa | Cavanaugh** | Western Kentucky | OH | SO |
| Nakeyta | Clair** | Ole Miss | MB | SR |
| Jesse | Earl | Auburn | L | SO |
| Brittnay | Estes | Lipscomb | RS | SR |
| Leah | Hardemann | Coastal Carolina | OH | SO |
| Kat | Hutson** | Alabama | OH | SO |
| Noelle | Langenkamp | Western Kentucky | MB | SR |
| Jessica | Lucas** | Western Kentucky | S | SO |
| Krystal | Rivers*** | Alabama | RS | JR |
| Heather | Schnars** | Central Arkansas | OH | SR |
| Shelby | Sullivan** | Texas A&M | MB | SR |
| Pilar | Victoria | Arkansas | OH | JR |
Honorable Mention
| First Name | Last Name | School | Pos. | Year |
| Jewell | Dobson | Lipscomb | MB | SR |
| Alexa | Filley | Auburn | S | SO |
| Brena | Jones | Arkansas | MB | JR |
| Ty | Laporte | Ole Miss | MB | SR |
| Kiara | McGee | Texas A&M | OH | SO |
| Kayla | Ostrom | Lipscomb | S | JR |
Coach of the Year: Laurie Corbelli, Texas A&M
For the complete list of all-region teams, go to AVCA.org.