Match Day Preview: Texas A&M Invitational

Saturday, September 5

College Station

12:00 PM

Texas A&M

Wichita State

Buy Tickets

Sep 03, 2015 | Volleyball

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

Complete Match Notes | Tournament Central

Texas A&M Invitational Schedule:

Friday, September 4
11 a.m.       Wichita State 3, Abilene Christian 0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-21) Final Stats
7 p.m.         New Mexico State 3, Wichita State 2 (20-25, 23-25, 25-21, 30-28, 15-13) Final Stats

Saturday, September 5
10 a.m.       New Mexico State 3, Abilene Christian 0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-20) Final Stats
12 p.m.       Texas A&M 3, Wichita State 0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-12) Final Stats
4:30 p.m.    Texas A&M 3, Abilene Christian 1 (25-14, 25-21, 26-28, 25-20) Final Stats

Sunday, September 6
1 p.m.         Texas A&M 3, New Mexico State 2 (27-25, 25-21, 27-29, 16-25, 15-9) Final Stats

TV (A&M matches only): SEC Network +, available digitally on mobile devices, tablets, PCs and connect TVs for subscribers whose cable/satellite package allows access to SEC Network + through the WatchESPN app and SECSports.com
Talent: Casey Richardson (play-by-play) and Chelsea Reber (color analyst)
Live Stats (all matches): 12thMan.com
Twitter: @AggieVolleyball.com

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The Texas A&M volleyball team (1-1) opens the home portion of its 2015 schedule this weekend as the Aggies host the Texas A&M Invitational, Friday-Sunday at Reed Arena. Two non-A&M matches will be played Friday, with Abilene Christian (0-3) taking on Wichita State (2-1) at 11 a.m. and the Shockers returning to the court at 7 p.m. to face New Mexico State (3-1). On Saturday, ACU and NM State meet at 10 a.m. followed by A&M's home season debut at noon as the Aggies take on Wichita State. At 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, A&M faces the ACU Wildcats and concludes the tournament Sunday against the Aggies of New Mexico State at 1 p.m.

A&M is 1-1 after falling at No. 2 Stanford, 3-0, in the season opener on Friday and bouncing back from a 1-2 deficit to defeat Minnesota, 3-2, Saturday at Stanford.

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.
The Aggies have won 25 consecutive home openers and are 22-0 in home openers since head coach Laurie Corbelli was hired in 1993. In last year's first home match, the Aggies swept Iowa of the Big Ten Conference, 25-17, 25-17, 25-21, en route to winning their own Texas A&M Invitational.
A&M has not lost its first home match of the season since 1989 -- before any of the current players were born -- when the Aggies of the then-Southwest Conference fell to future Southeastern Conference foe LSU, 3-1, under previous A&M head coach Al Givens.
A&M went 10-5 in home matches last season and is 231-72 at home with Corbelli at the helm.
This is the seventh season the Aggies have played at Reed Arena. They previously played at G. Rollie White Coliseum, affectionately known as the "Holler House," which was razed in 2013 for the Kyle Field expansion.
Corbelli is in her 23rd season as head coach of the Aggies and the 30th year of her head coaching career. She is 565-328 overall and 465-222 at A&M, where she has directed the Aggies to 18 NCAA appearances.
Corbelli returns all six regular starters -- seniors Angela Lowak (6-0, OH) and Shelby Sullivan (6-2, MB), juniors Jazzmin Babers (6-2, MB) and Emily Hardesty (6-3, OH), and sophomores Stephanie Aiple (6-1, S) and Ashlie Reasor (6-1, OPP) -- plus sophomore libero Amy Nettles. Sullivan, the team's MVP in 2014, and co-best offensive players Aiple and Babers all earned Honorable Mention All-America distinction from the American Volleyball Coaches Association in 2014.
Others who have starting experience are junior setter Kaysie Shebeneck and junior defensive specialists Victoria Arenas and Katelyn Labhart, as well as sophomore outside Kiara McGee, who made the first start of her career in the 3-2 victory against Minnesota.
There are five newcomers on the team not including sophomore defensive specialist Gabby Litwin, who redshirted last year after transferring to Texas A&M following her freshman season at Mississippi State. Freshman middle blocker/opposite hitter Kaitlyn Blake, a high school All-American from Allen, Texas, graduated high school in December and joined the team in January. Montse Castro, a 6-7 freshman outside hitter/middle blocker from Mexico City, is the most recent addition and participated in practice for the first time on Aug. 25.
The Aggies received votes in the AVCA's first regular season Top 25 poll of 2015 and are listed 27th, up three spots from a No. 30 showing in the preseason poll.
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 15 in this week's AVCA Top 25 Poll: No. 2 Stanford, No. 9 Colorado State and No. 14 Florida State, as well as two matches each against No. 4 Florida and No. 10 Kentucky.
This marks A&M's fourth season as a member of the SEC. Formerly, the Aggies had been a member of the Big 12 Conference since its inception in 1996.
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.

RECENT RESULTS

Texas A&M went 1-1 last weekend, falling to No. 2 Stanford, 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-15) and then coming back to defeat Minnesota, 3-2 (26-24, 21-25, 18-25, 25-21, 15-10) at Stanford.
Senior outside hitter Angela Lowak led the Aggies with 13 kills while hitting .375 against the Cardinal.
Defensive specialist Amy Houser was the lone freshman in the season-opening starting lineup. Other rookies who made their Aggie debut during the match against Stanford were freshmen Kaitlyn Blake, an opposite hitter/middle blocker, and defensive specialist Paige Panter. In addition, sophomore defensive specialist Gabby Litwin, who redshirted last year after transferring to Texas A&M following her freshman season at Mississippi State, also made an appearance against the Cardinal.
Sophomore outside hitter Kiara McGee made her first career start against Minnesota and set personal bests with team highs in kills (13), aces (4) and points (17.5) and also posted the first double-double of her career with 14 digs, also a career high. McGee also had two aces against Stanford and leads the SEC with 0.75 aces per set.
A&M also got double-figure kills from middle blockers Jazzmin Babers and Shelby Sullivan, who had 12 and 11, respectively, against the Gophers. Babers also led A&M with four blocks, and Sullivan, a senior, and sophomore setter Stephanie Aiple added three blocks apiece in the victory.
Sophomore libero Amy Nettles led the Aggies in digs against Minnesota with 15, and junior outside hitter Emily Hardesty scooped up 13 digs after coming off the bench early in the second set for Lowak, who left the match with a mild ankle sprain.
A&M narrowly outhit Minnesota, .220 to .217 and led in digs (67-61), but the Golden Gophers led in kills (68-60), assists (65-58), aces (9-6), blocks (12-7) and points (89-73), as well as service errors (9-6) and attack errors (30-25).

A&M SERIES HISTORY Vs. Tourney Field
Vs. Wichita State

Texas A&M and Wichita State will be meeting for the first time.

Vs. Abilene Christian

A&M is 1-0 all-time against Abilene Christian, having defeated the Wildcats 2-0 (15-8, 15-13) at the 1976 TAIAW State Tournament in Canyon, Texas.

Vs. New Mexico State

The Texas A&M-New Mexico State all-time series is tied at 2-2 since the teams first met in 1978.
NM State is 1-0 in College Station, having defeated A&M, 3-0 (15-13, 15-11, 15-9) on Sept. 26, 1987, at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
A&M won the most recent meeting, a season-ending 3-1 (15-3, 15-8, 2-15, 15-9) victory on Nov. 24, 1990, at the University of New Mexico's Albuturkey Classic

SCOUTING WICHITA STATE

WSU is 2-1 overall, sweeping Oregon State in the season opener, falling at No. 18 Hawaii in four sets and defeating Idaho, 3-0, last weekend at the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational in Honolulu.
The Shockers are receiving votes in the first AVCA Top 25 Poll of the regular season and are listed 38th in the August 31 poll.
Sophomore middle blocker Abbie Lehman was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week on Monday after hitting .515 while averaging 3.90 kills, 1.60 blocks and 4.85 points per set to also earn all-tournament honors at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational. Against No. 18 Hawaii, Lehman hit .516 on a career-high and team-high 17 kills.
Junior libero Dani Mostrom joined Lehman on the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational all-tournament team after averaging 5.40 digs per set.
Senior 6-foot middle blocker Katie Reilly is the daughter of Texas A&M Athletics Hall of Fame member and former two-time Aggie All-American Sherri (Brinkman) Reilly (1983-85). Brinkman-Reilly still holds numerous A&M match, season and career records, including most total blocks (18) and block solos (9) in a single match, most block solos (71) in a season, and most block solos (182) in a career, as well as highest career hitting percentage (.342), although stats are not available from her 1982 freshman season.
Junior 6-3 outside hitter Jaclyn Roddy is a native of College Station, Texas. She lettered two years in volleyball at A&M Consolidated High School.
The Shockers return six starters plus the libero, as well as 12 letterwinners overall, from last year's team that went 20-10.
WSU was picked first in the 2015 Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.
Chris Lamb (Sonoma State, '98) enters the tournament 335-140 in the 16th season of his head coaching career, all at WSU.

SCOUTING ABILENE CHRISTIAN

Abilene Christian, which enters its third season under the NCAA Division I umbrella, is looking for its first victory of the season after falling to TCU, 3-0, and UTEP, 3-1, in Fort Worth and then losing to No. 17 Arizona, 3-0, at SMU in Dallas.
The Wildcats return seven letterwinners from last year's team that went 6-24, including veteran starters Jennie Loerch (outside hitter), Madison Hoover (libero), Lexi Mercier (middle blocker) and Sarah Siemens (setter).
The Wildcats were outhit, .261 to .085 during the opening weekend.
Senior Jennie Loerch, a Southland Conference honorable mention in 2014, leads the Wildcats with 3.29 kills per set, while senior libero Madison Hoover posts a team-best 4.00 digs per set.
Freshman Lauren Walker, a 5-10 middle blocker, leads the team with 1.20 blocks per set.
Jason Bibler is in his second season as the head coach at ACU.

SCOUTING NEW MEXICO STATE

New Mexico State is off to a 3-1 start in 2015 with the only loss being a 3-2 (22-25, 25-22, 25-18, 20-25, 15-7) setback to No. 16 Arizona State at the Air Force Falcon Classic in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Senior outside hitter Gwen Murphy was named the Sports Imports/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I National Player of the Week on Tuesday after averaging 3.80 kills while hitting .478 and also averaging 0.60 blocks, 0.47 digs and 0.40 aces per set last weekend. Murphy, who also was tabbed as the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week, becomes the first volleyball player in Aggie program history to be honored as a national player of the week.
NM State is outhitting its opponents, .247 to .196.
The Aggies went 17-11 overall last year, including 10-4 in the Western Athletic Conference, good for second place.
NM State is picked to finish second in the WAC this year behind last season's regular-season champion Missouri-Kansas City.
Mike Jordan is in his 18th season as head coach at NM State.

Upcoming schedule

Texas A&M will compete in the Iowa Comfort Suites Challenge in Iowa City, Iowa, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 11-12.
The Aggies open the tournament Friday at 1:30 p.m. against former Big 12 Conference-foe Iowa State on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
A&M also will play Milwaukee on Friday at 6 p.m. and closes out the tournament Saturday at 7 p.m. against the host Hawkeyes.

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.
Texas A&M, which was picked to finish sixth in the SEC according to a preseason poll of the league's head coaches, capped the regular season with a 3-2 come-back victory at Ole Miss on Nov. 28 to close out the regular season riding a season-best six-match win streak and finish in a tie with Alabama for fourth place in the SEC.
With a 13-5 SEC record, A&M bettered its 10 total number of conference victories in 2013, when the Aggies tied for sixth place. In 2012, A&M's first year in the SEC, the Aggies went 16-4 and won the SEC Western Division. That was the last year the SEC recognized divisional winners in volleyball.
Nine A&M players were named to the 2014 SEC Academic Honor Roll: Victoria Arenas, Jazzmin Babers, Darby Graff, Emily Hardesty, Katelyn Labhart, Angela Lowak, Kaysie Shebeneck, Shelby Sullivan and Sydney Wilhelm.

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.