Texas A&M Concludes Road Swing at Ole Miss

Sunday, October 9

Oxford, Miss.

3:00 PM

Texas A&M

Ole Miss

Oct 08, 2016 | Volleyball

Complete Match Notes (PDF)

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

Texas A&M (9-6, 3-1 SEC) vs. Ole Miss (12-5, 1-3 SEC)
Sunday, October 9, 3 p.m.
The Pavilion, Oxford, Mississippi

TV: ESPNU (Tiffany Greene and Dain Blanton)
Stats: 12thMan.com/live
Twitter Updates: @AggieVolleyball

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Texas A&M concludes a three-match road swing Sunday as the Aggies take on Ole Miss at The Pavilion in Oxford, Mississippi. First serve is at 3 p.m., and the match will be broadcast on ESPNU with Tiffany Greene and Dain Blanton calling the action.

Texas A&M (9-6, 3-1 SEC), undefeated in 12 all-time meetings against the Rebels, enters the contest riding a three-match win streak following its 25-22, 25-11, 25-15 sweep at Arkansas. Reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Week Jazzmin Babers had a match-high four blocks against the Razorbacks to move into fourth place in the A&M career records in total blocks (485). The senior All-American middle blocker also surpassed the 1,000 career kills milestone as she tied freshman Hollann Hans with a team-high 10 kills, while SEC Player of the Year Stephanie Aiple directed the Aggie offense to a .368 hitting efficiency.

Ole Miss (12-5, 1-3 SEC) was stunned by LSU, 3-2, in the Rebels' most recent outing. Ole Miss won the first two sets, 25-12, 25-18, but the Tigers won the next three, 25-19, 25-18, 15-13, Wednesday at The Pavilion.

TEXAS A&M IN THE SEC

Texas A&M is picked to win the SEC in 2016 according to the SEC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Aggies received seven of the 13 first-place votes and 137 total points to finish atop the preseason poll.
Last year, Texas A&M dropped its SEC opener for the first time, falling to Arkansas, 3-1, at Reed Arena. The Aggies went on to go 16-2 in SEC matches to capture the first conference championship in program history.
Texas A&M, which this year opened SEC play on the road for the first time and fell to Alabama, 3-2, is in its fifth season as a member of the SEC.
The Aggies are 58-20 in SEC matches since joining the league in 2012.
The current three-match road swing is Texas A&M's longest in conference play this season.
The Aggies are 2-1 in away SEC matches this season.
The Aggies, who went 8-1 in SEC away matches and 8-1 in SEC home matches in 2015, are 29-11 all-time in SEC away matches and 29-9 in SEC home matches.
Junior setter Stephanie Aiple, who last year became the Aggies' first player to be named SEC Player of the Year, and senior redshirt middle blocker Jazzmin Babers, an AVCA second-team All-American in 2015, both were named to the 2016 Preseason All-SEC Team.
Babers is the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Week after her 10-kill, 10-block performance at LSU in the Aggies' only match last week.

A&M-OLE MISS ALL-TIME SERIES

A&M leads the all-time series against Ole Miss, 12-0, including 7-0 in SEC matches only.
A&M is 4-0 against the Rebels in matches played in Oxford, but three of the four matches have been decided in five sets.
Texas A&M's 25-21, 25-23, 25-16 victory against the Rebels on Sept. 14, 2012, at Reed Arena marked the Aggies' first-ever SEC volleyball match and Texas A&M's first SEC victory in any sport.
A&M swept the home-and-home series last year, defeating the Rebels, 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 25-13) at Reed Arena in College Station on Oct. 4 and escaping the Gillom Sports Center with a 3-2 (26-24, 17-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-12) victory on Nov. 13 in Oxford, Miss.
In the most recent meeting, outside hitter Kiara McGee led the Aggies with 19 kills, one shy of her career-high at that time. Senior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan added 13 kills while hitting .417, and she tied her career high in blocks with seven. Middle blocker Jazzmin Babers, who entered the match leading the SEC in hitting percentage, also reached double-figure kills with 12 but was held to a .179 hitting efficiency. Setter Stephanie Aiple tallied her team-leading sixth double-double with 50 assists and 10 digs for the Aggies. Libero Amy Nettles and outside hitter Emily Hardesty tied for team-high honors in digs with 13 apiece, and defensive specialist Katelyn Labhart tied her then-season high with 10 digs. Nakeyta Clair led the Rebels with 17 kills and also tallied a team-high six blocks as Ole Miss outblocked A&M, 15-10. A&M outhit Ole Miss, .195 to .177 for the match, leading in kills, 66 to 56. A&M also led in digs, 61-56.
The teams first met in 1983 at the Saluki Volleyball Invitational in Carbondale, Illinois.
A&M's all-time records/results vs. Ole Miss:

Overall: 12-0   H: 4-0   A: 4-0   N: 4-0   SEC: 7-0
Sept. 17, 1983       N        W        15-7, 12-15, 15-7, 15-1
Sept. 28, 1984       N        W        15-7, 15-3, 15-1
Aug. 30, 1991        H        W        15-6, 5-15, 15-12, 15-12
Oct. 30, 1992        N        W        7-15, 12-15, 15-7, 15-4, 15-12
Sept. 11, 1993       N        W        15-12, 15-8, 12-15, 15-0
Sept. 14, 2012       H        W        25-21, 25-23, 25-16
Nov. 23, 2012       A        W        25-9, 24-26, 27-25, 20-25, 15-10
Nov. 10, 2013       A        W        25-10, 25-20, 22-25, 25-21
Nov. 9, 2014         H        W        19-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-18
Nov. 28, 2014       A        W        25-19, 18-25, 24-26, 25-16, 15-13
Oct. 4, 2015          H        W        25-13, 25-20, 25-13
Nov. 13, 2015       A        W        26-24, 17-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-12

TEXAS A&M RECENT RESULTS

Texas A&M completed its first sweep in the all-time series against Arkansas with a 25-22, 25-11, 25-15 victory Wednesday at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Texas A&M, which had never faced Arkansas until joining the SEC in 2012, improved to 4-0 in matches played in Fayetteville and 6-2 in the all-time series against the Razorbacks.
It marked only the second time in the eight-match series in which the team that won the first set went on to win the match.
Jazzmin Babers had the match-winning kill, giving her 10 for the match and 1,003 for her career. Babers also had four blocks to give her 485 for her career, moving her into fourth place in the Texas A&M career records.
Babers and freshman Hollann Hans had 10 kills apiece without an error, hitting a combined .513.
Setter Stephanie Aiple finished with 35 assists while directing the Aggie offense to a .368 hitting percentage, A&M's highest hitting efficiency in SEC play this season and its second highest hitting percentage in all matches this season.
Libero Amy Nettles led the Aggies with 12 digs to help the A&M defense hold the Razorbacks to a .088 hitting percentage.

TEXAS A&M QUICK HITS

Only two of Texas A&M's 15 matches have been home matches.
The Aggies are 5-2 in away matches, 1-1 in home matches and 3-3 at neutral sites.
A&M is 37th in the first NCAA RPI listing of the season, released Oct. 3.
In conference matches only, the Aggies are outhitting SEC opponents, .306 to .136.
During the Aggies' three-match win streak, A&M is outhitting its opponents .326 to .094, averaging 15.3 kills per set to opponents' 10.7 kill average. In addition, A&M leads in assists (14.2 to 9.7) and blocks (2.9 to 1.75) per set over the last three matches.
For the full season, the Aggies are second in the SEC and 23rd in the nation with 2.74 blocks per set.
A&M is also second in the SEC and 48th in the nation with a .170 opponent hitting percentage.
Texas A&M had a grueling preconference schedule, having faced five ranked opponents, more than any other team in the SEC.
All five of Texas A&M's preconference losses were against ranked opponents, including losses to current No. 1 Minnesota, No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 4 Texas. Texas was the NCAA runner-up last year and Minnesota was an NCAA semifinalist.
The other two preconference losses were against now-14 Ohio State and No. 16 Florida State, who both escaped with 3-2 victories against the Aggies.
After going 7-0 in five-set matches last year, the Aggies are 0-3 in five setters this season.
Texas A&M returns five starters plus the libero from last year's team that went 24-7 overall, won the SEC with a 16-2 record, and was 18th in the final AVCA poll after advancing to the second round of the NCAA Championship. Laurie Corbelli, in her 24th season as head coach of the Aggies, also welcomed eight freshmen as well as a redshirt freshman.
Returning starters include 2015 SEC Player of the Year Stephanie Aiple (Jr., 6-1, S), AVCA second-team All-American Jazzmin Babers (RS-Sr., 6-2, MB) and AVCA All-South Region Honorable Mention selection Kiara McGee (Jr., 5-11, OH), as well as Emily Hardesty (Sr., 6-3, OH) and Ashlie Reasor (Jr., 6-1, OPP). The Aggies also return junior libero Amy Nettles, who received the team's best defensive player award and was the only Aggie to see action in all 115 sets last year.

CORBELLI NEARING 600/500 WINS

Texas A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli, the reigning SEC and AVCA South Region coach of the year, is quickly closing in on the 600th victory in her head coaching career and the 500th win in her A&M coaching career, needing just three more wins to reach each of the milestones.
Corbelli is 597-340 in the 31st year of her head coaching career and 497-234 in her 24th season as head coach of the Aggies.
Corbelli was 100-106 in her head coaching career when she was hired at Texas A&M in 1993. Prior to A&M, she had spent four seasons at the University of San Francisco (1986-89) and three seasons at Santa Clara (1990-92).
Corbelli's first career victory was Sept. 6, 1986, as the Lady Dons defeated Weber State, 3-1.
Other career milestone victories for Corbelli:

100     SCU def. Pepperdine, 3-1, Nov. 21, 1992
200     A&M def. Cal, 3-0, Sept. 19, 1997
300     A&M def. Texas, 3-1, Oct. 6, 2001
400     A&M def. Loyola, 3-0, Sept. 8, 2006
500     A&M def. Texas State, 3-0, Aug. 24, 2012

AGGIE PLAYER NOTABLES

Redshirt senior middle blocker Jazzmin Babers had 10 kills against Arkansas, giving her 1,003 for her career. She became the 17th player in program history to join the 1,000-kills club and the first player to reach the milestone since 2012, when middle blocker Lindsey Miller finished her four-year career with 1,025.
Babers also had four blocks against the Razorbacks to give her 485 for her career, moving her into fourth in the A&M career records for total blocks. She needs five more blocks to move into a tie for third with former two-time All-American Sherri Brinkman (1983-85).
Babers has started every match of her career (107).
Babers was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after recording a match-high and personal season-best 10 blocks in the 3-1 victory at LSU in the Aggies' only match last week. It is the sixth time Babers, who notched her first double-double of the season by also recording 10 kills while hitting .333 against the Tigers, has received the honor during her career and her first time to garner the accolade this season.
Sophomore middle blocker Kaitlyn Blake, who has led or tied for the team lead in blocks in 13 of 15 matches, leads the SEC and is ranked eighth in the nation with 1.58 blocks per set.
Blake, an all-tournament selection at both the North Texas Challenge and the Puerto Rico Clásico, tied a school record for block assists in a four-set match with 12 in a 3-1 victory at North Texas on Aug. 27, and she also tied the school record for total blocks in a four-set match with 13 against the Mean Green.
Blake's 13 blocks against North Texas ranks fourth in the nation for most blocks in a four-set match this season.
Blake was named both the SEC Player of the Week and the SEC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 12, after averaging an impressive 2.44 blocks per set while leading the Aggies to sweeps against Arizona, New Mexico State and UTEP at the Borderline Invitational. It was the first time in her career Blake has received either accolade.
Junior setter Stephanie Aiple is fifth in the SEC and 35th in the nation with 10.75 assists per set for the full season.
Aiple has 2,822 career assists, ranking ninth in the A&M career records. She needs 141 more assists to take sole possession of eighth place, surpassing Chris Zogata, who had 2,962 from 1983-86.
Aiple ranks sixth in the SEC with 10.87 assists per set as well as a .426 hitting efficiency in conference matches only.
Over the last three matches, Aiple is averaging 11.1 assists per set while directing a balanced A&M offense that is hitting .326 with all five attackers averaging at least 2.0 kills per set. Aiple herself is averaging 1.9 kills per set and is hitting .533 over the last three matches.
Freshman outside hitter Hollann Hans has posted double-figure kills in a team-leading seven consecutive matches. She hit a career-high .500 (minimum 10 kills) against Arkansas, posting 10 kills without an error in 20 attempts.
Hans leads A&M and ranks 13th in the SEC with 3.83 points per set in conference matches only. She also leads the Aggies with 3.50 kills per set in SEC matches.
Against then-No. 2 Texas and No. 6 Wisconsin, Hans led A&M in both kills and points while posting back-to-back double-doubles in kills and digs, recording the first two double-doubles of her career.
Hans leads A&M with eight double-figure kill performances.
Junior outside hitter Kiara McGee ranks 11th in the SEC with a .376 hitting efficiency, having bettered her career high in hitting percentage (minimum 10 kills) in two of the last four matches. McGee had a team-high 17 kills while hitting a then-career-high .485 against Alabama, and she had a team-high 16 kills while hitting a new career-high .519 at LSU.
Junior libero Amy Nettles, who has received the team's best defensive player award each of the last two seasons, has 888 career digs and needs only 112 more to become the 21^st player in Texas A&M history to join the 1,000-digs club.
Nettles has led the Aggies in digs in a team-high 10 matches this season and is averaging a team-leading 3.23 digs per set for the full season. In SEC matches only, she ranks eighth in the league with 3.53 digs per set.
Senior defensive specialist Victoria Arenas ranks 10th in the conference with 3.43 digs per set in SEC matches only.
Several players made their first appearance of the season against UTEP at the Borderline Invitational, including senior setter Kaysie Shebeneck, who played the entire second set. Freshman setter Lexi Lopez and freshman middle blocker Maddie Douglas made their Texas A&M career debuts, subbing in late in the third set. Lopez had an ace and an assist in the first two plays of her career, and Douglas had the match-ending kill.
Shebeneck and Douglas also played the latter part of the fourth set at LSU, with Shebeneck helping the Aggies to a .389 hitting efficiency in the final frame, and Douglas posting the first block of her career.

ALL IN THE (COACHING) FAMILY

Head coach Laurie Corbelli along with her husband, Aggie Associate Head Coach John Corbelli, have led the Aggies to 19 NCAA appearances in 23 seasons at A&M.
Their son, Russell Corbelli, who graduated from Texas A&M in May, is serving as the volunteer assistant coach this season while also pursuing his real estate license.
Not related to the Corbelli's but in his first year as a member of the Aggie family is assistant coach Trevor Johnson, who served as an assistant coach at Baylor last year.

TEXAS A&M IN THE AVCA RANKINGS

After being ranked in the AVCA Top 25 in the first five polls of the season, Texas A&M dropped out of the Top 25 on Sept. 26 following its 3-2 loss at Alabama in the SEC opener on Sept. 23.
The Aggies are receiving votes and are listed 27th for the second consecutive week.
The Aggies had received a No. 16 ranking in the preseason poll, matching their highest preseason ranking by the AVCA since they were No. 16 in 2005. Texas A&M was No. 13 in the AVCA's 1997 preseason poll, marking the highest preseason ranking in program history.
Earlier this season, the Aggies received a season-high No. 14 showing on Aug. 29, marking the program's highest ranking in the AVCA poll since a No. 13 showing on Sept. 5, 2005.

SCOUTING OLE MISS

Ole Miss is 12-5 overall and 1-3 in SEC matches after falling to LSU, 3-2 (12-25, 18-25, 25-19, 25-18, 15-13) Wednesday at The Pavilion.
Sophomore right side hitter Kathryn Cather is the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Week, but she did not play in the loss to LSU.
Three players had double-figure kills against the Tigers, including Kate Gibson who had a match-high 22 kills along with 15 digs. Lexi Thompson had 14 kills with 17 digs, and Taylor Alexander had 13 kills while hitting .385.
Alexander leads the Rebels and is fourth in the SEC with a .385 hitting percentage for the full season.
Thompson leads the SEC with 11 double-doubles for the full season, and Gibson is tied for the conference lead with three double-doubles in SEC matches only.
Gibson's team leading 3.61 kills per set average ranks ninth in the SEC. She also leads the Rebels and ranks ninth in the SEC with 3.98 points per set.
Senior setter Aubrey Edie leads the SEC and is ninth in the nation with 741 total assists. She is averaging 10.59 assists per set for the full season.
The Rebels are 5-2 in home matches.
Ole Miss is 10-0 when leading its opponent in aces.
Ole Miss is No. 78 in the first NCAA RPI of the season, released on Oct. 3.
Head coach Steven McRoberts is 56-26 in his third season at the helm of the Rebels and 530-189 in the 20th season of his head coaching career.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

After playing 14 of its first 16 matches on the road, Texas A&M finally returns to Reed Arena for a weekend home series against South Carolina and Florida, marking the Aggies' first multi-match homestand of the season
Texas A&M plays host to South Carolina, Friday, Oct. 14 at 6:30 p.m. and then returns to Reed on Sunday, Oct. 16 to play host to No. 11 Florida in the Aggies' annual "Dig Pink" match. First serve against the Gators is at 4 p.m., and the match will be televised.

DIG PINK

In conjunction with October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Texas A&M volleyball team has announced that it will hold its annual "Dig Pink" fund raiser match Sunday, Oct. 16 when the Aggies play host to the nationally ranked Florida Gators in a highly anticipated match-up at Reed Arena. First serve is set for 4 p.m., and all fans wearing pink to the match can purchase tickets at the entrance for only $3.
The Aggies are currently accepting donations for their "Dig Pink" initiative and encourage fans to visit their online fund raiser page, https://giving.side-out.org/campaigns/11634. All funds raised will be donated to The Side-Out Foundation and applied toward a clinical trial specifically for patients with Stage 4 breast cancer, the most advanced form of the disease and the least funded area of research.

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.