Texas A&M Faces No. 23 Kentucky in Crucial SEC Showdown

Sunday, November 20

Lexington, Ky.

1:00 PM

Texas A&M

Kentucky

Nov 19, 2016 | Volleyball

Complete Match Notes (PDF)

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

Texas A&M (19-7, 13-2 SEC) vs. Kentucky (21-6, 14-2 SEC)
Sunday, Nov. 20, 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET)
Memorial Coliseum, Lexington, Kentucky

Television: SEC Network
Stats: 12thMan.com/live
Twitter Updates: @AggieVolleyball

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M and 23rd-ranked Kentucky face off Sunday in a crucial Southeastern Conference showdown with possible SEC championship implications on the line for both teams. First serve is at 1 p.m. (2 p.m. ET) at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky, and the match will be televised on the SEC Network with Paul Sunderland and Nell Fortner calling the action.

Both teams enter the contest with only two losses and basically in a must-win situation in order to keep their hopes alive for at least a share of the SEC championship. The Wildcats (21-6, 14-2 SEC) are in second place in the SEC standings, only a half-game behind league-leader Florida (24-2, 14-1 SEC) and a half game ahead of Texas A&M, which is tied with Missouri for third place and only one game out of first place with three matches remaining. Missouri and Florida meet Sunday in Columbia, Missouri.

Texas A&M (19-7, 13-2 SEC), the defending SEC champion, won its eighth consecutive match and its 13th of the last 14 matches by defeating Tennessee, 3-1 (25-19, 25-20, 16-25, 27-25) on Wednesday in Knoxville. The Aggies set a school record for blocks in an SEC match with 19, with senior middle blocker Jazzmin Babers posting 11 blocks (3 solo, 8 assists) and adding 11 kills while hitting .556 to lead the charge.

Kentucky, which concludes its regular season home schedule and will be celebrating Senior Day on Sunday, ran its winning streak to three matches with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-22) victory over LSU on Friday at Memorial Coliseum.

TEXAS A&M-KENTUCKY ALL-TIME SERIES

A&M has won the last three meetings against Kentucky to take an 8-7 lead in the all-time series.
The Wildcats hold a narrow 4-3 lead in the series as SEC foes.
Kentucky is 4-1 all-time in matches played in Lexington, with A&M getting its first victory on the Wildcats' home court just last year.
In matches played at Memorial Coliseum, eight of the last 10 sets have been decided by the minimum two points.
Including both home and away matches, 11 of the last 17 sets between the two teams have been decided by the minimum two points.
Texas A&M swept the home-and-home series for the first time last year, defeating the Wildcats, 3-1, in Lexington and 3-0 in a 9 p.m. match at Reed Arena.
The teams last met in Lexington on Oct. 30, 2015. A&M notched its first-ever victory against the Wildcats at Memorial Coliseum, fighting off two set points in the opening frame and also overcoming an 18-9 deficit in the third set and a 23-19 fourth-set deficit to post a thrilling 30-28, 14-25, 25-23, 26-24 victory over then-20th-ranked and SEC leader Kentucky. The Wildcats suffered the loss despite leading in hitting percentage (.230 to .194), kills (65-56), aces (4-1), blocks (13-10) and points (82-67).
Outside hitter Kiara McGee and opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor led the Aggies with 13 kills apiece. Middle blocker Jazzmin Babers added 11 kills and tied middle blocker Shelby Sullivan and setter Stephanie Aiple for the A&M lead in blocks with five. Libero Amy Nettles tied for match-high honors with 19 digs, and Aiple finished with 11 digs and 41 assists.
The Wildcats' Darian Mack led all players with 15 kills, and Kentucky had a total of five players post double-digit kills.
The teams most recently met Nov. 18, 2015, at Reed Arena, where No. 25 Texas A&M defeated the 19th-ranked Wildcats, 25-23, 25-19, 26-24, to extend its winning streak to 11 and stay on top of the SEC standings. A&M overcame a six-point deficit in the opening set to stun the Wildcats, who appeared to have the momentum after building an 18-12 lead. In the second set, A&M scored three consecutive points to take a 9-8 lead and led the remainder of the set, outhitting Kentucky, .211 to .043. A&M fell behind, 10-4, in the third set but took its first lead since 1-0 at 20-19 following a Kentucky attack error. The teams exchanged points and were tied at 23-23 after McGee launched a ball way beyond the baseline. She quickly made up for the error, unleashing a powerful kill to put the Aggies at match point. Kaz Brown tied the score for the eighth time in the set with a kill, but Aggie sophomore setter Stephanie Aiple went back to McGee, who put the Aggies at match point for the second time with her eighth kill of the match. Brown then hit long to end the match and complete the Aggies' first-ever SEC season-series sweep over the Wildcats.
In the first-ever meeting as SEC foes, Kentucky defeated the Aggies, 3-2 (25-23, 24-26, 25-18, 25-20, 15-12) on Sept. 23, 2012. It was A&M's first conference loss in SEC history after opening its inaugural season in the league, 2-0, in conference matches.
A&M won the first five meetings of the series, which began in 1982.
A&M's all-time records/results vs. Kentucky:

Overall: 8-7    H: 5-3    A: 1-4    N: 2-0    SEC: 3-4
Oct. 9, 1982         N            W       15-9, 16-14
Oct. 29, 1982       H            W       4-15, 13-15, 15-2, 15-11, 15-12
Oct. 30, 1982       H            W       15-9, 10-15, 16-14, 10-15, 15-11
Sept. 14, 1985     N            W       15-9, 15-6, 15-7
Oct. 4, 1985         H            W       15-10, 8-15, 15-5, 15-10
Oct. 31, 1986       A             L         15-11, 8-15, 12-15, 8-15
Oct. 15, 1988       H            L         4-15, 16-18, 12-15
Dec. 2, 2011         H            L         18-25, 21-25, 19-25
Sept. 23, 2012     H            L         23-25, 26-24, 18-25, 25-20, 12-15
Oct. 14, 2012       A             L         11-25, 22-25, 19-25
Nov. 22, 2013      A             L         24-26, 23-25, 24-26
Oct. 5, 2014         A             L         20-25, 26-28, 28-30
Oct. 26, 2014       H            W       25-22, 26-24, 17-25, 25-16
Oct. 30, 2015       A             W       30-28, 14-25, 25-23, 26-24
Nov. 18, 2015      H            W       25-23, 25-19, 26-24

RECENT RESULTS

Texas A&M used a school SEC-record 19 blocks to defeat Tennessee 25-19, 25-20, 16-25, 27-25 Wednesday at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville. It was the seventh consecutive loss for the Vols in the series against the Aggies, but they end a streak of six consecutive sweeps.
Senior middle blocker Jazzmin Babers led the Aggies with 18 points as she recorded her second double-double of the season and the fifth of her career with 11 blocks—including a career-high-tying three solo blocks—and 11 kills while hitting .556. Sophomore middle blocker Kaitlyn Blake added 16 points with eight blocks and 12 kills while hitting at a .500 clip. Blake also climbed from ninth to seventh in the A&M season records for block assists in a season, as she raised her total to 129.
A&M outside hitters Hollann Hans and Kiara McGee, who pitched in a career-high six blocks, also had double-figure kills with 13 and 10, respectively, but they were held to a combined .139 hitting efficiency.
Aggie junior setter Stephanie Aiple dished out 44 assists to climb to fifth in the A&M career records for assists, and she also added seven kills, one shy of her career high. Aiple also had eight digs. Libero Amy Nettles led the team in digs with 12, and defensive specialists Amy Houser and Victoria Arenas added 10 digs apiece.
As a team, A&M outhit Tennessee, .205 to .162, and led in kills (58-51) and blocks (19-13), while the Vols led in aces (4-0) and digs (67-60).

BUILDING BLOCKS

Texas A&M leads the SEC with 2.83 blocks per set for the full season and 2.91 blocks per set in conference matches only, putting the Aggies on pace to break the school SEC season record of 2.65 blocks per set, posted last year.
The Aggies entered the weekend ranked 13th in the nation in blocks per set.
Senior middle blocker Jazzmin Babers had seven block assists—and nine total blocks—in the Aggies' sweep against Tennessee on Nov. 6 to give her an A&M record 458 for her career, shattering the previous school record of 456 block assists held by Cindy Lothspeich (1994-97). Babers continues to build on the all-time record and now has 476 career block assists
Babers, who sports a 1.26 block average for her career, is third in the A&M all-time career records for total blocks with 542. She needs only five more blocks to tie former All-American Amber Woolsey (1996-99) for second place with 547, and only 10 blocks to tie the all-time record of 552 held by Lothspeich.
Babers is 10th in the career records with 66 block solos.
Sophomore middle blocker Kaitlyn Blake is moving up in the season block assists records. She currently has a team-leading 129 block assists, ranking seventh in the A&M all-time season records. She needs only seven blocks to catapult to fourth place with 136, and she is 26 blocks away from breaking the record of 154 set by Amber Woolsey in 1999.

TEXAS A&M QUICK HITS

At 19-7, the Aggies need one win to reach the 20-victory milestone for the third consecutive year and the 17th time in 24 years under head coach Laurie Corbelli.
A&M remained at No. 23 in the NCAA RPI released on Monday.
The Aggies received votes in this week's AVCA Top 25 Poll and are listed 27th, up three spots from last week.
Texas A&M's eight-match winning streak is its longest win streak of the season. The Aggies' previous longest winning streak of the season was five from Sept. 25 through Oct. 14.
A&M has won 13 of its last 14 matches and has not dropped a match since falling to then-No. 9 Florida, 3-1, on Oct. 16 in College Station.
The Aggies have won their last six away matches to improve to 9-2 overall in true away matches this season.
Only one game separates league-leader Florida (14-1) from third-place Texas A&M and Missouri (13-2). The Gators, who play at Missouri on Sunday, hold a half-game lead over second-place Kentucky,
Texas A&M plays Florida, Kentucky and Missouri only one time each this season. The Aggies fell to then-No. 9 Florida, 3-1, on Oct. 16 and defeated Missouri, 3-1, on Oct. 26, both in College Station.
Texas A&M entered the weekend ranked 11th in the nation in kills per set (14.39), 13th in blocks per set (2.83) and 22nd in assists per set (13.30).
A&M leads the SEC with 2.83 blocks per set and ranks second with 13.30 assists and 14.39 kills per set. The Aggies are third in opponent hitting percentage (.173).
In SEC matches only, A&M leads the league with 2.91 blocks per set and is second in hitting percentage (.275) and kills (14.80) per set.
A&M is 16-2 when winning the first set and 3-5 when dropping the opening set.
After going 7-0 in five-set matches last year, the Aggies are 1-3 in five setters this season.
In addition to playing its first 10 matches of the season on the road, Texas A&M's grueling preconference schedule included 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. 2 Minnesota, No. 3 Wisconsin and No. 7 Texas. The other two preconference losses were against now-No. 17 Florida State and No. 24 Ohio State, who both escaped with 3-2 victories against the Aggies during the first two weeks of the season.

KENTUCKY QUICK HITS

Kentucky is 21-6 overall and 14-2 in SEC matches after defeating LSU, 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-22), Friday at Memorial Coliseum.
Freshman Leah Edmond led the Wildcats with 14 kills, and Kentucky outhit LSU, .339 to .211.
Sophomore setter Olivia Dailey entered the weekend ranked fourth in the nation in assists with 11.79. She had 38 in the win against the Tigers and leads the SEC with 12.49 assists per set in conference matches only.
Kentucky swept the SEC player of the week honors on Monday with libero Ashley Dusek earning player and defensive player of the week honors, middle blocker Kaz Brown taking offensive player accolades and outside hitter Leah Edmond earning freshman of the week laurels after leading the Wildcats to wins over Arkansas and Ole Miss.
Kentucky leads the SEC with 14.98 kills and 13.93 assists per set in conference matches only.
Libero Ashley Dusek leads the SEC with 5.07 digs per set in conference matches.
Kentucky is 10-2 in home matches.

AGGIE PLAYER NOTABLES

Senior middle blocker Jazzmin Babers has started every match of her career (118).
Babers leads the Aggies and is fifth in the SEC with a .368 hitting percentage for the full season. She is sixth in the SEC with a .377 hitting percentage in conference matches only.
Babers leads A&M and is third in the league with 1.42 blocks per set in SEC matches.
Over the last four matches, Babers is averaging 2.38 blocks and 3.81 points per set, and she is hitting .436 with 2.38 kills per set.
In the match at Arkansas on Oct. 5, Babers surpassed 1,000 career kills, becoming the 17th A&M player to reach four-digit kills. She now has 1,102 kills, ranking 13th in the A&M career records.
Junior setter Stephanie Aiple had 44 assists at Tennessee on Wednesday to give her 3,260 for her career and move her into fifth in the A&M career records for total assists.
Aiple leads the team with four double-doubles.
Aiple, who is fourth in the SEC with 10.84 assists per set for the full season and fifth with 10.93 assists per set in conference matches only, has the A&M offense ranked second in the SEC in kills (14.39) and assists (13.30) per set for the full season.
In the win at Georgia on Oct. 21, Aiple directed the Aggie offense to a .392 hitting efficiency, the highest hitting performance in a five-set match in school history. Five players had double-figure kills as A&M also posted the highest hitting percentage in a five-set match by an SEC team this season.
Sophomore middle blocker Kaitlyn Blake leads the SEC and is sixth in the nation with 1.53 blocks per set for the full season. She also leads the league and is 17th in the country with 142 total blocks.
Blake, who has led or tied for the team lead in blocks in 20 of 26 matches, is averaging 1.85 blocks per set over the last four matches.
Blake has 129 block assists this season, ranking seventh all-time in the A&M season block assists records. Amber Woolsey holds the all-time record with 154 set in 1999.

          1.         Amber Woolsey         1999                154
            2.         Melissa Munsch         2004                147
            3.         Amber Woolsey         1998                145
            4.         Jazzmin Babers           2015                135
            5.         Cindy Lothspeich        1997                134
            6.         Amber Woolsey         1997                131
            7.         KAITLYN BLAKE           2016                129
            8.         Jazzmin Babers           2013                128
            8.         Cindy Lothspeich        1996                127

Blake hit a career-high .632 (13-1-19) in the win against Mississippi State on Friday, Nov. 11. It is the highest hitting percentage by an A&M player this season and the third highest by an SEC player in a conference match this season.
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 has twice been named SEC Player of the Week this season. She has earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors once and also is a one-time SEC Offensive Player of the Week this season.
Junior outside hitter Kiara McGee leads the Aggies with 3.16 kills per set for the full season and 3.20 kills per set in SEC matches only.
McGee is second on the team with 3.45 points per set for the full season and 3.47 points per set in conference matches only.
McGee has led or tied for the team lead in kills in a team-high 12 matches and is second on the team with 15 double-figure kill performances.
Freshman outside hitter Hollann Hans leads A&M with 16 double-figure kill performances overall.
Hans has three doubles-doubles (kills and digs), including back-to-back double-double performances in three-set matches against then-No. 2 Texas and No. 6 Wisconsin.
Hans, who had a career-high 16 kills in the win against Alabama on Nov. 3, leads A&M and is 13th in the SEC with 3.68 points per set in SEC matches.
Hans has led or tied for the team lead in kills in 11 matches, second most on the team.
Hans also leads A&M with 19 total aces and a 0.24 ace average for the full season.
Hans was named the SEC Freshman Player of the Week on Nov. 7 following back-to-back notable performances in the Aggies' victories over Alabama and Tennessee. Hans took team-high honors in points in both matches, and she also took or tied for team-high honors in kills in each match. For the week, the rookie averaged a team-high 4.50 points, 3.57 kills and 0.57 aces per set.
Junior libero Amy Nettles, who has received the team's best defensive player award each of the last two seasons, has led or tied for the team lead in digs in a team-high 20 matches this season.
Nettles leads A&M and is sixth in the SEC with 3.76 digs per set in conference matches only. She is eighth in the league with 3.49 digs per set for the full season.
Nettles has posted double-figure digs in a team-leading 18 matches this season.
Nettles has appeared in a team-leading 265 consecutive sets, a streak which began Oct. 15, 2014, of her freshman campaign.
Nettles, Babers, Blake and McGee have played in all 89 sets this season.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

A&M closes out its regular season home slate on Wednesday (Thanksgiving Eve) as the Aggies play host to LSU at 6:30 p.m. at Reed Arena. It will be Senior Night, and A&M seniors Victoria Arenas, Jazzmin Babers, Emily Hardesty, Katelyn Labhart and Kaysie Shebeneck will be honored in a postmatch ceremony.
Texas A&M closes out the regular season at Auburn on Saturday, Nov. 26. First serve is slated for 12:30 p.m. at Auburn Arena.
The Aggies are expecting to receive a sixth consecutive and 24th overall berth into the NCAA Championship. The 64-team field will be announced Sunday, Nov. 27, at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.

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.

Vote daily for Jazzmin Babers for Senior CLASS Award at seniorclassaward.com