Texas A&M Plays Host to Alabama to Begin Four-Match Homestand

Thursday, November 3

College Station

6:00 PM

Texas A&M

Alabama

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Nov 02, 2016 | Volleyball

Complete Match Notes (PDF)

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

Texas A&M (14-7, 8-2 SEC) vs. Alabama (15-9, 4-7 SEC)
Thursday, November 3, 6 p.m.
Reed Arena

TV: SEC Network (Paul Sunderland, Jenny Hazelwood)
Stats: 12thMan.com/live
Twitter Updates: @AggieVolleyball

Promotion: "Dixie Chicken Night"

The first 500 students will receive a free lanyard and a coupon for a half-priced burger basket courtesy of the Dixie Chicken.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M, the winner in eight of its last nine matches, begins a crucial four-match homestand Thursday as the Aggies play host to nemesis Alabama at Reed Arena. First serve is at 6 p.m., and the match will be televised by SEC Network with Paul Sunderland and Jenny Hazelwood calling the action.

Texas A&M (14-7, 8-2 SEC) remains in the hunt for its second consecutive SEC championship despite suffering a 3-2 loss at Alabama in the conference season opener. The Aggies enter the rematch against the Crimson Tide only 1 ½ games behind Florida, Missouri and Kentucky, who all sit atop the standings with 10-1 records in league play. Most recently, the Aggies, led by SEC Player and SEC Defensive Player of the Week Victoria Arenas, handed Missouri its first SEC loss, 3-1, Wednesday at Reed Arena and then won their third consecutive match with a 25-20, 25-18, 25-19 victory at South Carolina on Sunday.

Alabama (15-9, 4-7 SEC), led by All-American Krystal Rivers, who leads the nation in both kills and points per set, not only will be aiming to complete the series sweep against the Aggies, but the Tide also will be looking to snap a three-match losing skid after suffering defeats to Ole Miss, Tennessee and Kentucky. The Tide, 0-4 all-time in matches played in College Station, most recently was swept by the 22nd-ranked Wildcats, 25-19, 25-15, 25-17, in Tuscaloosa.

TEXAS A&M-ALABAMA ALL-TIME SERIES

Texas A&M leads the all-time series, 6-3.
A&M is 4-0 against the Crimson Tide in matches played in College Station, including a 25-22, 25-18, 25-21 victory on Oct. 16, 2015, at Reed Arena in the only meeting between the two teams last year.
The Aggies hold a narrow 4-3 lead against the Crimson Tide since the teams first met as SEC foes in 2012.
All three of Alabama's victories occurred at Foster Auditorium, as the Tide has come out on top in the last three of A&M's four overall visits to Tuscaloosa.
Most recently, Alabama defeated A&M, 3-2 (25-19, 26-24, 22-25, 16-25, 15-13) in the 2016 SEC season opener on Sept. 23 in Tuscaloosa. It was the first time A&M opened SEC play on the road.
In the most recent meeting, Texas A&M led Alabama in hitting percentage (266 to .235), blocks (13-8) and points (87-82), but a slow start proved costly as the Aggies were unable to overcome the 0-2 set deficit as well as a 29-kill performance by Crimson Tide All-American Krystal Rivers. The 29 kills remains the most by an A&M opposing player this season.
Kiara McGee led the Aggies with 17 kills while hitting .485. Ashlie Reasor pitched in 15 kills while hitting at a .375 clip, and Hollann Hans finished with 12 kills in two sets played, while Stephanie Aiple dished out a season-high 52 assists. Kaitlyn Blake led all players with nine blocks, and Jazzmin Babers had four blocks. Libero Amy Nettles led the Aggies with 17 digs, and defensive specialist Victoria Arenas also posted double-figure digs with 14.
A&M's all-time records/results vs. Alabama:

Overall:   6-3    H: 4-0    A: 1-3    N: 1-0    SEC: 4-3
Sept. 24, 1993       N          W         15-5, 15-13, 10-15, 15-3
Sept. 14, 1996       H          W         15-6, 15-8, 15-5
Sept. 30, 2012       A          W         25-22, 25-20, 25-20
Nov. 2, 2012          H          W         25-22, 25-20, 25-20
Oct. 18, 2013        A          L          31-33, 22-25, 23-25
Oct. 10, 2014        H          W         20-25, 25-14, 21-25, 25-20, 15-5
Oct. 31, 2014        A          L          25-20, 26-28, 25-17, 20-25, 11-15
Oct. 16, 2015        H          W         25-22, 25-18, 25-21
Sept. 23, 2016       A          L          19-25, 24-26, 25-22, 25-16, 13-15

CLIMBING THE CAREER CHARTS

With 449 career block assists, senior middle blocker Jazzmin Babers is only eight block assists away from breaking the all-time school record of 456 block assists held by Cindy Lothspeich (1994-97).
Babers currently is third in the A&M records for career block assists and needs three more to move into second place, surpassing Amber Woolsey who had 451 block assists from 1996-99.
Babers is third in total career blocks with 508, and Woolsey is second with 547. Lothspeich holds the record with 552.
In the match at Arkansas earlier this season, Babers surpassed 1,000 career kills, becoming the 17th A&M player to reach the milestone. She now has 1,063 kills, ranking 13th in the A&M career records.
Babers ranks fifth in career total points (1,348.5) since rally scoring began in 2001, and she currently ranks second in career hitting percentage (.371).
Junior setter Stephanie Aiple is eighth in the A&M records in career assists with 3,074. She needs only 25 more assists to pass Kari Kelley (2002-05) for seventh place.
Junior libero Amy Nettles has 982 career digs and needs 18 more to become the 21st player in Texas A&M history to reach 1,000.

TEXAS A&M QUICK HITS

Texas A&M has played only five home matches this season heading into the four-match homestand. The Aggies are 3-2 at Reed Arena, with the two losses coming against now-No. 3 Wisconsin and No. 6 Florida.
Texas A&M has won three consecutive matches and eight of its last nine matches overall.
Over the last nine matches, A&M is outhitting its opponents a combined .297 to .155, with each of A&M's five attackers averaging 2.3 or more kills per set.
In the last eight victories, A&M has outhit its opponents a combined .317 to .141, including a .392 hitting percentage at Georgia to set a school record for hitting percentage in a five-set match.
The Aggies entered the week in fourth place in the SEC standings, only 1 ½ games behind Missouri, Kentucky and Florida, who are all tied for first place with identical 10-1 records in SEC matches.
Texas A&M plays the current three league leaders only one time each this season. The Aggies fell to then-No. 9 Florida, 3-1, on Oct. 16 in College Station and defeated Missouri, 3-1, on Oct. 26. Texas A&M faces No. 18 Kentucky on Nov. 20 in Lexington.
Texas A&M entered the week ranked 11th in the nation in kills per set (14.36) and 15th in hitting percentage (.271).
A&M leads the SEC with 15.55 digs per set in conference matches only but ranks 10th in the league with 13.76 digs per set for the full season.
In SEC matches only, A&M ranks second in the league in hitting percentage (.293), as well as in assists (13.92) and kills (14.92) per set.
Texas A&M is 12-2 when leading in blocks and 1-5 when trailing in blocks. The win at South Carolina on Sunday marked the first time the Aggies won a match when trailing in blocks.
A&M is 11-2 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, including a 3-2 loss at Alabama in the SEC season opener.
A&M jumped 10 spots to No. 29 in the NCAA RPI released on Monday. The jump follows A&M's victory over Missouri. The Tigers had a No. 16 RPI at the time of the match, marking the highest ranked team in the RPI that A&M has defeated this season.
The Aggies received votes in this week's AVCA Top 25 Poll and are listed 33rd.
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. 5 Texas. The other two preconference losses were against now-No. 10 Florida State and No. 22 Ohio State, who both escaped with 3-2 victories against the Aggies.

SCOUTING ALABAMA

Alabama is 15-9 overall and tied with Mississippi State for seventh place in the SEC standings with a 4-7 conference record.
Senior All-American Krystal Rivers leads the nation with a blistering 5.99 kills and 6.70 points per set.
Rivers has posted 29 or more kills seven times this season, including two 38-kill performances. No other player in the SEC has recorded more than 27 kills in a match this season.
Rivers, who is averaging 6.60 kills and 7.24 points per set in SEC matches only, had 19 kills and 21 points in the 3-0 loss against No. 22 Kentucky on Sunday.
No other active player on the Alabama squad is averaging more than 2.0 kills per set for the full season, while Hayley McSparin is second to Rivers with 2.14 kills per set in SEC matches only.
Alabama is outhitting its opponents, .233 to .219, for the full season, but the Tide is being outhit, .245 to .205 in SEC matches only.
Alabama, which finished fifth in the SEC standings last year, is picked to place sixth this year according to a preseason vote of the league's coaches.
Ed Allen (Ball State, 1988) is 111-76 in his sixth season as head coach at Alabama and 605-259 in the 25th year of his head coaching career.

AGGIE PLAYER NOTABLES

Senior defensive specialist Victoria Arenas was named the SEC Player of the Week and the SEC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 4.71 digs per set to lead Texas A&M to a 2-0 record last week, including a 3-1 victory over Missouri, which was previously undefeated in SEC play and entered Reed Arena riding a 13-match winning streak.
In the win against the Tigers, Arenas tied for the team lead with a season-high 17 digs and was error-free in 16 service reception attempts. She also had a season-high five assists, and her overall performance directed not only the Aggie defense to a team season-high 78 digs, but she also helped initiate an A&M offense that led Missouri in kills (62-55) and hitting efficiency (.227 to .188).
Arenas also helped lead the Aggies to a sweep at South Carolina, recording a match-high 16 digs, twice as many digs as the next closest player.
Arenas is 10th in the SEC with 3.43 digs per set in conference play.
Senior middle blocker Jazzmin Babers has started every match of her career (113).
Babers leads the Aggies and is eighth in the SEC with a .379 hitting percentage in conference matches only. She is second on the team and seventh in the nation with a .367 hitting efficiency for the full season.
Babers also is second on the team and seventh in the league with 1.16 blocks per set in SEC matches.
Junior setter Stephanie Aiple has tallied 50 or more assists in a match five times this season, including in two of the last four matches.
In the win against Georgia, 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.
Aiple is fourth in the SEC and 31st in the nation with 10.81 assists per set.
Aiple, the reigning SEC Player of the Year, also is fourth in the SEC with 10.92 assists per set in conference matches only.
Sophomore middle blocker Kaitlyn Blake, who has led or tied for the team lead in blocks in 18 of 21 matches, leads the SEC and is 11th in the nation with 1.47 blocks per set.
Blake is fifth in the SEC with a 1.24 block average in conference matches only.
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 3.22 kills and 3.47 points per set for the full season while hitting .243.
In SEC matches only, McGee leads A&M with 3.34 kills and 3.54 points per set while hitting .273.
McGee has led or tied for the team lead in kills in a team-high 11 matches.
McGee, who has posted double-figure kills in a team-leading six consecutive matches, is tied with freshman outside hitter Hollann Hans for the team lead with 13 double-figure kill performances overall.
Hans is tied with Aiple for the team lead with two double-doubles for the full season, having posted back-to-back double-double performances (kills and digs) against then-No. 2 Texas and No. 6 Wisconsin.
Hans is second on the team with 2.85 kills per set and third with 3.27 points per set for the full season. The rookie also is second on the team with 3.03 kills and 3.43 points per set in conference matches only.
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 15 matches this season.
Nettles leads A&M and is seventh in the SEC with 3.87 digs per set in conference matches only.
For the full season, Nettles leads A&M and is eighth in the league with 3.49 digs per set.
Nettles has posted double-figure digs in a team-leading 14 matches this season.
Nettles has recorded 20 or more digs in two of the last four matches and three times overall this season.
Nettles has appeared in a team-leading 248 consecutive sets, a streak which began Oct. 15, 2014, of her freshman campaign.
Nettles, Babers, Blake and McGee have played in all 76 sets this season.
Sophomore defensive specialist Amy Houser, who has played in every set in each of the last 11 matches, drew her first start of the season against Missouri.
Houser, who had a career-high three aces in the 3-0 victory at South Carolina on Sunday, leads A&M with 11 aces and 0.29 aces per set in SEC matches. For the full season, she leads the team with 13 aces and a 0.21 average.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Texas A&M continues its four-match homestand against Tennessee on Sunday at Reed Arena. First serve is at 1:30 p.m.
It will be Superhero Day at Reed, and fans are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite superhero for chances to win Aggie Superman shirts and gear. Fans also will have chances to win Aggie gear and more by playing volleyball bingo. Bingo cards will be available at the marketing kiosk on the concourse.
Every Sunday is "Funday" at Reed Arena. Up to four kids are admitted free with the purchase of one regular-priced adult ticket for that day's match. All kids are invited to attend the prematch Superhero Zone in the volleyball practice gym. Activities include a Spiderman Velcro wall, a Flash bungee run, a superhero bounce house and superhero arts and crafts.

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.