COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M received an at-large berth to the 64-team 2016 NCAA Volleyball Championship and will face SMU in the first round, Friday at Gregory Gym in Austin, the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Committee announced today.
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The first-ever matchup between the in-state teams begins at 4 p.m. and will be followed by a first-round match between No. 4 seed Texas and Texas-Rio Grande Valley at 6:30 p.m. The two winners will meet in the second round, Saturday at 7 p.m. at Gregory Gym.
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The tournament's second-round winners will advance to one of four non-predetermined regional sites, which be announced after play concludes on December 3.The regional winners will advance to the national semifinals and championship final co-hosted by the Ohio State University and the Greater Columbus Sports Commission at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on December 15 and 17.
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Texas A&M (21-8 15-3 SEC), which closed out the regular season by winning 10 of its last 11 matches and finishing in a tie for third place in the Southeastern Conference, is making its sixth consecutive and 24th overall appearance in the NCAA tournament. This marks the Aggies' 20th appearance under 24th-year head coach Laurie Corbelli.
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SMU (25-7) is making its second consecutive and second overall appearance in the tournament. The Mustangs, who fell to Purdue in the first round in Austin last year, received an automatic bid by winning the American Athletic Conference championship with an 18-2 record.
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Texas (22-4) received an at-large bid after finishing second in the Big 12 Conference. UTRGV (21-3) received an automatic berth and is making its first NCAA Championship appearance after winning the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.
Texas A&M NCAA Tournament Notes: A&M is making its sixth consecutive and 24th overall appearance (1981-82, 1985-86, 1993-2005, 2009, 2011-16) since the inception of the tournament in 1981…This is the fourth time in five years the Aggies have been sent to Austin to open the tournament…A&M hosted firsts and second rounds last year after receiving an all-time high No. 10 seed. The Aggies defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 3-0 (25-16, 27-25, 25-15) and then fell to seventh-ranked Hawaii, 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-20) at Reed Arena…A&M sports a 26-23 (.531) all-time record in the NCAA tournament, including a 24-19 (.558) mark during head coach Laurie Corbelli's A&M tenure...A&M's best finish in an NCAA tournament was a regional final appearance in both 1999 and 2001…The SEC landed four teams in the tournament field: No. 11 seed Florida and No. 15 seed Missouri, who tied for the conference championship, as well as Kentucky and Texas A&M…The Aggies are 2-7 this year against teams in the NCAA tournament field, including 1-4 against seeded teams.
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NCAA Tournament Notes: Thirty-two conferences were awarded automatic qualification, and the remaining 32 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket...The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and placed within four regions. Nebraska, the defending national champion, earned the top seed followed by No. 2 Minnesota, No. 3 Wisconsin and No. 4 Texas.
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For complete tournament bracket and information, visit the NCAA official Website at www.NCAAsports.com.
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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.Â
Texas A&M volleyball head coach Laurie Corbelli quotes:
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On facing SMU…
"It's been a long time since I've seen SMU live. I have not seen them compete in a fall season in a long time. They won their conference and I have looked to see who their big hitters are and what kind of defense they play. We'll definitely spend the majority of our time getting ready to make sure that we are ready for that match with SMU."
On scouting beforehand, knowing there was a good chance of going to Austin…
"There are so many social networking sites that were saying this exact bracket of four. So yeah, we've done a little looking, just out of curiosity, but we knew it really wasn't final until tonight."
On making sure players aren't overlooking SMU and looking towards Texas…
"This is the 100th [laughing] time that we've been to Austin now so I'm used to having to prepare them for that opening round match of someone other than the Longhorns. I've heard UT Rio Grande Valley has some really strong players, some from other countries, on their squad. Once its tournament time, anything can happen. So we'll be prepared for all three, but first SMU."
On remembering the first-round loss to Arizona State in 2014 in Austin…
"We started off so strong in that match, I'll never forget it. We just couldn't sustain, and they found some weaknesses of ours and just hammered us from that point on. That's one that will be brought up a lot this week in practice."
On having an experienced team going into the tournament…
"I like that we have a lot of players that have been in the tournament. That's really huge. I like that we have really strong leaders that are passionate about Aggie volleyball. They want to see this program continue to advance. I think we'll see that throughout our week of practice and through the weekend with good leadership, really motivating and inspiring practices and a group that's really ready to go."
On how a brutal non-conference schedule helped prepare for the tournament…
"I spent most of today watching those matches we lost against Wisconsin and Minnesota, trying to just see where we've gotten better and the changes and improvements we've made and if they are going to be enough. I really do think anytime you play great teams, it only serves to improve your own cause. We played a lot of teams and didn't necessarily come out on top of a lot of them. Yet, I think each one of them have a burning place in our gut. We couldn't take advantage of some of the opportunities that we had during each of those matches, so hopefully now we can."
On being due a victory over a higher ranked opponent…
"Missouri was the biggest win we, had and fortunately we were [at home]. The Arizona win was huge. We played really beautifully in those two matches, and we played really beautifully a lot of the time in the other matches; we just didn't sustain. I'm hoping the team has a short memory about how teams that are ranked typically come at you with a lot of consistency and usually don't back off. I think that's one thing our team has said we need to stop doing, and hopefully we've learned to not back off."
On how the team is playing right now…
"I think we're playing really well. Our blocking has improved 100 percent. It is so much better. I think our serve receive has better tempo, and defensively, I think we're leading the SEC in digs per set. I really feel good about the improvement, where we are and how we're playing, and I hope we can take that into the tournament."
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The first-ever matchup between the in-state teams begins at 4 p.m. and will be followed by a first-round match between No. 4 seed Texas and Texas-Rio Grande Valley at 6:30 p.m. The two winners will meet in the second round, Saturday at 7 p.m. at Gregory Gym.
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The tournament's second-round winners will advance to one of four non-predetermined regional sites, which be announced after play concludes on December 3.The regional winners will advance to the national semifinals and championship final co-hosted by the Ohio State University and the Greater Columbus Sports Commission at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on December 15 and 17.
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Texas A&M (21-8 15-3 SEC), which closed out the regular season by winning 10 of its last 11 matches and finishing in a tie for third place in the Southeastern Conference, is making its sixth consecutive and 24th overall appearance in the NCAA tournament. This marks the Aggies' 20th appearance under 24th-year head coach Laurie Corbelli.
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SMU (25-7) is making its second consecutive and second overall appearance in the tournament. The Mustangs, who fell to Purdue in the first round in Austin last year, received an automatic bid by winning the American Athletic Conference championship with an 18-2 record.
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Texas (22-4) received an at-large bid after finishing second in the Big 12 Conference. UTRGV (21-3) received an automatic berth and is making its first NCAA Championship appearance after winning the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.
Texas A&M NCAA Tournament Notes: A&M is making its sixth consecutive and 24th overall appearance (1981-82, 1985-86, 1993-2005, 2009, 2011-16) since the inception of the tournament in 1981…This is the fourth time in five years the Aggies have been sent to Austin to open the tournament…A&M hosted firsts and second rounds last year after receiving an all-time high No. 10 seed. The Aggies defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 3-0 (25-16, 27-25, 25-15) and then fell to seventh-ranked Hawaii, 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-20) at Reed Arena…A&M sports a 26-23 (.531) all-time record in the NCAA tournament, including a 24-19 (.558) mark during head coach Laurie Corbelli's A&M tenure...A&M's best finish in an NCAA tournament was a regional final appearance in both 1999 and 2001…The SEC landed four teams in the tournament field: No. 11 seed Florida and No. 15 seed Missouri, who tied for the conference championship, as well as Kentucky and Texas A&M…The Aggies are 2-7 this year against teams in the NCAA tournament field, including 1-4 against seeded teams.
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NCAA Tournament Notes: Thirty-two conferences were awarded automatic qualification, and the remaining 32 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket...The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and placed within four regions. Nebraska, the defending national champion, earned the top seed followed by No. 2 Minnesota, No. 3 Wisconsin and No. 4 Texas.
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For complete tournament bracket and information, visit the NCAA official Website at www.NCAAsports.com.
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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.Â
Texas A&M volleyball head coach Laurie Corbelli quotes:
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On facing SMU…
"It's been a long time since I've seen SMU live. I have not seen them compete in a fall season in a long time. They won their conference and I have looked to see who their big hitters are and what kind of defense they play. We'll definitely spend the majority of our time getting ready to make sure that we are ready for that match with SMU."
On scouting beforehand, knowing there was a good chance of going to Austin…
"There are so many social networking sites that were saying this exact bracket of four. So yeah, we've done a little looking, just out of curiosity, but we knew it really wasn't final until tonight."
On making sure players aren't overlooking SMU and looking towards Texas…
"This is the 100th [laughing] time that we've been to Austin now so I'm used to having to prepare them for that opening round match of someone other than the Longhorns. I've heard UT Rio Grande Valley has some really strong players, some from other countries, on their squad. Once its tournament time, anything can happen. So we'll be prepared for all three, but first SMU."
On remembering the first-round loss to Arizona State in 2014 in Austin…
"We started off so strong in that match, I'll never forget it. We just couldn't sustain, and they found some weaknesses of ours and just hammered us from that point on. That's one that will be brought up a lot this week in practice."
On having an experienced team going into the tournament…
"I like that we have a lot of players that have been in the tournament. That's really huge. I like that we have really strong leaders that are passionate about Aggie volleyball. They want to see this program continue to advance. I think we'll see that throughout our week of practice and through the weekend with good leadership, really motivating and inspiring practices and a group that's really ready to go."
On how a brutal non-conference schedule helped prepare for the tournament…
"I spent most of today watching those matches we lost against Wisconsin and Minnesota, trying to just see where we've gotten better and the changes and improvements we've made and if they are going to be enough. I really do think anytime you play great teams, it only serves to improve your own cause. We played a lot of teams and didn't necessarily come out on top of a lot of them. Yet, I think each one of them have a burning place in our gut. We couldn't take advantage of some of the opportunities that we had during each of those matches, so hopefully now we can."
On being due a victory over a higher ranked opponent…
"Missouri was the biggest win we, had and fortunately we were [at home]. The Arizona win was huge. We played really beautifully in those two matches, and we played really beautifully a lot of the time in the other matches; we just didn't sustain. I'm hoping the team has a short memory about how teams that are ranked typically come at you with a lot of consistency and usually don't back off. I think that's one thing our team has said we need to stop doing, and hopefully we've learned to not back off."
On how the team is playing right now…
"I think we're playing really well. Our blocking has improved 100 percent. It is so much better. I think our serve receive has better tempo, and defensively, I think we're leading the SEC in digs per set. I really feel good about the improvement, where we are and how we're playing, and I hope we can take that into the tournament."
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