PREVIEW: Texas A&M Hosts Tennessee to Begin Second Half of SEC Play

Friday, October 27

College Station

6:30 p.m.

Texas A&M

Tennessee

Photo by: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics

Oct 26, 2017 | Volleyball

Rel 10 26 17 Tennessee Preview

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

Texas A&M Aggies (6-10, 3-6 SEC) vs. Tennessee Volunteers (10-8, 3-6 SEC)
Friday, Oct. 27, 6:30 p.m.
Reed Arena, College Station, Texas

Digital Stream: SEC Network + (WatchESPN)
Stats: 12thMan.com/live
Twitter Updates: @AggieVolleyball

Promotions:

Aggies CAN: free admission to fans who donate a minimum of four canned food items at the door
Military & First Responders Appreciation: 2 free tickets to all active duty and retired military personnel, as well as police and firefighters. Additional tickets can be purchased for $3 each. Available in advance and day of match.
Giveaway: 100 long sleeve shirts with patriotic Lone Star mark (all entrances)
Post-match autographs: A&M volleyball players will be signing autographs after the match

COLLEGE STATION, Texas—Texas A&M (6-10, 3-6 SEC) continues its five-match homestand and begins the second half of its Southeastern Conference schedule Friday as the Aggies play host to Tennessee (10-8, 3-6 SEC). First serve is at 6:30 p.m., and the match will be digitally streamed on SEC Network + via the WatchESPN app, with Casey Richardson and Chelsea Reber calling the action.

Texas A&M and Tennessee are tied with Alabama for 10th place in the SEC standings after suffering a loss in their most recent outing. A&M, which has won the last seven meetings against the Volunteers, is coming off a 3-1 (25-18, 25-22, 22-25, 25-16) home loss to Ole Miss on Sunday. It marked the Aggies' first loss to the Rebels in the 14-match all-time series. Tennessee dropped to 1-5 in away matches with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 30-28) loss at sixth-ranked and league-leader Kentucky on Sunday.

TEXAS A&M-TENNESSEE ALL-TIME SERIES

Texas A&M has won the last seven matches against the Volunteers and holds a 9-6 lead in the all-time series, which began in 1982.
A&M leads, 7-1, in SEC matches only and has swept Tennessee in five of the last six meetings.
The Aggies' only SEC loss to Tennessee and the Volunteers' most recent victory against A&M was Oct. 19, 2012, at Reed Arena in the teams' first meeting as SEC foes.
A&M is 4-2 against Tennessee in matches played in College Station.
Last year, A&M swept the home-and-home series, sweeping the Volunteers, 26-24, 25-20, 25-15 in College Station on Nov. 6 and then defeating Tennessee, 25-19, 25-20, 16-25, 27-25, at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville 10 days later.
In the most recent meeting, A&M used a then-school SEC-record 19 blocks to defeat Tennessee 25-19, 25-20, 16-25, 27-25 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Senior middle blocker Jazzmin Babers had a team-high 18 points with 11 blocks—including three solo blocks—and 11 kills while hitting .556. Kaitlyn Blake added 16 points with eight blocks and 12 kills while hitting at a .500 clip. 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. Libero Amy Nettles led the Aggies in digs with 12, and defensive specialists Amy Houser and Victoria Arenas added 10 digs apiece.
Erica Treiber led Tennessee with 10 kills, and setter Sedona Hansen had 43 assists and a match-high 20 digs.
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)
A&M's records/results vs. Tennessee:

Overall: 9-6    H: 4-2    A: 5-3    N: 0-1    SEC: 7-1
Nov. 12-13, 1982 A          L          8-15, 15-12, 16-14, 6-15, 8-15
Oct. 7, 1983         H          L          1-15, 13-15, 7-15
Oct. 14, 1983       N          L          12-15, 10-15, 14-16
Nov. 2, 1985         A          W         15-6, 15-6, 15-5
Oct. 31, 1987       A          L          14-16, 13-15, 9-15
Oct. 29, 1994       H          W         15-0, 15-4, 15-10
Dec. 4, 2004         A          L          21-30, 30-24, 23-30, 30-32
Oct. 19, 2012       H          L          21-25, 19-25, 21-25
Nov. 21, 2012       A          W         15-25, 25-22, 25-20, 27-29, 15-9
Nov. 15, 2013       H          W         25-17, 25-14, 25-10
Oct. 23, 2014       A          W         25-14, 25-21, 25-15
Nov. 16, 2014       H          W         25-21, 25-14, 25-23
Nov. 1, 2015         A          W         25-14, 25-23, 25-18
Nov. 6, 2016         H          W         26-24, 25-20, 25-15
Nov. 16, 2016       A          W         25-19, 25-20, 16-25, 27-25

TEXAS A&M PLAYER NOTES

Sophomore outside hitter Hollann Hans leads the SEC with 0.45 aces per set in conference matches only.
Hans, who had three aces against Ole Miss on Sunday, has served at least one ace in 12 of 16 matches and has posted two or more aces eight times, including two four-ace performances.
Hans leads A&M and is second in the conference and 18th in the nation with 0.47 aces per set for the full season.
Hans, who was named SEC Player of the Week for the first time in her career on Oct. 2, leads the Aggies and is fourth in the SEC with 4.33 points per set for the full season. She ranks fifth in the SEC with a team-high 3.65 kills per set.
In SEC matches only, Hans leads A&M and is sixth in the league in points (4.03) and kills (3.39) per set.
Hans, who has led or tied for the team lead in points in 12 matches and in kills in nine matches, had career highs of 32.5 points and 28 kills while hitting .328 against No. 5 Penn State. Her 32.5 points against Penn State ties for fourth in A&M single match records, and her 28 kills against the Nittany Lions are the most by an A&M player since Kelsey Black had 28 against Oklahoma on Oct. 6, 2010.
Senior libero Amy Nettles has appeared in a school-record 335 consecutive sets. The streak began when the then-freshman came off the bench for the final three sets against Arkansas on Oct. 15, 2014. The now-senior co-captain obliterated the previous record of 284 consecutive sets played, held by fellow San Antonian Suzy Wente since 1994, in the second match of the 2017 season.
Nettles has 1,316 career digs, ranking seventh in the A&M career records. Nettles needs 50 more digs to move into a tie for sixth with Mary Batis (2006-09).
Nettles holds the A&M record for career digs in SEC matches only with 843.
Nettles, who has posted double-figure digs in 14 of 16 matches, leads the Aggies and is ninth in the SEC with 3.69 digs per set for the full season. She is averaging 3.90 digs per set in SEC matches only, ranking eighth in the league.
Nettles celebrates her 22nd birthday on Saturday. Amy Houser celebrated her 21st birthday on Wednesday, Oct. 25.
Freshman lefty Camille Conner, one of the top 14 setters in the nation according to FloVolleyball, was named the SEC Co-Setter of Week for the first time in her career on Oct. 2 after directing the Aggie offense to a season-high .379 hitting percentage at Georgia.
Conner, the MVP of the season-opening Texas A&M Invitational, remains the only player in the SEC that has recorded a triple-double this season, having tallied 43 assists, 12 digs and 12 kills while hitting .321 in the five-set loss to No. 5 Penn State. She is the first A&M player to record a triple-double since former lefty setter Allie Sawatzky achieved the feat with 31 assists, 10 kills and 11 digs at Ole Miss on Nov. 10, 2013.
Two freshmen—Conner and opposite/outside hitter Samantha Sanders—have been mainstays in the Aggies' lineup. Conner has started every match and played in every set. Sanders has played in 14 of 16 matches overall, drawing 10 starts while seeing action at both the opposite and outside hitter positions.
Sanders and Tennessee freshman setter Callie Williams were teammates their senior year at Midway High School in Waco
The Aggies have had three freshmen in the starting lineup in seven of 16 matches.
Freshman 6-4 middle blocker Morgan Davis got her first career start against Mississippi State and responded with a match-high seven blocks to equal the most blocks by an A&M player this season.
Nettles, Hans and Conner are the only three players who have appeared in all 55 sets this season.

TEXAS A&M TEAM NOTES

In the last three matches, A&M has outblocked its opponents a combined 34.5 to 18. The Aggies averaged 3.14 blocks per set and held Auburn, Arkansas and Ole Miss to a combined 1.64 blocks per set average.
A&M has hit below .200 in each of its six SEC loses.
Six of A&M's eight matches in the month of October are home matches. A&M is 4-6 in home matches this season, including 2-2 in October home matches.
Texas A&M is 6-0 when winning the second set and 0-10 when losing the second set.
A&M is 4-6 in 3-set matches, 2-3 in 4-set matches and 0-1 in 5-set matches.
Texas A&M has the No. 1-ranked strength of schedule in the nation according to Volleytalk.net's RPI Futures, a season ending projected RPI based on the win probabilities for all remaining games on the schedule using each team's Pablo rating.
Four of A&M's opponents—Texas, Stanford, Florida and Penn State— have spent at least one week ranked No. 1 in the AVCA Top 25 Poll in 2017 and all are currently in the top 4.
Six of A&M's losses have been to teams ranked No. 8 or higher. The Aggies pushed No. 5 Penn State to five sets on Sept. 2 and fell to No. 1 Stanford, 3-0, on Sept. 3 at Reed Arena, at No. 6 Wisconsin, 3-0, on Sept. 9, and closed out the preconference schedule with a 3-0 home loss to No. 6 Texas on Sept. 13. A&M also fell to No. 1 Florida, 3-1, in Gainesville and at No. 8 Kentucky.

25th SEASON FOR CORBELLI DUO

Texas A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli and her husband, associate head coach John Corbelli, are celebrating their 25th season at the helm of the Aggies. Laurie, the 2015 SEC and AVCA South Region coach of the year and the longest tenured head coach at Texas A&M, is 515-247 in her A&M career and 615-353 in the 32nd year of her head coaching career.
Under the Corbellis' direction, the Aggies have reached the 20-win milestone 17 times and have made 20 NCAA tournament appearances, making A&M one of only 14 teams to make at least 20 NCAA appearances since the couple was hired in 1993.
Laurie has served as head coach of the USA Volleyball Women's Junior National Team each of the last two summers. This past summer, she coached the team that included Kentucky's Gabby Curry and Leah Edmond and Florida's Paige Hammons and Rachael Kramer at the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Women's U20 World Championship in Boca del Rio and Cordoba, Mexico.

TENNESSEE QUICK HITS

Tennessee had only one match last week, a 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 30-28) loss at No. 6 Kentucky.
The Volunteers are 10-8 overall and tied with A&M and Alabama for 10th place in the SEC standings with a 3-6 league record.
Tennessee is 1-5 in away matches for the season, with the one victory being a 3-2 triumph at Georgia on Oct. 11.
The Vols are 18th in the nation and third in the SEC with 2.80 blocks per set for the full season. They rank fourth in the SEC in opponent hitting percentage (.187) and fifth with 14.99 digs per set.
In conference matches only, UT is outhitting its opponents, .231 to .224.
Junior middle hitter Erica Treiber is third in the SEC and 35th in the nation with 1.35 blocks per set. She also is seventh in the SEC with a .341 hitting percentage while averaging 2.34 kills per set.
Rob Patrick is 407-243 in his 21st season as head coach at Tennessee.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

A&M wraps up its five-match homestand against No. 6 Kentucky on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at Reed Arena.
It is Aggie Parents Appreciation Day and Take a Kid to the Game. Also Kids Court will be open in the volleyball practice gym from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Go to 12thMan.com/promotions for more details.

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.