Texas A&M Takes on No. 1 Florida in Gainesville

Wednesday, October 4

Gainesville, Fla.

6 p.m.

Texas A&M

Florida

Photo by: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics

Oct 03, 2017 | Volleyball

Complete Match Notes (PDF)

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

Texas A&M (4-6, 1-2 SEC) vs. #1 Florida (11-0, 3-0 SEC)
Wednesday, Oct. 4, 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.

TV: ESPNU (Sam Gore, Holly McPeak)
Stats: 12thMan.com/live
Twitter Updates: @AggieVolleyball

COLLEGE STATION, Texas— Texas A&M (4-6, 1-2 SEC), which has the No. 1 strength of schedule in the nation, faces its fifth top-six opponent Wednesday when the Aggies take on No. 1-ranked and undefeated Florida (11-0, 3-0 SEC) at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida. First serve is at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT), and the match will be televised on ESPNU with Sam Gore and Holly McPeak calling the action.

Texas A&M, led by reigning SEC Player of the Week Hollann Hans and SEC Co-Setter of the Week Camille Conner, is coming off a 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-18) victory at Georgia on Friday, marking the Aggies' first SEC victory of the season and ending a stretch of four consecutive losses overall.

Florida, 6-0 all-time against Texas A&M in matches played in Gainesville, swept LSU, 25-17, 26-24, 25-23, on Sunday to become the only remaining undefeated team in the nation.

The Aggies, who went 15-3 in conference matches last season to tie Kentucky for third place in the SEC, were picked to finish fourth this year according to a preseason poll of the league's head volleyball coaches. Florida, the defending league co-champion, is the preseason favorite to repeat.

TEXAS A&M-FLORIDA ALL-TIME SERIES

Florida is 12-1 against the Aggies since the all-time series began in 1988, including 6-0 in matches played in Gainesville.
Five of the six meetings in Florida have ended in three-set sweeps by the Gators.
A&M's only set victory at Florida was in 1988 when the teams met for the first time.
Florida is 6-1 against A&M in SEC matches only.
Florida is the only SEC team in which the Aggies have a losing record in the all-time series.
A&M's only win in the series was a thrilling come-from-behind 20-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-11 upset over the 14th-ranked Gators at Reed Arena on Nov. 22, 2015, the year A&M went on to win its first conference volleyball title in program history.
The teams met once last season, with the ninth-ranked Gators holding off A&M, 3-1, in College Station.
In the most recent meeting, Rhamat Alhassan had a match-high 22 kills while hitting at a .528 clip to lead the Gators to a .241 to .184 hitting percentage advantage. The 6-4 middle blocker completed a double-double with 10 blocks as Florida outblocked A&M, 14-10. Hollann Hans and Kiara McGee led A&M with 14 kills apiece. Ashlie Reasor added 12 kills and Kaitlyn Blake pitched in 11 kills and a team-high six blocks. Amy Nettles led the Aggies in digs with 21.
A&M all-time records/results vs. Florida:

Overall: 1-12    H: 1-5   A: 0-6    N: 0-1    SEC: 1-6
Oct. 28, 1988             A             L             17-15, 9-15, 3-15, 6-15
Sept. 7, 1989              H            L             15-10, 13-15, 12-15, 8-15
Sept. 25, 1992            A             L             7-15, 8-15, 3-15
Sept. 19, 1993            H            L             6-15, 15-12, 7-15, 8-15
Dec. 7, 1995               A             L             4-15, 13-15, 4-15
Sept. 9, 2005              N            L             28-30, 30-19, 24-30, 26-30
Oct. 21, 2012             H            L             25-14, 27-25, 23-25, 23-25, 6-15
Oct. 4, 2013                A             L             9-25, 23-25, 17-25
Nov. 3, 2013              H            L             26-24, 23-25, 8-25, 26-24, 14-16
Oct. 12, 2014             A             L             12-25, 23-25, 17-25
Oct. 9, 2015                A             L             25-9, 25-23, 25-18
Nov. 22, 2015            H            W           20-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-11
Oct. 16, 2016             H            L             25-27, 25-21, 23-35, 16-25

TEXAS A&M IN THE SEC

Texas A&M is 71-24 overall in SEC matches since joining the league in 2012.
The Aggies, who went 7-2 in SEC away matches and 8-1 in SEC home matches in 2016, are 35-13 all-time in SEC away matches and 36-11 all-time in SEC home matches.
Texas A&M will play its 100th SEC match on Oct. 20 against Arkansas at Reed Arena.
This is the third consecutive year the Aggies have lost their SEC opener, but this is the first time A&M has dropped its first two SEC matches of the season.
Texas A&M will play two matches each against last year's top three SEC teams, co-champions Florida and Missouri, as well as Kentucky, which tied A&M for third place. Other home-and-home series will be played against Arkansas, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Single-match opponents are LSU, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Auburn and Alabama.
In their inaugural SEC season opener, the Aggies defeated Ole Miss on Sept. 14, 2012, at Reed Arena, marking Texas A&M's first SEC victory in any sport. The Aggies went on to finish 16-4, winning the SEC Western Division and placing second overall.
The Aggies won the SEC championship in 2015 to claim the first conference volleyball title in school history.

TEXAS A&M NOTES

Sophomore outside hitter Hollann Hans, who had career highs of 32.5 points and 28 kills while hitting .328 against No. 5 Penn State, leads A&M and is third in the SEC in kills (4.18), points (4.82) and aces (0.47) per set for the full season.
Hans' 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.
Hans was named SEC Player of the Week for the first time in her career on Monday after leading the Aggies to a 3-0 victory at Georgia with 15 points and 12 kills while hitting a season-high .435 (minimum 10 kills).
Freshman lefty Camille Conner was named the SEC Co-Setter of Week after directing the Aggie offense to a season-high .379 hitting percentage against the Bulldogs.
Conner, the MVP of the season-opening Texas A&M Invitational, entered the week as 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.
The Aggies have had three freshmen—Conner, middle blocker Makena Patterson and opposite/outside hitter Samantha Sanders—in the starting lineup in five of 10 matches, not including the three matches in which a defensive specialist started for Sanders in the back row.
Senior libero Amy Nettles leads the Aggies and is eighth in the SEC with 3.74 digs per set for the full season and is third in the league with 4.50 digs per set in SEC matches only.
Nettles had a match-high 12 digs at Georgia to give her 1,240 digs for her career and move her into 10th place in the A&M career record books. She needs 13 more digs to move into a tie with Melissa Munsch (2001-04) for ninth place.
Nettles has appeared in a school-record 314 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 broke 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 led the Aggies in digs per set each of the last three seasons and in total digs each of the last two years and is averaging 3.57 digs per set for her career.
Junior middle blocker Kaitlyn Blake leads the Aggies with a .319 hitting efficiency.
Sophomore middle blocker Maddie Douglas has started each of the last two matches, having drawn the first start of her career against Missouri on Sept. 24. In her first career start, Douglas posted career highs in kills (6), attempts (14), aces (2) and points (11), as well as a personal-best and team-high five blocks.
Freshman Morgan Davis will be making her first return to her home state when the Aggies play at Florida. Born and raised in Orlando, the 6-4 middle blocker was a standout two-sport athlete (volleyball and basketball) at Bishop Moore Catholic High School and was named the 2016-17 Orlando Sentinel Girls Athlete of the Year.
Texas A&M coach Laurie Corbelli was selected by USA Volleyball to serve as head coach of the U.S. Women's Junior National Team each of the last two summers. Florida's Paige Hammons and Rachael Kramer were on the Corbelli-coached team that competed at the 2017 FIVB Women's U20 World Championship in Boca del Rio and Cordoba, Mexico.
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 losses have been to teams ranked No. 6 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 is 3-4 in 3-set matches, 1-1 in 4-set matches and 0-1 in 5-set matches.
Texas A&M returns 11 letterwinners overall—including four starters plus the libero—from last year's team that went 21-9 overall and reached the NCAA Championship tournament for a sixth consecutive season. The Aggies also welcome a stellar four-member freshman class, ranked the 18th best recruiting class in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com, as well as a redshirt freshman.

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 513-243 in her A&M career and 613-349 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 Corbelli was hired in 1993.

FLORIDA QUICK HITS

Florida became the only undefeated team in the nation on Sunday after defeating LSU, 3-0 (25-17, 26-24, 25-23) in Gainesville.
At 11-0, the Gators are off to their fourth best start in program history.
The Gators have never lost a match during the regular season as the nation's No. 1 team (24-0 record) and boast a 29-2 all-time record at No. 1.
Florida leads the SEC and is eighth in the nation in blocks (3.05) per set and opponent hitting percentage (.140).
Most recently, the Gators outhit LSU, .353 to .182, marking the 10th time in 11 matches Florida has held its opponent below .185.
Individually, senior 6-4 middle blocker and three-time All-American Rhamat Alhassan leads the SEC and is second in the nation with 1.79 blocks per set.
Sophomore 6-8 middle Rachael Kramer is tops in the league and fourth in the nation with a .458 hitting efficiency.
Senior outside hitter Carli Snyder leads the SEC and is fifth in the nation with 0.62 aces per set.
Outside hitter Paige Hammons was named the SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday after averaging 2.33 kills, 2.75 points and 2.50 digs per set in sweeps over Tennessee and LSU.
Florida is 7-0 in 3-set matches, 2-0 in 4-set matches and 2-0 in 5-set matches, including a 3-2 (25-22, 21-25, 25-16, 23-25, 15-13) victory at Arkansas in the Gators' SEC opener.
In SEC matches only, Florida is outhitting its opponents, .301 to .186.
Mary Wise is 805-99 her 27th season as head coach at Florida and 886-162 in the 31st season of her head coaching career.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

A&M returns home on Sunday, Oct. 8 to play host to Mississippi State. First serve is at 1:30 p.m. at Reed Arena, and the match will be digitally streamed on SEC Network +, available via the WatchESPN app.
Six of A&M's eight matches in October will be played at Reed Arena, including a five-match homestand from Oct. 15 to Oct. 29.

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.