Volleyball Faces Alabama in Season Finale

Saturday, November 25

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

12 p.m.

Texas A&M

Alabama

Nov 24, 2017 | Volleyball

Watch Live Complete Match Notes (PDF)

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

COLLEGE STATION, Texas—Texas A&M (9-15, 6-11 SEC) closes out the season Saturday as the Aggies take on the Alabama Crimson Tide (18-13, 6-11 SEC) in Tuscaloosa. The match begins at noon at Foster Auditorium, and the contest will be broadcast on SEC Network +, available via the WatchESPN app.

It will be the final match for A&M's four seniors, defensive specialist Gabby Litwin, outside hitter Kiara McGee, libero Amy Nettles and opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor.

Texas A&M Aggies (9-15, 6-11 SEC) vs. Alabama Crimson Tide (18-13, 6-11 SEC)
Saturday, Nov. 25, 12 p.m.
Foster Auditorium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

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

The Aggies, who are tied with Alabama for ninth place in the SEC standings, have won their last two matches and are coming off a 3-1 (21-25, 25-13, 25-14, 25-11 victory at Mississippi State on Wednesday. Alabama suffered a 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-20) loss at Missouri on Wednesday.

TEXAS A&M-ALABAMA ALL-TIME SERIES

Texas A&M leads, 7-3, in the all-time series that began in 1993.
A&M is 5-0 against the Crimson Tide in matches played in College Station but is 1-3 when playing at Alabama.
The Aggies hold a narrow 5-3 lead against the Crimson Tide since the teams first met as SEC foes in 2012.
All three of Alabama's victories in the all-time series occurred at Foster Auditorium, as the Tide has come out on top in three of A&M's last four visits to Tuscaloosa.
In the most recent meeting, Texas A&M avenged its SEC season-opening loss at Alabama and earned a split in the home-and-home season series by defeating the Crimson Tide, 25-20, 18-25, 27-25, 25-16, on Nov. 3, 2016, at Reed Arena. Alabama, which upset A&M, 3-2, on Sept. 23 in Tuscaloosa, held a 24-19 lead in the third set and appeared poised to take a 2-1 lead in the match before A&M rallied and came back to win the set, 27-25. The Aggies carried the momentum in the fourth set to pull away, 25-16, to get the victory.
Hollann Hans finished with a then-career-high 16 kills, and Kiara McGee added 14 kills for A&M. Libero Amy Nettles led the Aggies with 18 digs to reach 1,000 digs in her career, with the milestone 18th dig falling in for a kill. Hans pitched in 10 digs to record her third double-double of the year. Krystal Rivers led the Tide with a match-high 25 kills.
A&M outhit Alabama, .225 to .197, for the match and led in kills, 61-53. A&M also led in assists (57-52) and digs (68-62). Alabama led in aces, 4-2, but also committed six service errors while A&M committed three.
A&M's all-time records/results vs. Alabama:

Overall:   7-3    H: 5-0    A: 1-3    N: 1-0    SEC: 5-3
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
Nov.   3,    2016          H            W           25-20, 18-25, 27-25, 25-16

TEXAS A&M TEAM NOTES

Texas A&M is 9-15 overall and No. 59 in the NCAA volleyball RPI.
The Aggies are tied with Alabama for ninth place in the SEC standings.
The Aggies are 6-8 in home matches and 2-7 in away matches. In SEC matches only, A&M is 4-5 at home and 2-6 in away matches.
A&M is 5-9 in 3-set matches, 3-4 in 4-set matches and 1-2 in 5-set matches.
In SEC matches only, A&M is 3-6 in 3-set matches, 2-4 in 4-set matches and 1-1 in 5-set matches.
A&M set a school SEC record with 13 aces at Arkansas on Nov. 5. It remains the most aces by an SEC team in a conference match this season.
Texas A&M ranks second in the SEC with 1.28 aces per set in conference matches only. The Aggies are fifth in blocks per set (2.44) and opponent hitting percentage (.208) in SEC matches only.
A&M is averaging 2.81 blocks per set over the last 10 matches, up from 1.94 blocks per set over the first 14 matches of the season.
Texas A&M will miss the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2010 and only the fifth time since Laurie Corbelli was named head coach of the Aggies in 1993.

NO. 1 STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE

Texas A&M has the toughest schedule in the nation according to the NCAA. The Aggies also have the No. 1-ranked strength of schedule in the nation according to Volleytalk.net's RPI Futures list.
A&M played eight matches against teams that were ranked No. 8 or higher when the match was played.
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. All four teams currently make up the top four ranked teams in the nation, including current No. 1 Penn State, who the Aggies fell to in five sets on Sept. 2.
Texas A&M's 2017 schedule included two matches each against last year's top three SEC teams, co-champions Florida and Missouri, as well as two against current No. 6 Kentucky, which tied A&M for third place. Other home-and-home series were played against Arkansas, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Single-match opponents were LSU, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Auburn, as well as Alabama in the season finale.

TEXAS A&M PLAYER NOTES

Freshman middle blocker Makena Patterson hit .909 against Mississippi State on Wednesday, setting a school record for hitting percentage with 10-14 attempts. Patterson, who had 10 kills in 11 attempts without an error, broke the previous record of .900 [9-0-10] set by Jenna Moscovic against Kansas on Oct. 15, 1999.
Senior libero Amy Nettles ranks fourth in the A&M records with 1,432 career digs. She needs 39 digs to move into a tie for third place with Stacy Sykora, who had 1,471 career digs from 1995-98.
Nettles appeared in a school-record 364 consecutive sets. The streak, which obliterated the previous record of 284 set by Suzy Wente in 1994, began when the then-freshman came off the bench for the final three sets against Arkansas on Oct. 15, 2014, and ended when she did not appear in the final set against Mississippi State on Wednesday.
Nettles holds the A&M record for career digs in SEC matches only with 959.
Nettles is eighth in the league with 3.95 digs per set in conference matches only. She is chasing the A&M record for digs per set in an SEC season of 4.10, set by Megan Pendergast in 2012, the Aggies' first year in the league.
Nettles, who has posted double-figure digs in 19 of 24 matches, leads the Aggies and is ninth in the SEC with 3.80 digs per set for the full season.
Nettles had a career-high 34 digs in the win against Tennessee on Oct. 27. It ties for sixth in the A&M all-time single-match records and is one shy of the school record for most digs in an SEC match held by Heather Reynolds, who had 35 digs in a 3-2 win at Georgia on Nov. 24, 2013.
Sophomore outside hitter Hollann Hans is second in the SEC with 0.42 aces per set for the full season and 0.39 aces per set in conference matches only.
Hans has served at least one ace in each of the last five matches and in 18 of 24 matches overall. She has posted two or more aces 10 times, including two four-ace performances.
Hans, who was named SEC Player of the Week for the first time in her career on Oct. 2, leads the Aggies and is eighth in the SEC with 3.33 kills per set for the full season. She also leads the team and ranks eighth in the league with 4.01 points per set in all matches.
Hans, who has led or tied for the team lead in points in 13 matches and in kills in 10 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 outside hitter Kiara McGee has recorded double-figure kills in each of the last eight matches, including a personal season-high 20 kills—one shy of her career high—at Arkansas on Nov. 5. She has taken team-high honors in both kills and points in each of the last seven matches.
McGee, who has recorded double-doubles in three of the last four matches, leads A&M and ranks sixth in the SEC with 3.46 kills per set in conference matches only. She also leads the team and is seventh in the SEC with 3.82 points per set in conference matches only.
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, is one of only two players in the SEC and the only freshman in the league 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.
Conner tied her career high with 46 assists at Arkansas and also pitched in 13 digs to record her team-leading fifth double-double of the season.
Conner and Hans are the only two players who have appeared in all 85 sets this season.
Conner and Nettles have been in the starting seven—including the libero—every match, and the only two matches Hans did not start were on the Aggies' Senior Day against South Carolina and at Mississippi State on Wednesday.
Senior opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor made only her fourth start of the season on Senior Day. She played all six rotations and responded with a team-high and personal season-high 12 digs.
Senior Gabby Litwin served a career-high four aces at Arkansas on Nov. 5. It remains the most aces by an SEC player in a five-set conference match this season.
Conner and at least one other freshman have been in the starting lineup in 18 of 24 matches, including eight matches in which three freshmen were in the starting lineup. Against Ole Miss on Nov. 12, freshman Morgan Davis, typically a middle blocker, made the fifth start of her career but her first start on the right side.
Nettles, McGee, Ashlie Reasor and Amy Houser all received their Aggie Rings on Friday, Nov. 17. The Aggie Ring is the most visible symbol of the Aggie Network that connects Aggies around the world. Dating back over a hundred years, it is a tradition that is deep in symbolism. Every symbol represents values every Aggie should hold: Excellence, Integrity, Leadership, Loyalty, Respect and Selfless Service.

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 518-252 in her A&M career and 618-358 in the 32nd year of her head coaching career.
Laurie's 618 career victories ranks 18th on the NCAA Division I active head coaches list for most career wins.
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.

ALABAMA QUICK HITS

Alabama is 18-13 overall and 6-11 in SEC matches only after falling to Missouri, 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-20) on Wednesday in Columbia, Missouri.
Missouri outhit the Crimson Tide, .240 to .043 as Alabama committed 21 errors. Alabama also got outblocked, 11-6.
Alabama and Texas A&M are tied for ninth in the SEC standings.
Alabama is 56 in the NCAA RPI, three spots ahead of Texas A&M.
Freshman setter Meghan Neelon has started every match and played in every set and ranks fifth in the SEC with 10.08 assists per set for the full season.
Libero Quincy Gary, who had 19 digs in the 3-set loss at Missouri, is sixth in the SEC with 4.43 digs per set.
Sophomore outside hitter Ginger Perinar, who had a team -high seven kills against the Tigers, leads the Tide with 3.01 kills and 3.37 points per set for the full season.
Ed Allen (Ball State, 1988) is 134-91 in his seventh season as head coach at Alabama and 628-274 in the 25th year of his head coaching career. He ranks 17th in the NCAA Division I active coaches list for most career wins. Texas A&M's Laurie Corbelli is 18th.

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