Texas A&M Concludes Three-Match Homestand Against Alabama

Friday, October 26

College Station

6:30 p.m.

Texas A&M

Alabama

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Oct 25, 2018 | Volleyball

COMPLETE MATCH NOTES (PDF)

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

Texas A&M Aggies (12-9, 5-4 SEC) vs. Alabama Crimson Tide (17-6, 4-5 SEC)
Friday, October 26, 6:30 p.m.
Reed Arena
College Station, Texas

Stream: SEC Network+
Twitter Updates: @AggieVolleyball

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M (12-9, 5-4 SEC) begins the second half of its Southeastern Conference schedule and concludes a three-match homestand on Friday as the Aggies play host to Alabama (17-6, 4-5 SEC) at Reed Arena. First serve is at 6:30 p.m., and the match will be streamed on SEC Network+ with Casey Richardson and Chelsea Reber calling the action.

The Aggies are coming off hard-fought, back-to-back 3-2 setbacks to Tennessee and No. 15 Kentucky last weekend and are in sixth place in the SEC standings, one game ahead of Alabama. The Crimson Tide won their last two matches and four of their last five, including a 3-1 victory at Arkansas on Sunday.

PROMOTIONS

Teacher Appreciation Match:
Two FREE tickets for active and retired local school administrators and teachers in advance and on game day. Additional tickets are $3 each.
Teachers can arrive at the marketing and promotions table before the match and enter to win a classroom visit from student-athletes. A winner will be drawn during the match.
Youth Giveaway: 100 Aggies Arise youth shirts (sizes subject to availability).
Bring Your "A" Game: Free Admission for any kid who presents a report card with an A. Only available as a walk up sale on the day of the event. No advance purchases.
Concessions Special: Half-off sausage wraps
Post-Match Autographs: Fans are invited to the court to receive post-match autographs from the team.

TEXAS A&M-ALABAMA SERIES HISTORY

Texas A&M leads Alabama, 8-3, in the all-time series which began in 1993.
A&M is 5-0 against the Crimson Tide in matches played in College Station.
The Aggies are 2-3 when playing at Alabama.
The Aggies have won the last two meetings and hold a 6-3 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 have come out on top in three of A&M's last four visits to Tuscaloosa.
Texas A&M and Alabama will meet again later this season, as the Aggies travel to Tuscaloosa to take on the Tide on Nov. 21 at Foster Auditorium.
In the most recent meeting, Texas A&M celebrated its final match of the 2017 season with a convincing 25-23, 25-11, 25-15 victory over Alabama on Nov. 25, 2017. The victory snapped A&M's three-match losing skid in matches played at Foster Auditorium, and the Aggies closed out the season on a three-match winning streak overall.
Setter Camille Conner directed the Aggie offense to a .319 hitting percentage, dishing out 28 assists. She also had a team-high 11 digs to complete her team-leading sixth double-double of the season. Outside hitter Hollann Hans took match-high honors in kills with 15 while hitting .414. Senior Ashlie Reasor, who had a personal season-high eight kills, led all players with six blocks as A&M outblocked the Crimson Tide, 11-4, and held Alabama to a .010 hitting efficiency, a season low by an A&M opponent.
Mahalia Swink led the Tide with 10 kills, and Alabama libero Quincey Gary led all players with 13 digs.

TEXAS A&M IN THE SEC

Texas A&M is in sixth place in the SEC standings with a 5-4 conference record. The Aggies are a half game behind fifth-place South Carolina (6-4).
A&M is picked to finish 8th in the SEC in 2018, according to a preseason poll of the league's head coaches.
Texas A&M junior outside hitter Hollann Hans was named to the nine-member 2018 Preseason All-SEC Team, as voted on by the league's head coaches.
All five of A&M's SEC wins this season have been against teams that were predicted to finish above the Aggies, according to the preseason poll. A&M has two 3-2 victories against Georgia as well as a 3-2 win at LSU. Both of those teams tied for fourth in the preseason poll. The Aggies swept both Auburn and Arkansas, who were picked to finish sixth and seventh, respectively.
A&M went 7-11 in conference matches last season to finish in ninth place in the SEC.
A&M's best season in the SEC was 2015, when the Aggies, despite dropping their conference season opener to Arkansas, went 16-2 to capture the SEC title, A&M's first conference championship in program history.
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.
Texas A&M is 82-37 (.689) all-time in SEC matches only.
The Aggies are 43-18 (.705) all-time in SEC home matches and 39-19 (.672) in SEC away matches.

AGGIE PLAYER NOTES

Hans is the SEC leader and ranks 11th in the nation with 5.19 points per set in all matches. She also leads the SEC with 5.36 points per set in conference matches only.
She also leads the SEC with 0.60 aces per set in conference play and is second in the league and 10th in the nation with 0.49 aces per set for the full season.
Hans is second in the SEC and 15th in the nation with 4.47 kills per set in all matches, and she is third in the conference with 4.50 kills per set in SEC matches only
Hans has posted double-figure kills in 18 of 20 matches played.
She has recorded 20 or more kills in 11 matches, including each of the last three matches.
Hans now has 940 career kills and needs 60 more kills to become the 19th player in program history to join the 1,000-Kills Club.
Hans recorded the first 20-20 performance of her career with 22 kills and a career-high 21 digs against Tennessee on Oct. 19.
Hans' 34 points and 32 kills at Florida on Oct. 5 smashed the previous Texas A&M records for most kills and most points in a match in the 25-point scoring era. She had set the previous record with 28 kills and 32.5 points against Penn State in 2017.
Her 32 kills and 34 points are the most by an SEC player in a conference match this season.
Hans served a school-record eight aces in A&M's 3-2 win over Georgia on Sept. 23, breaking the previous A&M all-time record of six, reached 12 times, most recently on August 30, 2013, by Allie Sawatzky against South Dakota State.
Hans' eight aces against Georgia are the most by an SEC player in a match this season and tie for second in the nation for most aces in a five-set match this season.
Hans has served at least one ace in each of the last 10 matches. She needs one ace to break the school record for aces in an SEC season with 24, which she set last year.
Hans, only a junior, already has a school-record 65 aces in her SEC career, shattering the previous record of 46 set by Shelby Sullivan (2012-15).

Sophomore setter Camille Conner, and freshman middle blocker London Austin-Roark are the only two A&M players who have started every match this season.
Team captain Amy Houser, the only senior on the team, has started every match as the designated libero and has played the position in all but one set.
Conner is the only player who has appeared in all 84 sets.
Conner is the only player in the SEC to record a triple-double this season.
Conner had 46 assists and career highs of 13 kills and 18 digs, as well as a personal-best .385 hitting efficiency when posting 10 or more kills, in the Aggies' 3-2 win at LSU on Sept. 30. It was Conner's second triple-double of her career, as she was one of only two players in the SEC to accomplish the feat in 2017, having tallied 12 kills, 12 digs and 43 assists against No. 5 Penn State (Sept. 2, 2017).
Conner came within one dig of posting a triple-double in the 3-2 victory against Georgia on Sept. 23.
Conner is third in the SEC with 10.20 assists per set for the full season and also third in the league with 10.05 assists per set in SEC play only.
Conner is second on the team and is seventh in the SEC with eight double-doubles in all matches.
She is tied for the team lead and tied for second in the SEC with five double-doubles in SEC matches only.

Amy Houser, who celebrated her 22nd birthday on Thursday (Oct. 25), has reached double-figure digs in 13 consecutive matches and 18 matches overall this season.
Houser has tallied 20 or more digs in a team-leading six matches.
She is No. 8 in the SEC with 3.90 digs per set in SEC matches only.
Houser is seventh in the league with 3.92 digs per set for the full season.
Houser's point-saving play at set point in the third set at Georgia on Oct. 14 was No. 5 on ESPN SportCenter's Top 10 plays of the day and was NCAA Volleyball's No. 2 play of the week.
Houser recorded the first double-double of her career in the 3-2 win at LSU (Sept. 30), posting a career-high 11 assists and tying her career best with a match-high 24 digs.
Houser has a team-high 455 service receptions. She also has a team-best .967 service reception percentage among players who have at least 15 reception attempts.
Houser had a match-high 19 digs in the three-set victory over Arkansas, tying a school record for most digs by an A&M player in a three-set SEC match.
Middle blocker London Austin-Roark leads A&M with 0.95 blocks per set in conference matches only and leads starters with 0.82 blocks in all matches.
Austin-Roark, who has started all 21 matches, had a career-high nine blocks against Georgia on Sept. 23. It still is the most blocks by an A&M player this season.
Sophomore middle blocker Makena Patterson leads A&M and is ranked sixth in the SEC with a .337 hitting percentage in conference matches only. She had 10 kills while hitting .391 against Kentucky, and she also tied her career high with six blocks.
After having appeared in only one match over the first nine matches of the season, sophomore opposite hitter Samantha Sanders has appeared in each of the last 12 matches. She tied her season high and recorded her fourth double-digit kill performance of the season with 11 kills against Tennessee last Friday.
Sophomore Morgan Davis was the unsung hero in the win at Georgia. Davis, who has trained only at opposite hitter this season, subbed in at middle blocker late in the fourth set against the Bulldogs and finished the match with four kills—including a team-leading three kills in the decisive five set—without an error to hit .800 for the match.
Davis also has subbed in at middle in both matches since the Georgia contest. Against Tennessee, she posted a personal season-high five blocks, including two solos, the most solo blocks by an A&M player this season
Freshman defensive specialist Allison Fields, who played libero in the final set in the sweep against Nicholls, has started 19 of 21 matches and has posted double-figure digs 10 times, including a career-high 20 digs against Missouri State.
Freshmen defensive specialist Taylor Voss has seen action in 18 matches and 65 sets, typically as a server for a middle blocker. She has had a career-high five digs in two of the last three matches.
Freshmen middle blockers London Austin-Roark and Mallory Talbert and freshman lefty setter Kaitlyn Rogers all graduated high school early and participated in A&M spring drills and also went on the team's foreign training tour to Europe in May.

TEXAS A&M NOTES

With a 12-9 record, A&M already has two more wins then it totaled in the entire 2017 season.
Texas A&M is 3-2 in SEC home matches and 5-3 in all home matches this season.
The Aggies are third in the league in assists (12.62) per set, fourth in aces (1.48) per set and fifth in opponent hitting percentage (.193) and kills (13.44) and digs (14.65) per set in all matches.
In SEC matches only, A&M is third in aces (1.42), and fifth in kills (13.40) and assists (12.57) per set.
A&M is outhitting its opponents, .229 to .193 in all matches and .226 to .214 in SEC matches only.
For the season, A&M is 6-2 in three-set matches, 3-2 in four-set matches and 3-5 in five set matches.
Eight of A&M's last 13 matches, including six of A&M's nine SEC matches have been decided in five sets, including each of the last three matches.
Three of A&M's four conference losses were in five-set matches.
A&M fell from 64 to 78 in the most recent NCAA RPI (rating percentage index), released on Monday.

ALABAMA QUICK HITS

Alabama, 17-6 overall, is 4-5 in conference matches and in seventh place in the SEC standings, one match behind sixth-place Texas A&M.
Alabama was picked to finish 12th in the league according to a preseason poll of the SEC head volleyball coaches.
The Crimson Tide need one win to equal their total number of wins last season in which they went 18-14.
Alabama has won its last two matches and is No. 35 in the NCAA RPI, released on Monday.
Most recently, the Crimson Tide recorded a season-high 15 blocks to defeat Arkansas, 3-1 (25-22, 18-25, 26-24, 25-19) on Sunday in Fayetteville.
Hayley McSparin led the Tide with seven blocks. Libero Quincey Gary had a season-high 30 digs, and Doris Carter led Alabama with 15 kills and also had 10 digs to record her sixth double-double of the season.
Eight of 12 players have appeared in all 80 sets this season, including Cidavia Hall, Hayley McSparin, Meghan Neelon and Doris Carter, who have each started all 23 matches.
Alabama leads the SEC with 16.80 digs per set in conference matches only and 15.65 digs per set in all matches.
Kaylee Thomas leads Alabama and is seventh in the league with 3.97 digs per set in SEC matches only, and Quincey Gary is second on the team and ninth in the league with 3.80 digs per set in conference play.
Ginger Perinar leads the team with 3.24 kills and 3.59 points per set in all matches.
Alabama won its first 11 matches of the season, marking its best start since becoming an NCAA program in 1989. On Sept. 10, Alabama was No. 25 in the AVCA Top 25 Poll, marking the first time in program history Alabama appeared in the AVCA top-25 rankings,
Ed Allen (Ball State, 1988) is 151-98 in his eighth season as head coach at Alabama.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Texas A&M begins a three-match road swing, Sunday, Oct. 28, as the Aggies take on 24th-ranked Missouri in Columbia. First serve is at 1:30 p.m. at Mizzou Arena and the match will be streamed on SEC Network +.

Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the team on Facebook and on Twitter and Instagram by following @AggieVolleyball.