COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M volleyball opens the 2019 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship against St. John’s in First Round action on Thursday evening at Reed Arena. The Aggies (21-7, 13-5) take on the BIG EAST Conference Tournament Champion, St. John’s (22-11, 12-6) in a 6:30 p.m. first serve. The match will be streamed on SEC Network+ with Casey Richardson and Chelsea Reber on the call.
Texas A&M earned the No. 13 overall seed in the field of 64 and will serve as the host site for the First and Second rounds of tournament play. The schedule for this week’s action at Reed Arena is listed below:
Schedule:
Thursday, Dec. 5
4:30 p.m. Oklahoma (19-8, 11-5) vs. Rice (26-3, 13-1)
6:30 p.m. St. John’s (22-11, 12-6) vs. Texas A&M (21-7, 13-5)
Friday, Dec. 6
6:30 p.m. Rice/Oklahoma winner vs. St. John’s/Texas A&M winner
Tickets: Texas A&M students who show their student ID at the door will receive free admission courtesy of the Aggie Volleyball Block Party. All-session and single-session ticket sales are open at this time. Tickets are available online by clicking here. Each day of the tournament counts as one session and will be ticketed accordingly.
All-session reserved tickets are $16, while all-session general admission tickets are $12. Adult single-session tickets are $9 for reserved seating and $7 for general admission seating. General admission for children under the age of two is complimentary for all matches.
The Aggies received an at-large bid to the 2019 NCAA tournament after finishing tied for third in the Southeastern Conference. In the final AVCA Coaches Poll before the NCAA Tournament, Texas A&M ranked No. 25 for the second time this season. A&M’s last selection to the Top-25 came on Nov. 4 after a pair of wins over ranked opponents.
Texas A&M boasts an array of postseason all-conference honors, headlined by the 2019 SEC Coach of the Year Laura “Bird” Kuhn. In just two seasons, Kuhn has amassed a 38-20 overall record and led the Aggies to a 21-7 finish in 2019, their first 20-win season since 2016. The Aggies earned their best home record since 2000, going an impressive 12-1 at Reed Arena. Kuhn led Texas A&M to the No. 12 position in the final NCAA RPI ranking of the 2019 regular season – an improvement of 68 spots from 2018.
Senior outside hitter Hollann Hans and junior setter Camille Conner received recognition as members of the All-SEC team by the league office this week. Hans led the way for Texas A&M’s offense this season, firing down 470 kills and averaging 4.40 kills per set. Conner, meanwhile, guided the Aggies to a .246 season hitting percentage and recorded 1,075 assists to go along with 182 kills. Conner was the only player in the Southeastern Conference to register a triple-double, doing so against Ole Miss on Nov. 24.
Texas A&M’s duo of freshmen outside hitters, Lauren Davis and Treyaunna Rush, were recognized as members of the SEC All-Freshman team. Davis ended the year on a hot streak and finished second on the team in kills with 234. Rush finished the season with a kill total of 158 and earned the final SEC Freshman of the Week honors for Week 14.
Other statistical leaders for the Aggies this season include junior middle blocker Makena Patterson and senior libero Camila Gomez. Patterson ranked nationally in blocks (135) and blocks per set (1.36), while Gomez led the way in digs with 415.
St. John’s comes into Aggieland following a pair of upsets over ranked opponents in the BIG EAST Conference Tournament. The Red Storm defeated No. 10 Creighton in a sweep and followed that up with a 3-1 win over No. 12 Marquette. The Queens, N.Y. based squad makes its third NCAA tournament appearance in program history on Thursday. St. John’s is 2-0 in First Round matches.
The Red Storm are led statistically by sophomore outside hitter Efrosini Alexakou, who ranks first on her team in kills (478), kills per set (4.23), while ranking second in digs (270) and digs per set (2.39). Senior setter Erica Di Maulo serves as the quarterback of the Red Storm offense, finishing the regular season with 1,159 assists while paving the way for a team hitting percentage of .233. The defensive effort for St. John’s is led by senior libero Amanda Sanabia, who finished the regular season with 451 digs and 3.92 digs per set.
Thursday’s First Round matchup marks the first meeting between Texas A&M and St. John’s.
Preceding the Aggies on Thursday evening is another First-Round matchup between the Oklahoma Sooners and Rice Owls. That match is set to begin at Reed Arena at 4:30 p.m. with live streaming available on ESPN3.
Oklahoma, who the Aggies defeated in five sets on Sept. 17 of this season, earn its 12th tournament selection in program history with an at-large bid. The Aggies hold a strong 36-9 series lead over the Sooners.
Rice received an at-large bid to the 2019 tournament making its second consecutive NCAA tournament appearance and fifth overall. Texas A&M is 35-4 all-time against Rice.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Fans can keep up to date with the A&M volleyball team on Facebook and on Twitter by following @AggieVolleyball.