Texas A&M Plays Host to LSU, Thursday, 6 p.m.

November 6, 2014 Archive

Thursday, November 6
Texas A&M vs. LSU, 6 p.m.
Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
TV: SEC Network

Texas A&M-LSU All-Time Series Record: A&M leads 24-14 (2-1 in SEC matches)
A&M Home: Tied 6-6 | Away: A&M leads 8-3| Neutral: A&M leads 10-5
Last Meeting: A&M won, 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-22), Nov. 13, 2013, Baton Rouge, La.
Streak: A&M won 1

COLLEGE STATION, Texas– Texas A&M begins a three-match home stand Thursday with a crucial meeting against LSU, which comes to Reed Arena riding a nine-match winning streak. First serve is at 6 p.m., and the match will be televised on the SEC Network with Paul Sunderland and Nell Fortner calling the action.

Promotion: Student Organization Night – organizations with the highest attendance at the match will be eligible to win a $200 and $100 gift card and a $50 gift card to Rudy’s.

Tickets: Regular-price individual match tickets are $9 for reserve seating, $7 for adult general admission and $4 for youth, high school age and under. A&M students without a sports pass also can purchase tickets for $4 each. Tickets may be purchased at Reed Arena beginning one hour before match time or in advance at 12thManFoundation.com. Students who purchased a sports pass should enter Reed at the student entrance.

The Aggies (15-7, 7-4 SEC) have won four of their last five matches and are in fifth place in the SEC standings with a 7-4 record after defeating Missouri, 3-1 (17-25, 25-13, 25-13, 25-16), Sunday in Columbia, Mo. A&M is a half-game behind third-place Alabama.

LSU (14-7, 9-3 SEC) is in third place in the conference standings, only a half-game behind second-place Kentucky. Most recently, the Tigers managed to keep their win streak alive, overcoming a 2-0 deficit to defeat Arkansas, 3-2, in Fayetteville, Ark., on Sunday.

The A&M-LSU match-up features three of the top middle blockers in the SEC with A&M’s dual threat of sophomore Jazzmin Babers and junior Shelby Sullivangoing against LSU sophomore sensation Briana Holman. Babers and Sullivan are No. 1 and No. 3 in the league in hitting percentage in SEC matches only, while Holman leads the league with 1.55 blocks per set in conference matches. All three are ranked in the top 15 in the league in hitting percentage, and kills, blocks and points per set in SEC play.

TEXAS A&M QUICK HITS:

  • After seven weeks in the AVCA Top 25, Texas A&M dropped out this week and is listed 26th after falling at Alabama, 3-2, last Friday.
  • This marked the first season A&M had appeared in the Top 25 since 2009, and the Aggies’ No. 19 showing on Oct. 6 is their highest since a No. 15 ranking on Sept. 12, 2005.
  • Despite the loss at Alabama, A&M moved up one spot to No. 17 in this week’s NCAA RPI rankings and climbed to No. 44 in the Pablo rankings, two other tools the NCAA Selection Committee uses when determining the 64-team NCAA Championship field.
  • A&M is 7-4 in home matches, 5-3 in away matches and 3-0 at neutral sites.
  • In SEC matches only, A&M is 4-1 at home and 3-3 in away matches.
  • Texas A&M redshirt sophomore middle blocker Jazzmin Babers leads the SEC with a .449 hitting percentage in conference matches only.
  • Babers, who also is 12th in blocks (0.95) and 14th in both kills (2.91) and points (3.44) per set in SEC matches, has posted double-digit kills in each of the last six matches and in 10 matches overall and is hitting .466 and averaging 3.07 kills and 3.73 points per set when posting 10 or more kills.
  • Junior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan ranks third in the SEC with a .409 hitting percentage in league play.
  • Sullivan, who also ranks sixth in blocks (1.05), 10th in points (3.64) and 12th in kills (2.95) per set, has posted double-figure kills in a team-leading 14 matches, including in five of the last six matches. She Is hitting .405 and averaging 3.28 kills and 4.02 points when posting 10 or more kills in a match.
  • Freshman setter Stephanie Aiple, who averages 10.80 assists per set in SEC play, directs an A&M offense that ranks second in the league with a .270 team hitting percentage in SEC matches.
  • A&M also is second in the league with a .202 opponent hitting percentage in conference matches.
  • Since Amy Nettles moved to the libero position for the final four sets against Georgia on Oct. 24, the freshman is averaging 4.44 digs per set and has had two 20-plus dig performances over the last four matches. Prior to the Georgia match, Nettles was averaging 1.63 digs per set for the full season and 1.75 digs per set in SEC play, having seen action in only 12 sets in four SEC matches leading up to the Georgia match.
  • Nettles, last week’s SEC Defensive Player of the Week, now leads the Aggies and is 10th in the league with 3.37 digs per set in conference matches only.
  • Like Nettles, sophomore defensive specialist Katelyn Labhart recently has become a mainstay in the back row and has posted double-figure digs in each of the last four matches. Labhart, who had appeared in only one set this season prior to the South Carolina match on Oct. 19, drew the first start of her career against Kentucky on Oct. 26 and has remained in the starting lineup for four consecutive matches.
  • Freshman opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor, the only lefty on the team, has posted double-figure kills in each of the last four matches. She is hitting .231 and averaging 2.15 kills and 2.57 points per set for the full season. Over the last four matches, the San Antonio native is hitting .267 with 2.77 kills and 3.19 points per set.
  • Sophomore outside hitter Emily Hardesty leads A&M with 12 double-figure dig performances this season. She is 14th in the SEC with 2.84 digs per set in conference matches only.
  • The Aggies are 3-4 against ranked opponents. Wins were against No. 6 Southern California and No. 13 San Diego on back-to-back days at the USC Classic on Sept. 11-12 in Los Angeles, as well as No. 16 Kentucky on Oct. 26.
  • Four of A&M’s seven losses this season were against teams ranked in the top 15. The Aggies lost two at home against No. 6 Florida State and also suffered road losses at No. 9 Florida and No. 13 Kentucky. The other losses were against UTSA and Arkansas at Reed Arena and at Alabama.
  • Texas A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli is in her 22nd season at the helm of the Aggies and the 29th year of her head coaching career. The 1984 Olympic silver medalist is 558-325 overall and 458-219 at A&M, where she has directed the Aggies to 17 NCAA tournaments, including each of the last three years.
  • Corbelli returns four starters — juniors and team captains Angela Lowak(6-0, OH) and Shelby Sullivan (6-2, MB) and sophomores Jazzmin Babers(6-2, MB) and Emily Hardesty (6-3, OH) — and four other letterwinners from last year’s team that went 19-12 and made a third consecutive appearance in the NCAA second round before being eliminated by Texas for the second straight year.
  • There are eight newcomers on the A&M roster, including a six-person freshman recruiting class that was recognized by both Volleyball Magazineand PrepVolleyball.com. High school All-Americans Stephanie Aiple (6-1, S/OPP), who joined the team in January, and lefty Ashlie Reasor (6-1, OPP), as well as Kiara McGee (5-11, OH), Amy Nettles (5-4, L/DS), Olivia Thorpe (5-11, OH) and Uche Ukadike (5-11, MB) make up the freshman class.
  • Texas A&M, which tied for sixth place in the SEC standings last season with a 10-8 mark, is picked to finish sixth this year, according a preseason poll of the league’s head coaches.
  • The 2014 season marks the 40th season of volleyball as an intercollegiate varsity sport at Texas A&M. The Aggies are 947-522-2 all-time.

A&M SERIES RECORD VS. LSU:

  • A&M is 24-14 all-time against LSU, including 2-1 in SEC matches only.
  • The series is tied, 6-6, in matches played in College Station.
  • Last year, the teams split a two-match season series, with each team winning on the road.
  • A&M won the most recent meeting, a 25-21, 25-22, 25-22 victory on Nov. 13, 2013, in Baton Rouge. Shelby Sullivan led the Aggies with a match-high 15 kills while hitting .609 and also added a match-high six blocks as A&M outhit LSU, .274 to .178. Briana Holman led the Tigers with 11 kills.
  • LSU has won in each of its last two trips to College Station. In their most recent visit (Oct. 9, 2013), the Tigers dropped the first two sets but came back to win, 20-25, 16-25, 25-19, 25-18, 15-10.
  • Five of the last nine meetings have been decided in five sets.
  • In 2012, A&M’s inaugural season in the SEC, the Aggies defeated LSU, 3-1, in Baton Rouge and went on to win the SEC Western Division, snapping the Tigers’ streak of seven consecutive division championships.
  • In 2013, A&M and LSU were co-favorites to win the SEC Western Division according to the coaches’ preseason poll, which was conducted just before the conference athletics directors passed a measure to no longer recognize division champions in sports other than football and baseball.

SCOUTING LSU:

  • LSU (14-7, 9-3 SEC) has reeled off nine consecutive wins after losing the first three matches of the SEC season.
  • Most recently, the Tigers defeated South Carolina, 3-1, on Friday in Baton Rouge and came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Arkansas, 3-2, in Fayetteville.
  • The nine-match winning streak is LSU’s longest since the 2010 season, and it is their longest conference win streak since 2009.
  • LSU is 6-3 in away matches, including 5-1 in SEC road matches.
  • LSU is 1-5 against ranked opponents. The win was a 3-2 victory at then-No. 12 Kentucky on Oct. 19, earning a split in the season series. Losses were to San Diego, Purdue, Florida State, Kentucky and Florida.
  • Sophomore middle blocker Briana Holman, who is coming off back-to-back 20-plus kill performances last weekend, is hitting .378 in SEC matches and ranks fifth in the league with 3.74 kills per set. She leads the SEC with 1.55 blocks per set and is third in the league with 4.77 points per set in conference matches only.
  • For the full season, Holman enters the week leading the SEC and ranked fourth in the nation with 1.57 blocks per set.
  • LSU was picked to finish fourth in the league according to a preseason vote of the head coaches.
  • Head coach Fran Flory (Texas ‘84) is 312-103 in her 17th season at the helm of the Tigers. A former assistant coach at Texas A&M in 1987 under former Aggie head coach Al Givens, Flory is 422-307 in the 23rd year of her head coaching career

TEXAS A&M: BY THE NUMBERS:

  • A&M is 12-2 when hitting above .200. The Aggies also are 11-2 when winning the first set and 12-1 when winning the second set.
  • A&M is 14-1 when leading in attack percentage, 10-0 when leading in points, 10-0 when leading in kills and 7-1 when leading in aces.
  • Shelby Sullivan has posted double-digit kills in a team-leading 14 matches — including in five of the last six matches — and is hitting .405 and averaging 3.28 kills and 4.02 points when posting 10 or more kills in a match.
  • In A&M’s seven matches vs. top-16 opponents only, Sullivan hit a combined .382 and averaged 2.88 kills, 1.04 blocks and 3.56 points per set.
  • In A&M’s SEC season opener against Auburn on Sept. 28, Sullivan hit a career-high .826, setting an A&M SEC record and a Reed Arena record for hitting percentage when making 10 or more attack attempts. She also broke A&M records for kills (20) and points (25.0) in a three-set SEC match in the sweep against the Tigers.
  • Jazzmin Babers leads A&M and ranks fifth in the SEC with 1.15 blocks per set for the full season. Earlier this season, the redshirt sophomore set a school record with 13 block assists against UTSA (Aug. 30). Her 14 total blocks against the Roadrunners ties for second in the A&M record books.
  • Babers has made 53 consecutive starts dating back to the 2013 season opener. Sullivan has played in 53 consecutive matches, having started 52 of them.
  • Outside hitter Sydney Wilhelm, who is in her first season with the team after playing the last two seasons on the A&M club team, has been the only senior to appear in the starting lineup this season, having started five matches.
  • A&M’s most recent starting lineup consisted of two juniors (Lowak, OH; Sullivan, MB), three sophomores (Babers, MB; Hardesty, OH; Labhart, DS) and one freshman (Aiple, S). Freshman Amy Nettles was the starting libero for the third consecutive match and the third time in her career.
  • After starting the first 12 matches of the season at outside hitter, 6-3 sophomore Emily Hardesty spent the next five matches at libero, making her the tallest libero in the SEC. Hardesty returned to the starting outside hitter position against South Carolina and has remained at the outside.
  • Freshman setter Stephanie Aiple has started each of the last 19 matches and is fifth in the SEC with 10.76 assists per set for the full season. The Round Rock, Texas native is sixth in the league with 10.80 assists per set in SEC matches only.
  • Aiple dished out 48 assists against No. 13 Kentucky on Oct. 5, an A&M record for a three-set SEC match.
  • Entering the week, Babers was 29th in the nation in hitting percentage (.391) and Sullivan was 42nd (.378). Aiple was 53rd in the country with 10.76 assists per set, and Babers was 106th in blocks per set with a 1.15 average. As a team, A&M was 42nd in the nation with a .254 hitting percentage.

TEXAS A&M RECENT RESULTS:

  • After a slow start in the opening set, No. 23 Texas A&M came back strong to defeat Missouri, 17-25, 25-13, 25-13, 25-16, Sunday afternoon at the Hearnes Center.
  • Shelby Sullivan spearheaded the charge for A&M with a match-high 13 kills without an error in 17 swings for a .765 hitting percentage. Jazzmin Babers recorded double-figure kills for the sixth consecutive match with 11 while hitting at a .474 pace. Ashlie Reasor also reached double figures in kills with 11, and freshman setter Stephanie Aiple finished with 48 assists as A&M outhit the Tigers, .348 to .154.
  • Katelyn Labhart was A&M’s leader in the back row with a match-high 12 digs. The sophomore defensive specialist also had a strong serving performance to help thwart Missouri’s offensive efforts and finished with a career-high three aces.
  • After being outhit, .515 to .258 in the opening set, it was the Aggies who had the hot hand in the second set, outhitting the Tigers, .440 to .125 en route to the 25-13 win. A&M used a 3-0 run to take an 8-7 lead, and the Aggies would not trail for the remainder of the frame.
  • A&M never trailed in the third set and outhit Missouri .269 to .-086 to cruise to the 25-13 win. The score was tied at 4-4 when A&M used an 11-1 run to pull away.
  • A&M also would never trail in the fourth set. Missouri managed to tie the score twice, the last coming a 9-9 before A&M went on a 6-1 run. A&M continued to reel off series of points, including a 5-0 surge that put the Aggies ahead, 22-13. A&M hit wide on the next play, but followed with back-to-back kills to put the Aggies at match point. Missouri posted an ace and a block before Sullivan ended the contest with a kill.

UPCOMING:

  • Texas A&M continues its three-match home stand as the Aggies play host to Ole Miss, Sunday at 1 p.m. at Reed Arena. The match will be broadcast on SEC Network +, available on WatchESPN.
  • The promotion is “Take a Kid to the Match.” Up to four kids get in free with the purchase of a regular-priced adult ticket.
  • This is the first of two meetings between the teams this season. They will meet again in the regular-season finale on Friday, Nov. 28, in Oxford, Miss.
  • A&M is 8-0 all-time against the Rebels, including a 25-21, 25-23, 25-16 victory on Sept. 14, 2012, marking Texas A&M’s first SEC victory in any sport.

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 by following @AggieVolleyball.

Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics

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