Volleyball Preview: No. 20 Texas A&M
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Match #17 - State Farm Lone Star Showdown
No. 9 Texas
(16-0, 8-0 Big 12) at
No. 20 Texas A&M (9-5, 5-3 Big 12)
When: Saturday, October 16, 2004 at 3 p.m.
Where: G. Rollie White Coliseum (capacity: 7,800)
All-Time Series Record: Texas leads, 55-21 (27-5 home, 19-9 away, 11-5
neutral)
Series Streaks: The two teams have split the last four matches with
each team winning at home
Last Meeting: Oct. 24, 2003: A&M won, 3-0 (30-15, 30-17, 30-23)
in College Station
Last UT victory: Oct. 1, 2003: UT won, 3-2 (29-31, 24-30, 30-21, 31-29,
18-16) in Austin
Last A&M victory: See last meeting
Elliott vs. Texas A&M: 2-4
QUICK SETS
The
meeting between the two teams is the first-ever in the State Farm Lonestar
Showdown ... each meeting between the UT and A&M volleyball teams
is worth 1/2 point in the annual standings ... the two schools have
already met once this season with the Aggie soccer team defeating the
Horns, 3-1, on Sept. 10.
Texas continued it climb in the national rankings,
moving into the Top 10 at No. 9 in the USA Today/CSTV Top 25 Coaches
Poll this week. Texas is also ranked No. 10 in this week‚s Volleyball
Magazine poll.
Texas is one of four remaining
undefeated teams in the nation, joining Washington, Ohio State, and
Hawaii ... the Longhorns are 16-0 to open a season for the first time
since 1990 when the Horns opened 26-0 ... with its victory on Wednesday
against Missouri, Texas surpassed its 2003 win total (15).
Texas leads
the nation in hitting percentage (NCAA Stats release, 10/12/04), with
a .341 mark through last week, and is ranked 13th in kills per game
(16.96) and 14th in assists per game (15.58) with a freshman - Michelle
Moriarty - leading the offense at setter.
Mira Topic
leads the Big 12 in both overall and conference only kills/game ...
nationally, she is ranked 10th in kills/game in the latest stats release
(10/12) ... this week she earned her third Big 12 Player of the Week
award of the season for her performances against Texas Tech and Kansas
State.
UT has limited it opponents
to a hitting percentage under .250 in each of its 16 matches, including
six matches where the team has held its opponents below .100 ... offensively,
Texas has hit for an attack percentage of .350 or higher in 10 of 16
matches this season, including four matches of .420 or higher.
UT won 14 of its 16 matches
by 3-0 scores, and has won 48 games to its opponents‚ three in
2004 ... Texas has limited opponents to 19 or fewer points in 23 games
this season ... UT managed the feat in only eight games in 2003.
Texas has won its last
four matches against ranked teams dating back to last season ... UT
topped No. 5 Kansas State (3-1) on Nov. 29, 2003, No. 21 Kansas (3-0)
on Sept. 25, 2004, No. 5 Florida on Sept. 29, 2004 and No. 16 Kansas
State (3-0) on Oct. 9, 2004.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Texas A&M is 9-5 overall and 5-3 in conference play ... the Aggies have played
six matches against ranked teams this season, going 2-4, falling to No. 3 UCLA
(3-0), No. 13 UC Santa Barbara (3-0), No. 19 Kansas State (3-0) and No. 7 Nebraska
(3-0) and defeating No. 8 California (3-0) and No. 24 Kansas (3-1) ... junior
outside hitter Laura Jones leads the team in kills (210, 4.47/game), while sophomore
Christi Hahn, sister of former Longhorn Kathy Hahn, leads the team in hitting
percentage (.364) ... senior outside hitter Melissa Munsch is averaging 3.62
kills/game and team-highs in digs/game (3.43) and blocks/game (1.66).
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TEXAS
A&M QUICK FACTS Location: College Station, Texas Head Coach: Laurie Corbelli (San Francisco '88) Nickname: Aggies Colors: Maroon and White 2003 Record: 23-10 2003 Big 12 Record (Finish): 13-7 (Tied for third) Postseason: NCAA Round of 16 Final AVCA Ranking: No. 16 |
