Kansas Continues Road Swing At Texas A&M Saturday
Oct. 24, 2008
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Game Notes 
The University of Kansas volleyball team (9-10, 3-7 Big 12) will continue its road swing Saturday when they travel to Texas A&M (9-11, 4-6 Big 12) to face the Aggies for the second time in less than a month. The match, which was originally scheduled for 6:30 p.m., has been moved to a 3 p.m. start time.
Free live stats for the contest is available on the Kansas Athletics’ official website at www.kuathletics.com. In addition, fans can access live video streaming on the website for a subscription fee.
About Kansas
Kansas suffered a three-set setback at Baylor Wednesday as they are 9-10 overall and 3-7 in the Big 12 heading into Saturday’s contest at Texas A&M. Three players are contributing over two kills per set in Big 12 matches led by sophomore Karina Garlington with 3.74 kps, who ranks fourth in the league. Sophomore Jenna Kaiser and senior Savannah Noyes trail with 2.21 kps each. Noyes also paces the team with the conference’s fifth-best attack percentage at .365 and has hit .500 or better in her last two outings. Freshman setter Nicole Tate can also be found in the Big 12 rankings as her 10.21 aps rank fifth in league contests. Defensively, sophomore libero Melissa Manda averages 3.23 dps, which is 10th in the Big 12.
Head coach Ray Bechard is in his 11th season as head coach of the Jayhawks with a 170-153 overall record.
Scouting Texas A&M
Texas A&M suffered a three-set loss to Nebraska on Wednesday, their third straight loss, in Lincoln to put A&M at 4-6 in the Big 12 and 9-11 overall. The Aggies have won six of their nine games in College Station this season. Junior Mary Batis leads the team in kills with an average of 3.31 kps in Big 12 play, which ranks ninth among conference players. Freshman Chelsea Ringel is tops on the team in digs with an average of 3.03 dps. Darla Donaldson, a senior, is third in the Big 12 in blocking with 1.17 bps.
Texas A&M is coached by Laurie Corbelli, who is 336-155 in her 16th year as head coach of the Aggies.
Series History
Texas A&M has won the last three meetings with the Jayhawks as they own a 21-4 advantage in the all-time series with Kansas. KU won all four of its matches with the Aggies from 2003-06, with their last victory coming on Sept. 20, 2006. The Jayhawks have never won in College Station.
Last Meeting With the Aggies
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Emily Brown recorded her fifth triple-double of the year, but her team-high 11 kills, 22 assists and 12 digs were not enough to overcome the Texas A&M Aggies as KU fell in three by scores of 30-25, 30-27 and 30-21.
Three players added eight kills in the effort including Natalie Uhart and Savannah Noyes and Jenna Kaiser. Uhart recorded no errors in 16 attempts for a team-best .500 hitting efficiency and also posted five block assists. Freshman libero Melissa Manda led on defense with 16 digs during the match.
Last Time Out
WACO, Texas — Sophomore Karina Garlington notched her 16th contest of double-digit kills with 10, but Baylor’s .427 attack percentage was too much to overcome as the Bears topped KU 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 27-25).
Senior Savannah Noyes and junior Brittany Williams each swung at a .500 clip during the contest with seven and six kills, respectively. Junior Katie Martincich led the defense digging up eight balls. Fellow junior Melissa Grieb followed with eight.
Three Sets
Kansas’ three-set match at Baylor on Oct. 22 was the Jayhawks’ first three-set contest in Big 12 action this season and first since Sept. 13, a span of 18 matches. KU has played just six three-set matches so far this year. The current program record for fewest three-set matches during the Big12 era is 15 in both 2005 and 2007.
Attendance Leaders
Once again, Kansas volleyball continues to be among the nation’s leaders in average home attendance. The Jayhawks are currently 37th in the country averaging 923 fans per contest at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center.
Noyes In the Career Charts
Senior Savannah Noyes picked up a solo block at Texas A&M to crack KU’s top 10 career solo blocks list. Noyes has 49 solo rejections for her career, tying 2007 senior Emily Brown at No. 10 on the list.
The 6-3 Indianola, Neb., native is currently fifth on KU’s attack percentage list with a .254 career hitting percentage. She is also just eight sets shy of getting her name on the career sets played list.
Up Next
Kansas returns home to host Border Showdown rival Missouri on Oct. 29 in a 7 p.m. contest. From there, KU travels to in-state rival Kansas State on Saturday, Nov. 1. Match time with the Wildcats is slated for 7 p.m.
