Jayhawks Close Out Homestand Versus No. 25 Texas A&M

Oct. 29, 2009

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

Kansas vs. Texas A&M Game Notes

In its third-straight home match, the University of Kansas volleyball team (12-9, 4-7 Big 12) will host No. 25 Texas A&M (13-6, 6-5 Big 12) on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 6:30 p.m. Kids who wear their costume to the match will be admitted for $3.

Free live stats as well as a webstreaming of the event (for a fee) will be available on the KU Athletics website at www.KUAthletics.com.

Quick Hits

» Kansas will be facing a ranked Texas A&M squad for the first time since Sept. 14, 2005 when the Aggies were No. 15, a 3-0 KU victory.

» The Jayhawks are coming off their second-best offensive outing of the season after recording a .367 attack percentage versus UMKC on Tuesday. KU also had a season-low eight hitting errors in the contest.

» Kansas has hit over .200 in each of its last four matches.

» KU has won three of its last four matches.

» Following back-to-back sweeps at Kansas State and Texas Tech, Kansas recorded its first consecutive Big 12 Conference road sweeps in program history.

About Kansas

After losing to rival Missouri last Saturday, the Jayhawks bounced back with a 3-0 sweep versus UMKC Tuesday in KU’s final non-conference match of the season. With the win, Kansas improved to 12-9 overall (4-7 Big 12) heading into this weekend’s matchup. Junior Karina Garlington leads KU with 3.52 kps, while senior Paige Mazour is hitting a team-best .320 attack percentage. During Big 12 matches however, sophomore Allison Mayfield has paced the team with 3.47 kps and senior Brittany Williams is hitting .383. Sophomore Nicole Tate guides the offense averaging 11.11 aps. Junior libero Melissa Manda is tops on the team in the back row digging up 4.27 balls per set. She is even better in league play averaging 4.71 dps.

Scouting Texas A&M

No. 25 Texas A&M is coming off a loss to No. 2 Texas and has dropped three of its last four contests. The Aggies are 13-6 overall and 6-5 in the Big 12, including 2-3 in conference road matches. Three players average over three kills per set led by senior Sarah Ammerman’s 4.07 kps, third in the Big 12. As a team, the Aggies lead the league averaging 14.92 kps and are second in the Big 12 with a .260 attack percentage. Freshman Lindsey Miller leads A&M with a .331 attack percentage as well as 0.77 bps on defense. Freshman Tori Mellinger is digging up a team-high 3.46 balls per set, just ahead of senior Mary Batis’ 3.30 dps. Laurie Corbelli is 356-164 in her 17th season as head coach at Texas A&M.

Series Info: Texas A&M leads 24-4 in the all-time series history with Kansas. From 2003-06, KU went 4-0 against the Aggies in Lawrence. The all-time series mark on the Jayhawks’ home court is 9-4.

Movin’ On Up

Sophomore setter Nicole Tate tallied 39 assists Tuesday versus UMKC, the most assists by a KU player in a three-set match this year, to move up two places in KU’s top 10 career assists list. Tate brought her assist total up to 1,900 to pass Lesli Steinert (1992-93) and current Jayhawk Katie Martincich for the No. 6 spot on the list.

Mayfield Shines Versus Top 25

Through all matches, sophomore Allison Mayfield is second on the team with 3.36 kps. During matches versus top 25 foes however, Mayfield paces the team averaging 3.67 kps. The 6-1 outside hitter has led the KU offense in three of its four matches versus ranked opponents and also recorded one of her four career double-doubles against perennial powerhouse Nebraska on Oct. 7.

Up Next

Kansas will open the month of November with its first of two-straight matches on Wednesday, Nov. 4 when the team travels to Colorado. First serve is scheduled for 8 p.m. CST. From there, the Jayhawks head to Oklahoma on Nov. 7 for a 7 p.m. match.