The Texas A&M volleyball team had a long weekend, losing to No. 5 Penn State in five sets and getting swept by No. 1 Stanford in three sets to fall to 2-2 to start the season. A&M will now travel to Madison, Wisconsin to take on Lipscomb University and No. 6 Wisconsin (5-0).
This week, the Aggies look to gain momentum and get back on the right track. After almost pulling off an upset against Penn State and getting swept aside by Stanford, the Aggies hope to rebound this week in their two games in Madison.
“I feel like I say it a lot, but the future is so exciting with the young players that we’ve got,” Corbelli told 12thman.com after the Penn State match.
Corbelli also praised sophomore Hollann Hans, who leads the team with 4.29 kills per set and freshman Camille Conner, who leads the team in hitting with a hit percentage of .403.
“I couldn’t be happier that is those two, because I trust them completely and know that they are committed to this program,” Corbelli said. “I know they are passionate about volleyball and winning.”
Despite the two losses this past weekend, senior libero Amy Nettles told 12thman.com that team confidence is still high and look forward to a new week of facing challenging teams.
Wisconsin leads the Big Ten in hitting percentage at .393, kills per set at 15.50 and assists per set at 14.87.
Two of the Badgers strongest players are freshman Sydney Hilley, who leads the Big-Ten in assists with 13, and freshman Dana Ratke ranks third in the Big Ten with a hitting percentage at .533 and is also third in blocks per set at 1.83. Last week, Wisconsin dominated its competition sweeping Syracuse, Arkansas and Kansas State in the K-State Invitational and is on a five-game winning streak.
Wisconsin leads the all-time series 4-2 and the Aggies have yet to win in Madison in their two attempts. The last meeting between the two teams was on September 16, 2016, where the Badgers swept the Aggies in three sets in College Station.
Texas A&M opens up Hotelred Invitational on Friday, September 8 against Lipscomb University at 6 p.m. in Madison, Wisconsin.
