Throughout the Texas A&M volleyball camps this summer, young campers repeatedly came up to Aggie volleyball players, who were helping run the camp, with one question: “What happened against SMU?”
This was in reference to A&M’s first-round exit in last year’s NCAA Tournament, and the Aggies invariably responded with one definitive answer.
“They’ll ask us about it, and we’re like ‘We don’t want to talk about it,’” senior outside hitter Ashlie Reasor said. “It’s definitely fueling me because they played out of their minds and we wanted to beat them, but we didn’t get to, so we’re probably going to take it out on some other teams this year.”
Not only do the Aggies remember how it felt dropping three straight sets to the Mustangs last fall, but the returning players are using it as inspiration to come back stronger in 2017.
“That made everyone have a sour taste in our mouth, so I think that gives us a little more motivation this year,” said sophomore outside hitter Hollann Hans, a member of the All-SEC Freshman Team last year. “We’re all really looking forward to the season.”
Texas A&M, ranked fourth in the SEC’s preseason standings, lost senior stalwarts Jazzmin Babers and Victoria Arenas from last year’s squad, as well as All-American junior setter Stephanie Aiple, who retired due to a nagging back injury.
The Aggies still have a nice blend of youth and experience coming back, however, as Reasor and Hans return as accomplished hitters, senior Amy Nettles returns as the starting libero and Preseason All-SEC honoree Kaitlyn Blake figures to be a force as a middle blocker.
Head coach Laurie Corbelli and her staff also lured another solid recruiting class to campus, led by Camille Conner, the expected heir to Aiple at setter.
“It’s going to be really fun, the new freshman class is going to help us out a lot,” Reasor said. “We’re pretty stacked across the board, which is nice. We don’t have to worry about injuries hurting the team.”
Also part of the recruiting class are two talented 6-foot-4 middle blockers, and returning defensive specialists Amy Houser and Gabby Litwin figure to contribute on the back row as well.
“We have some height, we have amazing skill,” Blake said. “I think once we get everybody back and on the same page we’re going to do really well.”
Similarly to last season, the Aggies’ non-conference schedule is filled with elite programs, including Stanford and Texas, who squared off in the 2016 National Championship.
Hans added that not only is the team excited to play top-notch programs they are thrilled to do so on their home court.
“I’m just so excited, especially because most of them are going to be at home,” Hans said. “It will be fun playing those teams in front of the 12th Man. We’re excited to have some great competition come into Reed Arena and hopefully we’ll put on a good show.”
The 2017 edition of Aggie volleyball expects to feature a more cohesive unit as well. The players met with a sports psychologist multiple times in the offseason, and they said they are already seeing the benefits from those sessions in the form of better team chemistry.
“Last year the chemistry seemed off. We were all really close and we were all friends but it seemed just to not click sometimes,” Blake said. “I think with the team we have right now the seniors have been working really hard to make sure everybody is on the same page and working hard. We’re being more of a team rather than everybody just doing their own thing.”
In the meantime, don’t expect the Aggies to forget about their first round loss to SMU anytime soon.
“I think seeing how last year went and being able to fix that and becoming a more well-rounded team,” Blake said, “we will definitely go a lot farther this year than we did last year.”
The Aggies open their season by hosting the Texas A&M Invitational, starting with Sam Houston State on Aug. 25 at 6:30 p.m.
