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Sports
The Battalion
Page IB • Wednesday, August 28, 2002
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Slocum: Farris will be starting QB against Ragin' Cajuns
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FILE PHOTO
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M senior quarterback Mark Farris completes a pass to
senior receiver Dwain Goynes at Kyle Field during the 2001 season.
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By True Brown
THE BATTALION
The Texas A&M volleyball
team is in an unfamiliar position
as the 2002 season draws closer.
Five starters graduated from last
season’s Elite Eight squad that
finished the season ranked No. 1 1
ith a 26-6 record.
The departures of All-
American Jenna Moscovic, Erin
Lechler, Michelle Cole, Brandi
Mount and Beth Weynand has left
a large hole in A&M’s starting
lineup.
“That group had a ton of expe
rience,” said A&M head coach
SCiB
By Dallas Shipp
THE BATTALION
The Texas A&M football team
hopes to hit the ground running
Saturday night when the
University of Louisiana-Lafayette
visits Kyle Field for the 2002 sea
son opener.
Head Coach R.C. Slocum and
the Aggies are looking to begin
the year on a solid note after
struggling in early season
matchups against McNeese State
and Wyoming to start off their
2001 campaign.
“It’s very important to get off
to a good start,” Slocum said.
“Teams don’t know if they are
good or bad early in the year, and
that is why there are a lot of upsets
in early games.
“You would like for a team to
come out and get off to a positive
start and say ‘you know what we
are pretty good.’ We got off to a
poor start last year, even though
we won both games, we didn’t
gain any confidence.”
Most of the struggles faced by
the Aggies in 2001 surrounded the
offense, ranked 106 in the nation.
However, Slocum said he expects
this year’s team to be much
improved.
“I think we can be better in a
number of ways,”
Slocum said. “First
of all [Farris] has
another year of expe
rience so we should
be better at the quar
terback position. He
is on pace to become
the all-time passing
leader in A&M histo
ry this year and I
would love to see
him do well.”
Slocum hopes an
improved passing
game will help a
running back corp
that struggled to gain yardage last
season.
“I see us being better in the
receiving game, and that will take
a lot of pressure off of our rushing
team. I look for our offense to be
quite a bit improved, and hopeful
ly we’ll see it on Saturday.”
Farris has not practiced with
the first team for much of the past
week. However, Slocum said on
Tuesday that Farris looked sharp
— and was able to
take part in drills.
“[Farris]
worked out today
and it looks like he
is going to be fine,
he is good to go”
Slocum said. “He
said he was fine
and he threw more
than we anticipat
ed.”
If Farris is
unable to finish the
game on Saturday,
Dustin Long has
been listed as the
No. 2 quarterback.
Long led the first team offense
through most of the scrimmage
last weekend.
A&M is entering the
66
I look for our
offense to be quite
a bit improved,
and hopefully
we will see
it on Saturday.
99
— R.C. Slocum
Texas A&M Head Coach
season
ranked No. 23 in the Associated
Press poll and are as high as sev
enth in individual polls.
Historically, the Aggies have done
well when they begin the season
ranked lower rather than higher.
While it is a compliment to be
mentioned in the preseaspn polls,
they rarely mean anything when
the bowl season comes around,
Slocum said.
“I’m pleased that we are
ranked,” Slocum said. “But when
you play in the conference that we
play in and you have the schedule
that we have, the ranking isn’t
nearly as important. We can go all
the way to the top if we just win
our games.”
In R.C. Slocum’s 13-year
career as head coach, he has com
piled a 13-0 record in home open
ers and is 28-0 against non-confer
ence opponents at Kyle Field.
The Aggies hold a 3-1 advan
tage over UL-Lafayette and won
their last meeting at Kyle Field 66-
0 in 1997. Kickoff is scheduled for
Saturday at 6 p.m.
New faces lead A&M squad into first match
Laurie Corbelli. “This year’s
group has between two and three
years of starting experience where
last year’s team had about 13. It
will be hard to get past our inex
perience.”
The lone returning starter for
the Aggies is sophomore Melissa
Munsch. Munsch spent most of
last season as a middle blocker
but will likely see time as an out
side hitter to replace Cole and
Lechler.
Munsch finished last season
with five double-doubles and saw
action in every match. Senior
A.D. Achilefu is the only other
Aggie with significant starting
experience.
“I think we can go just as far as
they did last season,” Munsch
said. “We are bigger, taller and
stronger. I don’t feel there is any
real pressure on me [being the
only returning starter]. I know I
have to do well so I don’t feel it
from the outside.”
Despite A&M’s inexperience,
the Aggies had a strong showing
in preseason polls. The Aggies are
ranked 17 and have been picked
to finish second in the Big 12
behind powerhouse Nebraska.
“We are more used to being
ranked lower at the start of the
season,” Corbelli said. “It is a lot
different when you start out
ranked high because there is a lit
tle bit of added pressure and more
expectations. I was a little startled
(by the ranking) but we do have
some very good players here.”
A&M opens the season this
weekend when it hosts the
McDonald’s/Texas A&M
Invitational. A&M has a pair of
games Friday, playing Alcorn
State at 3 p.m. and UTS A at 6
p.m. The tournament concludes
Sunday when A&M faces LSU at
2 p.m.
With so many players lacking
See Faces on page 4B
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JOHN C. LIVAS •
Sophomore Melissa Munsch participates in 2002
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THE BATTALION
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