The No. 11 Texas A&M Aggies look for their 15th consecutive home victory as they open SEC play against the Tennessee Volunteers at 6 p.m. Thursday on Ellis Field.
In an effort to encourage attendance, the Yell Leaders will hold their Thursday away-game yell practice — normally held on the steps of the YMCA Building — at halftime.
Fresh off their Sunday shutout of Marquette that saw goals from Shea Groom, Allie Bailey and Leigh Edwards in a 3-0 victory, the Aggies (6-1-1) will play for more than a win in their first conference match this season on Thursday night.
The Aggies and those in attendance will be supporting 9-year-old Quinn Pesicka to “Kick Cancer” as she will be a special guest to the team.
Head coach G Guerrieri and his team hosts a Tennessee team that has a 3-0 record against the Aggies. All three Vols victories have come by final scores of 1-0.
Hannah Wilkinson, who scored in a 1-0 victory against A&M in 2012, has a team-leading four goals on the season for the Volunteers (4-3-0). Anna McClung and Amy Neal have scored two goals each this year.
Tennessee is averaging just under 10 shots per game while allowing 12.1, but goalie Jamie Simmons has provided security at the net for the Volunteers, allowing just six goals on the year.
In their last outing, McClung scored two goals in a 3-1 victory over Richmond.
Guerrieri has built a high-octane offense to rival that of fellow A&M coach Kevin Sumlin’s high scoring squad.
The Aggies have nearly doubled their opponents’ shot attempts with a 173-90 advantage. They are scoring 2.5 goals per game on 21.6 shots.
A&M senior Kelley Monogue is up to 19 points on the season with a team-leading seven goals and five assists. She has 39 shots, 22 on goal. Groom trails shortly behind with five goals and two assists.
After kicking off SEC play, A&M will travel to Baton Rouge on Sept. 26 to play LSU.