WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2016 STUDENT MEDIA | @THEBATTONLINE
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THE BATTALION | THEBATT.COM
By Heath Clary @Heath_Clary
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efore every set the Texas A&M volleyball team plays, Amy Nettles plants a kiss on the wrist of Stephanie Aiple. The tradition started last year when Aiple, the reigning SEC Player of the Year, had to have her wrist taped because of a torn ligament. The duo makes it a point to perform this routine every single time out — even though Aiple had her wrist surgically repaired in January — and Nettles refuses to even entertain what would happen if they didn’t do it. The exchange is a perfect example of the continuity and selflessness that head coach Laurie Corbelli makes a priority in her program, both of which Nettles understands and embodies. After all, it was those very characteristics that attracted her to A&M in the first place. “I met the girls, and the atmosphere here was a lot of love,” said Nettles, who sported a black eye at the time of the interview — the result of getting kneed in the face by a teammate in practice. “Just love for the game and a lot of places weren’t like that as much. Other schools didn’t have the high team chemistry and that’s something that’s important to me. Winning is the best, but winning with people you love is even better.” For the past two seasons, Nettles has been a big piece of the Aggies’ winning ways, and she is doing much of the same in 2016.
NETTLES: DIG MASTER
The junior libero from San Antonio has been an anchor in the back row for A&M in all three of her seasons in College Station. She won the team’s Best Defensive Player award in both her freshman and sophomore campaigns after she led the team in digs, and is doing so once again so far in 2016. “She is spunky, she’s feisty and I love her to death,” Aiple said. “She works so hard, she’s a great leader on the court and she just gets better every day. I never see a setback with her, she’s just always working hard and getting better.” Not surprisingly, digging is Nettles’ favorite part of playing volleyball. She said she especially enjoys the times when there aren’t any blockers separating her from one of the opposing team’s hitters — who is about to spike the ball in her direction as hard as possible — and she has to do whatever it takes to keep the ball off the ground. “It’s so rugged, you just have to do whatever you can,”
said Nettles, who needs 132 more digs to become the 21st Aggie in school history to reach the 1,000-dig club. “You have to be like, ‘I don’t care where it hits me, I just hope it gets up.’” Communication is a key aspect of the libero position, and Nettles has never had trouble with that because she is a naturally outspoken individual. However, she said communication is not just being loud all the time and yelling random things. Communication also involves having a steady attitude and exuding confidence no matter the situation. “Communication can be nonverbal and verbal,” Nettles said. “So just having a confident nonverbal attitude is always a good feeder for everyone because everything is so contagious. So if you even look confident, the communication is like, ‘We got this, we can do this.’” Nettles also possesses the ability to NETTLES ON PG. 4
Junior libero Amy Nettles was the only Aggie to play in all 115 of A&M’s sets in the 2015 season.
JUNIOR LIBERO AMY NETTLES TALKS COMMUNICATION ON, OFF THE COURT Kevin Chou — THE BATTALION
‘Break dancing on a bike’ ‘Bike Guy’ in Pickard Pass a pro BMX flatland rider, practices tricks in tunnel By Luke Henkhaus @Luke_Henkhaus
Carlie Russell — THE BATTALION
Political science junior Michael Shao, or the “Bike Guy,” spends time in Pickard Pass practicing for his professional BMX flatland competitions.
Michael Shao, more commonly known as the “Bike Guy” or “That Guy on the Bike,” can often be seen performing elaborate tricks on his bicycle in Pickard Pass — a talent that has made him somewhat of a phenomenon among the Texas A&M student body. In addition to being a political science junior at A&M, Shao is also a professional competitor in the sport of BMX Flatland. He uses the wide, flat space in Pickard Pass to practice for competitions. “It’s kind of like break dancing on a bike, or figure skating with a bike,” Shao said. “You don’t hit ramps, it’s just on flat ground — whatever you can do on flat ground.” Shao recently placed second in the expert division of the Texas Flatland Roundup X competition, which was held in San Antonio last weekend. “Right now, I’m the number 3 expert rider in the United States,” Shao said. “But the season’s not over, so anything could happen.” Although Shao performs many tricks while practicing in the pass, there is one in particular he said he is especially proud of. “It’s called the spinning half-hiker. It’s one of the first tricks I learned,” Shao said. “Everyone’s really impressed by it. They don’t understand how I do it so fast. It’s kind of my go-to trick.” SHAO ON PG. 2
Prestige within the pages Oldest Texas A&M library boasts one of world’s largest science fiction, fantasy collections By Alice Corcoran @AliceJ_Corcoran Texas A&M has five different libraries, with more than five million books. But only one of the libraries on campus houses many pieces of Aggie tradition: Cushing Library. Built in the 1930s as the original library for Texas A&M, Cushing Library is the oldest library on campus. Cushing Library has grown to house one of the world’s largest science fiction and fantasy collections. Jeremy Brett, curator for Cushing Library’s science fiction and fantasy collection, said Cushing Library is an important landmark on campus because it allows for interaction between all kinds of majors and fosters cultural education at Texas A&M. “We are an engineering school and an [agriculture] school obviously that’s part of our identity and we need that,” Brett said. “But I think if we really want to be the best public university in the country we have to build the humanities side of it ... Libraries can help, and this particular kind of library does that.” CUSHING ON PG. 2
Yuri Suchil — THE BATTALION
Cushing Library is the oldest library at Texas A&M and houses George R.R. Martin’s original manuscripts for “A Song of Fire and Ice.”
A&M leads SEC in rushing, defense playing lights out
Kevin Chou — THE BATTALION
Freshman running back Trayveon Williams leads the nation in yards per carry with 9.7.
By Lawrence Smelser @LawrenceSmelser Entering the 2016 season, Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin and his team had high hopes for improving the running game and the defense in coordinator John Chavis’ second year. Now, after starting the season 4-0, the Aggies have the SEC’s top rushing attack headed by Trayveon Williams, the nation’s leader in yards per carry with 9.7. The defense is allowing only 16 points per game and in Saturday’s 45-24 win over Arkansas the Aggies made two goal line stands inside the two-yard line. “I’m really excited about how our players performed in terms of effort,” Chavis said. “I thought it was incredible. I’ve never seen a group play any harder. The goal line stand was incredible. It was as big as it gets. They denied them the end zone, and I’m as proud of that as I can be.” In his last two games against Arkansas and Auburn, Williams has run for 280 yards and three touchdowns of 89, 33 and 22 yards on only 20 total carries. Williams has been named SEC Freshman of the Week for two straight weeks and his success as an Aggie would not have occurred had he stuck with his original commitment to TCU. “We were fortunate to flip him,” Sumlin said. “He was committed to another school. He changed his mind and I’m glad he did. He’s got real explosiveness. He and Colton Prater are playing at a really high level for freshman. They have one thing in common: Their work ethic off the field. That has set them apart. I think them coming in and seeing the change in approach in the off-season — it’s all they know. They’ve had a great start to the season, but they don’t wear it on their sleeves. Trayveon enjoys it, but he’s working on it off the field to be as good as he can be.” The maroon and white rushed for 366 yards against the Razorbacks, the most since recording 381 against Arkansas on Oct. 1, 2011. A&M quarterback Trevor Knight had three runs of more than 40 yards this weekend — two for touchdowns — and he is one of two quarterbacks in the nation to have more than 1,000 PRESSER ON PG. 4