PLAYER OF THE WEEK Hawaiis Kim Willoughby has been named the Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week. She is the first player this season to earn the honor twice. Willoughby, a 6-0 sophomore left side hitter from Napoleonville, La. (Assumption HS), led Hawaii to two WAC victories over UTEP and SMU. Willoughby and the Rainbow Wahine have now won nine-straight and currently hold the top spot in the Western Division.
Against UTEP, Willoughby broke her own school record for kills in a four-game match with 36. The mark is also highest in the league this season. On the week, she averaged 8.29 kills per game in the teams two wins. The sophomore followed her record-setting performance with 22 kills and 13 digs against SMU for her league-leading 12th double-double of the season. Willoughby led the nation in kills last week averaging 6.60 kpg. This week, she kept that mark to lead the WAC. She is also third in the WAC in hitting percentage with a mark of .328. In WAC matches, she averages 7.38 kpg.
Other nominees included: Shauna McQuaid, Fresno State; Elizabeth Davenport Pollock, Rice and Brianna Blair, San Jose State.
OTHERS NOMINATED Other nominees include: Fresno State's Shauna McQuaid helped the Bulldogs to a 2-0 record in WAC matches last week. She recorded a match-high 14 kills in a win over Nevada, adding two assists, two digs and three total blocks. McQuaid improved on those marks against SMU. The senior had a career-high 25 kills and added seven blocks. McQuaid now has 12 consecutive double-figure kill matches, including four 20-plus performances. Rice's Elizabeth Davenport Pollock, a 6-1 middle blocker, had a solid performance in a loss to Louisiana State. The junior from Bethesda, Md., hit .455 in the match. Davenport Pollock also added 13 kills and one dig in the match. San Jose State's Brianna Blair had a total of 59 kills in three matches as the Spartans went 3-0 on the week. Blair, a senior outside hitter, also added 11 digs and nine total blocks. The Tempe, Ariz., native led the team in kills in all three wins and had a career-high 30 kills against St. Mary's. She average 5.9 kills and 1.10 digs on the week. With 18 kills in the win against Nevada, she moved into third all-time in kills at San Jose State with 1,365 kills.
WAC ACTION The WAC enters its fifth week of conference play. Hawai`i moved to the top of the Western Division with wins against UTEP and SMU. San Jose State and Fresno State are tied for the second spot in the West. The Spartans posted wins after wins over Louisiana Tech and Nevada, while the Bulldogs defeated SMU and Nevada.
In the East, SMU and Rice are tied for the lead with 2-3 records. Tulsa and UTEP are only percentage points behind.
On the slate this week, the top two teams in the West, Hawai`i and San Jose State, will battle on October 18. Fresno State, tied for second in the West, and fourth place Nevada will also battle head to head.
VIVAS EARNS 200th WIN AT FRESNO STATE -
Fresno State head coach Lindy Vivas earned her 200th win at the helm of the Fresno State Bulldogs with a three-game victory over SMU. With wins over SMU and Nevada, Vivas now holds a record of 201-113 (.600) at Fresno State in 11 seasons. In 15 years as a head coach, she holds a mark of 273-194 (.580).
FRESNO STATE STOPS NEVADA WINNING STREAK -Fresno State pulled off a four-game upset over No. 26 Nevada (30-23, 26-30, 35-33, 30-21). And the Bulldogs kept their perfect home record in tact at 9-0 while snapping the Wolf Packs nine-match win streak and handing Nevada its first conference loss.
The Dogs hit .344 in game one and .348 in game four.
Fresno State was led by three Bulldogs who notched double-figure kill performances. Senior middle blocker Shauna McQuaid pounded out a match-and career-high 25 kills, while hitting .395 and adding a match-high seven total blocks. Junior outside hitter Christy Burnett hit .467 for the match with 15 kills with one error in 30 attempts. Burnett also posted a match-high 16 digs and was the only Bulldog to notch a double-double. Sophomore outside hitter Kara Verwey added 14 kills, four service aces, seven digs and four blocks.
Fresno State freshman setter Whitney Arena added 60 assists, had three blocks and collected 10 digs.
Nevada was led by Suzanne Stonebarger who collected a double-double with 13 kills and 15 digs, while adding six blocks. Denise Sheldon had a team-best 15 kills.
BOISE STATE DEFEATS LOUISIANA TECH
Boise State up its first win of the season and win number one in WAC action with a three-game victory over Louisiana Tech, 30-26, 30-24, 30-24.
Boise State sophomore Jacqueline Heler had 14 kills and 13 digs. Sophomore Megan Tranter added 11 kills, four aces and six digs. Sophomore Joy Baldwin added 10 kills, seven digs and three blocks. Junior Chera Sommer had 44 assists, three aces and four blocks.
As a team the Broncos had 52 kills and 20 errors on 123 attempts for a season high hitting percentage of .250. The team added 46 assists, eight aces, 41 digs and nine blocks.
Louisiana Tech was led by Tanya Jarvis (eight kills and 12 digs) and Laura Osterhaus (eight kills, five digs). The Lady Techsters had 41 kills, 38 assists, five aces, 43 digs and four team blocks.
WAC TOURNAMENT CREDENTIAL DEADLINE Request forms for credentials to the 2001 WAC Volleyball Tournament in San Jose are now available through the league office. Media requesting hotel rooms must have their credential forms in by Friday, Oct. 26. If no room is requested, the deadline is Wednesday, Nov. 7. The Volleyball Tournament is slated for Nov. 15-18 at the Event Center.
VOLLEYBALL FORMAT There are two divisions for 2001: Western and Eastern. The teams in the West consist of Boise State, Fresno State, Hawai`i, Nevada and San Jose State. The teams in the East consist of Louisiana Tech, Rice, SMU, UTEP and Tulsa. Each team plays each other twice, home and home within each division and plays each team from the other division once.
ON A ROLL After a slow start Hawai`i continues to roll. The Wahine have won
nine-straight matches after starting the season 3-4. Since joining the WAC in 1997, the Rainbow Wahine have compiled a 76-1 (.987) mark during conference play.
San Jose State is in the midst of a four-match winning streak that places them in a tie for second in the WAC's Western Division. Last week, the Spartans came up with a win over regionally ranked Nevada. The Spartans are now 13-2 against the Wolf Pack.
THE WAC IN THE NCAA STATS Kim Willoughby (Hawai`i) remains the national leaders in kills (as of 10/7). Willoughby with 6.35 kpg through 46 games. The sophomore retains the top spot for the second-straight week. The highest any WAC player has finished nationally in kills is third when Brigham Young's Tea Nieminen averaged 5.22 kpg during the 1990 season.
Jacqueline Heler (Boise State) and Suzanne Stonebarger (Nevada) are also among the national leaders. Heler is tied for 23rd in the country in digs with 3.89 dpg and Stonebarger is 26th with 3.88 dpg. Fresno State's Shauna McQuaid with a 1.47 bpg average.
NATIONAL POLL WATCH Hawai`i is the only WAC team to receive mention in both the USA Today/AVCA and Volleyball Magazine polls. This week, Hawai`i moved up in both polls. Hawai`i is ranked 12th in the USA Today/AVCA top 25 poll and 13th in the Volleyball Magazine poll. Nevada also received six votes in the USA Today/AVCA poll, and San Jose State made its appearance with seven votes, while both San Jose State and Nevada received votes in this week's Volleyball Magazine poll.
HAWAI`I CONTINUES TO LEAD THE NATION IN ATTENDANCE Hawai`i is averaging 6,513 fans after its first 10 home matches. The Rainbow Wahine own the nation's top nine attendance figures this season and drew 7,723 fans against UCLA on Sept. 2, the second highest this season. Most recently, the Wahine drew 6,002 fans for a match with SMU. The Rainbow Wahine drew 153,688 fans in 2000 and is the only program in the country to draw more than 100,000 for six-consecutive years. Hawai`i is well on its way to make that seven seasons with over 65,000 total fans so far this season.
LEMAN BECOMES ALL-TIME DIG LEADER AT RICE Rice's senior outside hitter Leigh Leman recorded 10 digs in a loss to LSU to become the all-time dig leader with 1,226. The record was held by Karolina Zelinka, who finished her career last season with 1,217 digs. Leman is only a junior.
TOP SCHEDULE Hawai`i is off to a 12-4 start, but the Rainbow Wahine have already faced No. 1 Nebraska, No. 5 USC, No. 8 UCLA, No. 9 Wisconsin, No. 20 Santa Clara and No. 22 Kansas State. Hawai`i is 3-4 against ranked opponents, and has also defeated Big Ten foe Michigan.
WILLOUGHBY RECORDS 36 KILLS EN ROUTE TO WIN- Hawai`i's Kim Willoughby broke her own school record for kills in a four-game match with 36, while she also had 11 digs, three blocks and hit .365. Willoughbys old record of 35 kills in four-games was set less than a month ago on Sept. 21 in a match against Santa Clara. The sophomore's 36 kills were the most by anyone in the WAC this season.
QUICK HITS Fresno State freshman setter Whitney Arena tied her season-high record in assists with 60 in a win against Nevada. Arena averaged 14.71 assists in two wins last week ... San Jose State's Stephanie Pasucci hit .492 for the week, hitting .583 against Nevada ... The Spartans Savannah Smith is now 10th all-time in digs at San Jose State with 779. She is also 5th in assists with 2,398 ... Louisiana Tech continues its season-high four-game road trip this week against SMU and Tulsa ... Tulsa freshmen Lindsay Evans, Vanessa Thon, Kristin Bailey and Dana Weddle are leading the Golden Hurricane this season. The newcomers are responsible for 90 percent of the team's assists (531), 76 percent of the total blocks (75) and 66 percent of the team's kills (423) ... Fresno State is 6-1 in WAC action for the first time since 1996, tying the Bulldogs best start in league play through the first seven matches.
UNDERCLASSMEN MAKING THEIR MARK Several underclassmen are making their mark in the WAC statistics. In kills, Hawai`i's Kim Willoughby leads the WAC, averaging 6.60 kills per game. Willoughby was first in the nation the last two weeks in kills. Also ranked are San Jose State sophomore Kimberly Noble (3.64 kpg - 6th). Noble was also ranked 25th in the nation last week in service aces per game with 0.73 sapg. Also ranked in the WAC statistics are Rice freshman Rebeca Pazo (4.14 kpg - 4th) and Hawai`i sophomore Maja Gustin (3.55 kpg - 8th). In service aces, four of the top 10 leaders are underclassmen, including Noble (0.64 sapg - 1st), Tulsa freshman Vanessa Thon (0.50 sapg - 2nd), San Jose State sophomore Liz Hudson (0.47 sapg - 3rd), and Louisiana Tech sophomore Tanya Jarvis (0.38 sapg - 7th). In digs, Boise State sophomore Jacqueline Heler leads the WAC, averaging 3.86 dpg with Willoughby (3.40 dpg - 4th), UTEP's Jennifer Abbruzzese (3.16 dpg- 8th) and Thon (3.08 dpg - 9th) following behind.
SHOJI MOVING UP NCAA LISTS Since taking over the coaching duties at Hawai`i in 1975, head coach Dave Shoji has won 747 matches and boasts an .837 winning percentage, both which rank among the all-time leaders in NCAA coaching history. His overall record stands at 747-143-1, placing him third all-time in winning percentage and fourth in wins among active coaches.
>b>WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE PLAYED IN SAN JOSE The 2001 WAC Volleyball will be played at the Event Center on the campus of San Jose State University on Nov. 15-18. The tournament will feature all 10 WAC teams in a single-elimination format. The first-round matches will be played on Nov. 15 with seed No. 7 vs. No. 10 at 6:00 p.m. and seed No. 8 vs. No. 9 at 8:00 p.m. The quarterfinals are slated for Nov. 16 and feature the winner of No. 7/No. 10 vs. seed No. 2 at 1:00 p.m., seed No. 3 vs. No. 6, 3:00 p.m., seed No. 4 vs. No. 5, 6:30 p.m. and the winner of No. 8/No. 9 vs. seed No. 1 at 8:30 p.m. The semifinals are on Nov. 17 with match times set for 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., and the championship match slated for Nov. 18 at 1:00 p.m. (All times are Pacific).
WAC TOURNAMENT TICKETS ON SALE Tickets for the 2001 WAC Volleyball Tournament are on sale. Ticket prices are $30 for adults and $15 for children and students for an all-session pass (nine matches). Tickets can be purchased at the San Jose State Ticket Office or by calling (408) 924-SJTX. Fans can obtain a room rate at the San Jose Hilton & Towers by calling 408-287-2100 and request the "WAC Volleyball Tournament" group rate.
WAC EXPANDS TO TEN After just one year as a nine-team league, the WAC expanded to 10 for the 2001-02 season. The Boise State Broncos and Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters joined the conference July 1, 2001, while TCU left for Conference USA.
WAC VOLLEYBALL ON THE WEB The WAC site on the world wide web (www.wacsports.com) includes extensive volleyball information. It includes the latest notes, statistics, standings and Players of the Week.