PLAYER OF THE WEEK San Jose State senior Brianna Blair has been named the Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week.
Blair, a 5-10 outside hitter from Tempe, Ariz. (Marcos de Niza HS), led the Spartans to wins over UTEP, 3-2, and Tulsa, 3-0.
Against Tulsa, she hit a season high .528. For the week, she tallied 43 kills (5.38 kpg) on 96 attempts with three errors. Against UTEP on Sept. 27, the senior had a team-high 23 kills. Blair followed that performance with another team-high 20 kills on Sept. 29 against Tulsato go along with four blocks. With her 43 kills on the week, Blair moved into fourth all-time in kills at SJSU with 1,269.
With a strong week, Blair remains second in the league in kills (4.66 kpg). Blair is third in the WAC in hitting percentage in conference games (.412) and second in kills in conference games (5.36 kpg).
Other nominees included: Janna Newsom, SMU; Jennifer Abbruzzese, UTEP; Suzanne Stonebarger, Nevada and Shauna McQuaid, Fresno State.
OTHERS NOMINATED Following are statistics and notes of others nominated for Player of the Week: Fresno State's Shauna McQuaid, a senior middle blocker, tallied 34 kills (4.86 kpg) on 75 attempts and 10 errors for a .320 hitting percentage. She added seven digs (1.00 dpg) and 14 total blocks (2.00 bpg) as the Bulldogs went on to defeat Tulsa and UTEP.
Against Tulsa, McQuaid had 13 kills and a match-high eight blocks. Against UTEP she recorded a match-high 21 kills and six blocks. Her 21 kills was a season-high and was her third 20-kill performance of the season.
Nevada's Suzanne Stonebarger, a senior outside hitter, had double-doubles in two matches. She recorded 26 kills (3.25 kpg) on 63 attempts and 10 errors for a .254 hitting percentage. She added 32 digs and five total blocks in two matches.
In the SMU match, Stonebarger had 12 kills and 14 digs, while ending the week with 14 kills and 18 digs against Rice. SMU's Janna Newsom, a senior middle blocker, hit .625 with 11 kills and 16 attempts against Boise State. In two matches, Newsom had 18 kills on 34 attempts and three errors, hitting .441.
UTEP's Jennifer Abbruzzese, a senior right-side hitter, had her best pair of matches against San Jose State and Fresno State. Abbruzzese record a pair of double-doubles for her fourth-straight. Against Fresno State, she recorded 18 kills and 12 digs. In the match against San Jose State, she had 19 kills and 22 digs in the five-game loss.
WAC ACTION The WAC enters its third week of conference play. Two teams with winning streaks take to the road to try to extend their winning ways. Fresno State puts its eight-match winning streak on the line when it travels to Louisiana Tech and Rice. San Jose State also looks to extend its eight-match winning streak on the road against SMU and Rice. Hawai`i , who has won four-straight, will face Rice and Tulsa on the road. Nevada, who owns a seven-match winning streak, is at UTEP and Louisiana Tech.
SAN JOSE STATE NEEDS FIVE GAMES TO DEFEAT UTEP
Four players recorded double-figure kills and San Jose State hit .318 for the match as the Spartans needed five games to defeat UTEP in a Western Athletic Conference match.
Spartan senior Brianna Blair led all hitters with 23 kills and hit .350 (23-2-60) for the match. Sophomore Kimberly Noble had 17 kills and a team-high 14 digs. Stephanie Pascucci hit .393 for the match with 14 kills in 28 attempts with only three errors. Sophomore Liz Hudson hit .345 with 14 kills and 11 digs.
UTEP sophomore Jennifer Abbruzzese led the Miners with 19 kills and 22 digs. Freshman Ana Beatriz Fontes had 17 kills and five digs. Jacqui Nosan hit .320 (13-5-25). Ana Karina Detzci added 11 kills and five blocks. San Jose State extends its winning streak to seven matches.
LEADING THE WAY Not only is Nevada leading the WAC Western Division (9-1, 3-0 WAC), the Wolf Pack are also leading the way in conference statistics. Nevada is the conference leader in four of seven categories. Nevada leads the conference in hitting percentage (.312), kills (16.76 kpg), assists (15.14 apg) and overall winning percentage (.900). Last week, the Wolf Pack were also ninth in the nation in hitting percentage.
NEVADA STOPS RICE, 3-1
Nevada remained perfect at home and in the Western Athletic Conference defeating Rice, 3-1. With the win the Pack improved to 7-0 at home, 3-0 in the WAC, winning its seventh-straight match.
Five different members of the Wolf Pack finished in double figures in kills. Nevada was led by senior, Shannon Stemler with 18. Stemler had 13 digs in the match, and she had her second double-double of the young season.
Suzanne Stonebarger (14kills), Michelle More (13kills), Navonna Chambers (11kills), and Kellie LaBossiere (10kills) also had double figures in kills. Stonebarger had her sixth double-double of the season finishing with a match high 18 kills.
Rice collected 40 digs, including eight for Leigh Leman. The senior needs just 48 to claim the top spot all-time at Rice.
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 Several WAC teams have been on a roll. After beginning the season 0-3, Fresno State has won eight-straight. San Jose State has also won eight-straight matches, the longest winning streaks in the WAC. Nevada has currently won seven-straight matches, while Hawai`i has won four-straight.
NATIONAL POLL WATCH Hawai`i is the only WAC team to receive mention in both the USA Today/AVCA and Volleyball Magazine polls. Hawai`i is ranked 13th in the USA Today/AVCA top 25 poll and 16th in the Volleyball Magazine poll. Nevada also received 66 votes in the USA Today/AVCA poll to rank 27th, while San Jose State and Nevada also received votes in this week's Volleyball Magazine poll.
HAWAI`I LEADS THE NATION IN ATTENDANCE Hawai`i is averaging 6,580 fans after its first eight home matches. The Rainbow Wahine own the nation's top eight attendance figures this season and drew a nation-high 7,723 fans against UCLA on Sept. 2. 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.
QUICK STARTS Nevada's 9-1 beginning to the 2001 season equals its best start after 10 matches under head coach Devin Scruggs. The Wolf Pack started the 1998 season with a 9-1 mark. Nevada is currently in the midst of a seven-match winning streak and have yet to lose at home this season.
San Jose State is off to an 11-2 start, the WAC's second-best winning percentage. Last season the Spartans began the season with a 9-2 mark.
Fresno State continues to roll, winning eight-straight after losing its first three. With conference wins this weekend, the Bulldogs improve to 3-0 in league play for the first time since 1993.
RECORD WATCH Senior outside hitter Leigh Leman needs only 47 digs to take over the all-time spot at Rice. She currently has 1,170 digs. The record is currently held by Karolina Zelinka, who finished her career last season with 1,217 digs. With five block assists last week, junior middle blocker Briana Cook has 314 career block assists, moving into second place. Cook needs 49 more to become the school's all-time leader.
Fresno State Head Coach Lindy Vivas is also closing in on a record. In her 11th season, she needs only two more wins for her 200th victory at Fresno State (198-133).
TOP SCHEDULE Hawai`i is off to a 7-4 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.
HOME SWEET HOME WAC schools are a combined 33-9 (.786) at home this season. Fresno State (8-0) and Nevada (7-0) lead the pack with perfect marks this season. Both teams take to the road after lengthy homestands.
QUICK HITS Boise State played its first home match of the season last week against Rice and SMU ... the matches were also the Broncos ... Fresno State's Shauna McQuaid had her third 20-kill match of the season last week ... her 21 kills against UTEP was a season-high... Nevada's Suzanne Stonebarger surpassed 1,300 career digs last week ... the senior is the all-time dig leader at Nevada with 1,327 digs ... UTEP sophomore Jennifer Abbruzzese had the best two-match performance of her young collegiate career with back to back double-doubles ... Louisiana Tech set a single-match attendance record with 593 fans packing the stands for its match with Hawai`i.
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 6.08 kills per game. Willoughby was second in the nation last week in kills.
Also ranked are San Jose State sophomore Kimberly Noble (4.00 kpg - 4th), Rice freshman Rebeca Pazo (3.83 kpg - 6th) and Hawai`i sophomore Maja Gustin (3.70 kpg - 7th).
In service aces, four of the top 10 leaders are underclassmen, including Noble (0.72 sapg - 1st), Tulsa freshman Vanessa Thon (0.548 sapg - 2nd), San Jose State sophomore Liz Hudson (0.49 sapg - 5th), and Louisiana Tech sophomore Tanya Jarvis (0.39 sapg - 9th).
In digs, Boise State sophomore Jacqueline Heler leads the WAC, averaging 4.00 dpg with Willoughby (3.38 dpg - 4th), Thon (3.06 dpg - 6th) and UTEP's Jennifer Abbruzzese (3.00 dpg- 8th).
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.
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.
>b>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.