PLAYER OF THE WEEK Rice freshman Rebeca Pazo has been named the Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week. Pazo, a 5-11 outside hitter, earned her first player of the week honor by hitting .352 in three Owl wins. Pazo helped lead Rice out of an 0-2 hole against Arkansas with Rice winning the fifth game 15-8.
The Caracas, Venezuela (Colegio San Agustin) native, ended the week with 49 kills, 25 digs and 11 aces as the Owls went 3-0 on the week. With the wins, Rice extended its winning streak to seven. The Owls are undefeated against the Eastern Division this season. Against Tulsa, she hit .483 with 14 kills and no errors. Pazo added eight of the Owls 13 aces against the Golden Hurricane. Her eight service aces were the fifth best single-match performance in Owl history.
Against Arkansas, the freshman recorded a match-high 23 kills, adding two aces and eight digs against the Lady Backs. She hit .364 against Louisiana Tech with 12 kills and 10 digs for her 10th double-double of the season.
Other nominees included: Christy Burnett, Fresno State; Margaret Vakasausau, Hawaii; Michelle More, Nevada; Savannah Smith, San Jose State; Tara Hatfield, SMU and Samantha Herzog, UTEP.
OTHERS NOMINATED Other nominees include: Fresno State's Christy Burnett had a team-high 28 kills and 20 digs in a loss to San Jose State. She had eight service aces in two matches and 13 in her last four matches. The junior outside hitter had a match-high 11 digs in a sweep of Boise State. Hawai`i's Margaret Vakasausau ended the week with 110 assists in three matches as the Wahine extended its winning streak to 17 matches. The junior setter also led the team in aces with five in the nine games that she played. Vakasausau averaged 12.22 assists per game in the wins over Hawai`i Pacific, Nevada and Boise State. Nevada's Michelle More averaged 4.43 kills as the Wolf Pack went 1-1 on the week. The junior middle blocker posted a triple-double in a win over San Jose State with 19 kills, 10 digs and 10 blocks. Against Hawai`i she added 12 kills and three blocks. San Jose State's Savannah Smith averaged 12.62 assists as the Spartans defeated Fresno State and lost to Nevada. Smith totaled 101 assists in two matches along with 39 digs. The senior had a career-high in digs with 28 against Fresno State, adding 56 assists against the Bulldogs. Smith is now eighth all-time in digs at San Jose State with 859. SMU's Tara Hatfield was another setter who had a strong week. The senior helped the Mustangs extend its winning streak to five matches. She averaged 14.3 assists on the week. With 985 assist this season, Hatfield is nearing the 1,000 assist mark. UTEP's Samantha Herzog became the second Miner in school history to record 20 kills and hit .500 in the same match. The freshman had 21 kills, while hitting .500 in a loss to SMU. Herzog averaged 3.56 kills and 1.89 digs in two matches last week.
CURRENT POINT STANDINGS The current point standing for seeding in the WAC Tournament are as follows:
Hawai`i 16
Nevada 13
San Jose State 12
Fresno State 11
Rice 10
SMU 9
UTEP 5
Tulsa 3
Boise State 2
Louisiana Tech 0
HAWAI`I CLINCHES WAC TITLE For the seventh consecutive season, Hawai`i has claimed the WAC regular season title. The Rainbow Wahine have claimed at least a share of the WAC title every year since joining the league in 1996. Hawai`i has not lost a league match since 1998 when the Wahine finished 13-1. Nevada and San Jose State are still in the race for second place.
WAC ENTERS FINAL WEEK OF LEAGUE PLAY The WAC enters its final week of conference play this week with first place in the Eastern Division still undecided. Both first place Rice and second place SMU are in the midst of its longest winning streaks of the season. Rice has won seven in a row, while SMU has won five straight matches. The two teams will meet in Houston on Nov. 8. Both teams have two league matches remaining this season.
In the Western Division, San Jose State reclaims the second spot with a combination of the Spartans winning and Nevada falling to Hawai`i. Nevada takes on Boise State for its final WAC match of the year, while the Spartans will face West leading Hawai`i and Boise State. In the points race, Nevada holds the slight edge, 13 to 12.
The WAC regular season ends on Sunday, Nov. 11 when Tulsa travels to UTEP.
SPARTANS EDGE BULLDOGS IN FIVE Brianna Blair recorded 24 kills to lead San Jose State to a 29-31, 30-28, 30-21, 15-30, 15-12 victory over Fresno State in a WAC match.
With the 24 kills, Blair is now second all-time in kill at San Jose State with 1,429. She recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 15 digs and added five blocks.
Kimberly Noble added 16 kills for the Spartans. Liz Hudson came within one kill and one block of a triple-double with nine blocks, 13 digs and a career high nine blocks. Stephanie Pascucci added 13 kills and three blocks.
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 The Western Division's Hawai`i may sport the longest winning streak in the WAC, but SMU and Rice of the Eastern Division are both coming on strong at the end of the season.
After losing four-straight, SMU has come back to win five in a row and stake its claim on second place. The Ponies defeated Tulsa and UTEP at home to extend its winning streak.
Rice has won seven-straight after losing four of five matches. On Nov. 1, the Owls extended its winning streak with a five-set win over Southeastern Conference foe Arkansas. Rice had gone three-straight matches without losing a game before dropping the first two to the Lady 'Backs.
The two teams will meet one more time on Nov. 6 in Houston.
THE WAC IN THE NCAA STATS Kim Willoughby (Hawai`i) remains the national leaders in kills (as of 10/29). Willoughby with 6.82 kpg. The sophomore retains the top spot for the fifth-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.
Shauna McQuaid (Fresno State) and Suzanne Stonebarger (Nevada) are also among the national leaders. McQuaid is now tied for 23rd in blocks with a 1.47 bpg average up from 27th last week. Stonebarger is tied for 30th in digs with and average of 3.84 dpg.
As a team, the Wahine are in the national rankings in four categories. This week, Hawai`i is in the top 10 in three categories. Hawai`i moved up to fifth in assists (15.89 apg) and 10th in hitting percentage (.306). The Rainbow Wahine are also moved from 11th to eighth in kills (17.08 kpg). Behind its winning streak, Hawai`i is tied for 24th in win-loss percentage with a mark of 0.810.
Rice is tied for 15th this week in blocks (3.12 bpg) followed by Fresno State who is 22nd (2.94 bpg). This week, Nevada is tied for 26th in hitting percentage with .264 mark.
UTEP EDGES Louisiana Tech IN FIVE Nicki Mosher tied her career high with 16 kills, as UTEP defeated Louisiana Tech, 30-27, 30-24, 30-19.
Moshers previous career best kill total in a three-game match was 16 against Texas-Pan American last season. She finished the night hitting .519 (16-2-27), while adding a pair of digs and two blocks.
Jennifer Abbruzzese recorded her 11th straight double-double and 12th on the season, as she recorded 14 kills and 10 digs, with one block and an ace.
UTEP hit .326 (54-14-129) for the match, which is the highest single-match hitting percentage of the season for the Miners.
UTEP's Samantha Herzog finished with 10 kills on the night to go along with Mosher and Abbruzzeses double-digit performances.
Freshman setter Michelle Norman added 51 assists to go along with 10 digs for her second double-double.
Hawai`i REMAINS IN THE Top 10 Hawai`i is the only WAC team to be ranked in both the USA Today/AVCA and Volleyball Magazine polls. This week, Hawai`i spends its second week at No. 9 in the Volleyball Magazine. Hawai`i holds on to the No. 12 position in the USA Today/AVCA top 25 poll. San Jose State also received three votes in the USA Today/AVCA poll, the most this season. San Jose State also received votes in this week's Volleyball Magazine poll.
HAWAI`I CONTINUES TO LEAD THE NATION IN ATTENDANCE Hawai`i is averaging 6,470 fans after its first 13 home matches. The next closest school is Nebraska with an average of 4,572. 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 6,749 fans for a match with divisional foe Nevada. 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 89,000 total fans so far this season. The Wahine have three remaining home matches against No. 22 UC Santa Barbara, San Jose State and Fresno State. Hawai`i needs 10,145 fans to top the 100,000 mark for an average of 3,382 fans for the last three matches.
HERZOG SETS MINER HISTORY UTEP's Samantha Herzog was just the second Miner in school history to record 20 kills and hit .500 in the same match, as UTEP fell to SMU in four.
Herzog, a freshman from Basel Switzerland, had a career-high 21 kills, while hitting .500. She is only the second person to record such a feat at UTEP. Jacqui Nosan was the first when she hit .556 (22-3-36) against Rice in 2000.
Herzog was one of four Miners to record a double-double on the night, led by Jennifer Abbruzzeses 22 kills and 26 digs. It was Abbruzzeses 12th straight double-double and 13th on the season. UTEP also got double-doubles from Ana Beatriz Fontes and Michelle Norman.
QUICK HITS Rice's Leigh Leman increased her career dig total to 1,310 and has recorded 1,145 career kills, eighth best in Rice history ... San Jose State's Kimberly Noble had a career-high 31 kills against Fresno State, including the game-winner ... Nevada lost its first home match of the season when Hawai`i defeated the Wolf Pack, 3-0. A school record 1,419 fans watched the Wahine stop the Wolf Pack ... San Jose State is one win short of its fourth-straight 20-win season. The last time the Spartans won 20 or more four consecutive seasons was during the 1994-88 seasons ... Fresno State freshman setter Whitney Arena has started 21-straight for the Bulldogs this season and has dished out 861 assists this season out of the team's 1,089 total assists.
UNDERCLASSMEN LEADING THE WAC This season, underclassmen have made their mark in the WAC. Led by Hawai`i sophomore Kim Willoughby the WAC's freshmen and sophomores have had an impact.
Willoughby not only leads the WAC in kills, but she has also led the nation in kills for the past five weeks. This week, she averages 6.71 kpg and 6.94 kpg in WAC matches to lead the league. The sophomore also leads the conference in hitting percentage with a .354 mark. The Wahine have three sophomores among the top five in hitting percentage. Besides Willoughby, Lauren Duggins is fourth, hitting .293, and Maja Gustin is fifth with a .292 hitting percentage.
SMU newcomer Beth Karasek along with Rice's Rebeca Pazo are the only freshmen among the leaders in kills in WAC matches. Pazo is third in kills in league and overall matches, while Karasek is eighth in league matches with 3.63 kpg. Karasek is among the leaders in most of SMU's statistical categories.
San Jose State sophomore Kimberly Noble leads the WAC in services aces (0.50 sapg). She is one of five underclassmen in the top 10 in the category. The first four leaders in services aces are underclassmen. Following Noble are San Jose State's Liz Hudson (t-2nd, 0.42 sapg) and UTEP Jennifer Abbruzzese (t-2nd, 0.42 sapg) and Tulsa freshman Vanessa Thon (t-4th, 0.40 sapg).