PLAYER OF THE WEEK San Jose State's Savannah Smith has been named the Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week.
Smith, a 5-8 senior setter from Salem, Ore. (Sprague HS), led San Jose State to the tournament title at the Oregon State Showcase. The Spartans finished with a 3-0 mark, defeating Oregon State (3-1), Sacramento State (3-2) and Southern Illinois (3-0).
Earning Most Valuable Player honors, Smith hit .478 (12-1-23), to go along with 42 digs (3.5 dpg), 152 assists (12.67 apg) two service aces and five total blocks for the week. Against Oregon State, Smith totaled four kills, 55 assists, 16 digs and three total blocks. Against Sacramento State, she hit .545 (6-0-11) to go along with 63 assists, one service ace, 20 digs and one block. Against Southern Illinois, Smith recorded two kills, one service ace, 34 assists, six digs and one block.
Other nominees included: Kristen Fenton, Fresno State; Kim Willoughby, Hawai`i; Elisa Sanchez, Louisiana Tech; Michelle More, Nevada; Rebeca Pazo, Rice; Janna Newsom, SMU; Jacqui Nosan, UTEP; and Kristin Bailey, Tulsa.
OTHERS NOMINATED Following are statistics and notes of others nominated for Player of the Week: Fresno State's Kristen Fenton, a freshman outside hitter, averaged 2.17 kills, 3.1 digs and hit .130 in three matches. She also added six service aces and 12 total blocks. Fenton collected double figures in digs in two of the three matches, including 13 against Northern Arizona and 21 vs. Florida State. Hawai`i's Kim Willoughby, a sophomore leftside hitter, recorded 60 kills (5.00 kpg) on 167 attempts and 29 errors for a .186 hitting percentage. She added seven assists, three service aces, 36 digs (3.00 dpg) and nine total blocks. Louisiana Tech's Elisa Sanchez, a senior middle blocker hit .288 (28-9-66) in three matches. She tallied two assists, three service aces, 15 digs and 12 total blocks. Against Southeast Missouri State, Sanchez notched a career-high 13 kills. Nevada's Michelle More, a junior middle blocker, totaled 48 kills (3.43 kpg), 31 digs (2.21 dpg) and hit .200 in three matches. She added three assists, one service ace and 12 total blocks. Against host Arizona State, More recorded a career-high 22 kills and tied her dig career-high with 13. Rice's Rebeca Pazo, a freshman outside hitter, hit .227 (65-24-181) in three matches. She also added one assist, two service aces, 41 digs (2.56 dpg) and five total blocks. Pazo recorded double-doubles against Stephen F. Austin (12k, 14d) and Houston (19k, 10d). Against Samford, she notched a career-high 22 kills. SMU's Janna Newsom, a senior middle blocker, recorded 38 kills (3.17 kpg) on 88 attempts, including 12 errors for a .295 hitting percentage. She added four digs and 11 total blocks Newsom notched double digits in all three matches, including 18 against Weber State. UTEP's Jacqui Nosan, a senior middle blocker, averaged 3.0 kills, 1.1 digs and 1.1 blocks. Her best match of the weekend was against McNeese State where she tallied a match-high 15 kills to go with two digs and five total blocks. Tulsa's Kristin Bailey, a freshman outside hitter, recorded 30 kills (3.33 kpg), 24 digs (.2.67 dpg) and hit a team-best .309. She added six assists, three service aces and nine total blocks. Her best match of the weekend came against Texas-Pan American where she recorded her first double-double of the season with 12 kills and 13 digs.
THIS WEEK IN THE WAC There's plenty of action this week. Four matches are scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 4 as Louisiana Tech hosts Texas Southern, Sam Houston State is at Rice, 24th-ranked Santa Clara travels to San Jose State and SMU is at Stephen F. Austin. On Wednesday, Sept. 5, Grambling State is at Louisiana Tech. Over the weekend, all 10 teams will participate in tournaments with Fresno State, Hawai`i and Nevada hosting their own invitationals. Additional clashes with nationally-ranked opponents include sixth-ranked USC at Hawai`i.
VOLLEYBALL FORMAT There are two divisions for 2001: West and East. 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.
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 10th in the USA Today/AVCA top 25 poll and 13th in the Volleyball Magazine poll. San Jose State also received three votes in the USA Today/AVCA poll, ranking 49th.
TOURNAMENT TALK WAC schools finished with a 13-19 combined record last week. All 10 schools competed in tournaments and brought home one title. San Jose State won the Oregon State Showcase, compiling a 3-0 mark. Nevada, Hawai`i and Tulsa finished in second place in their respective tournaments.
ALL-STARS Several WAC players were named to all-tournament teams last week. Fresno State - Kara Verwey; Hawai`i - Kim Willoughby and Margaret Vakasausau; Louisiana Tech - Elisa Sanchez; Nevada - Michelle More and Navonna Chambers; Rice - Rebeca Pazo and Leigh Leman; San Jose State - Savannah Smith (MVP), Briana Blair and Liz Hudson; SMU - Janna Newsom; UTEP - Jacqui Nosan; Tulsa - Kristin Bailey and Lindsay Eaves.
SAN JOSE STATE GOES UNDEFEATED San Jose State started the 2001 campaign with a bang by winning the Oregon State Showcase. In the second day of the tournament the Spartans trailed Sacramento State 2-0 before winning the match, 25-30, 24-30, 30-24, 30-27, 15-9. Senior Brianna Blair led SJSU with 22 kills and added 18 digs and three blocks. Sophomore Kimberly Noble added 21 kills, while junior Jeanine Haldi recorded a career-high 22 digs and added two blocks. Junior Stephanie Pascucci posted 17 kills, while sophomore Liz Hudson added 16 kills, 12 digs and five blocks. Savannah Smith had 63 assists, 20 digs and six kills. The Spartans needed just three games to defeat Southern Illinois, 30-25, 30-15, 30-22, to win the tournament. Pascucci led the team with 17 kills and three blocks. She hit .727 (17-1-22) for the match. Noble added 14 kills, four digs and two blocks.
TOP SCHEDULE Hawai`i is off to a 2-3 start, but the Rainbow Wahine have already faced No. 1 Nebraska, No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 7 UCLA and No. 22 Kansas State. Hawai`i is 1-3 against ranked opponents, and has also defeated Big Ten foe Michigan. The Rainbow Wahine still will face No. 16 Brigham Young and No. 24 Santa Clara.
QUICK HITS All six of Boise State's freshmen played last weekend. Fresno State's Kara Verwey led the team with 44 kills (4.00 kpg) in 12 games, including a career-high 26 vs. Florida State. Nevada's 3-2 victory over Arizona State was the first victory for head coach Devin Scruggs over a Pac-10 team. San Jose State's Stephanie Pascucci hit a WAC-high .727 (17-1-22) against Southern Illinois. Rice's Leigh Leman tallied 26 kills against Samford and 30 digs vs. Houston, both WAC season-highs.
NEVADA'S STONEBARGER NEED TWO MORE DIGS TO BREAK SCHOOL RECORD Nevada senior outside hitter Suzanne Stonebarger has 1,242 career digs and needs two more to break the school record of 1,243 held by Tiffany Neumeier.
INJURY REPORT Boise State played without junior middle blocker Tameisha Hastings at the Washington State Invitational as a result of a foot injury. Hastings led the Broncos last season in blocks.
SHOJI AND STURM MOVING UP NCAA LISTS Since taking over the coaching duties at Hawai`i in 1975, head coach Dave Shoji has won 743 matches and boasts an .839 winning percentage, both which rank among the all-time leaders in NCAA coaching history. His overall record stands at 743-142-1, placing him third all-time in winning percentage and fourth in wins among active coaches. Boise State head coach Fred Sturm ranks 55th with a .623 winning percentage (211-126-3).
HAWAI`I LEADS THE NATION IN ATTENDANCE Hawai`i is averaging 7,132 fans after its first three home matches. The Rainbow Wahine drew a nation-high 7,723 fans against UCLA. 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.
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.