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10.21.03.PDF
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WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK Fresno State middle blocker Carrie Hartt has been named the Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 20. This is the first player of the week honor for the senior this season and the third for the Bulldogs.
Hartt a native of Manteca, Calif., guided the Bulldogs to a 2-0 WAC record last weekend at home with a pair of four-game victories over Boise State and UTEP. The Bulldogs are now 6-1 in the WAC, second place in the Western Division. Collecting 19 total blocks for a 2.38 block per game average, Hartt hit a team-best .339. She also added three service aces, while finishing second on the team in kills with 29.
With a season-high seven block assists against UTEP, she had a career-best four block solos and a season-high 10 total blocks against Boise State. The senior also collected her first career 10+ dig match and her first career double-double of kills/digs (fourth career double-double overall) against the Miners. She was the only Bulldog to have a double-double in both matches. Hartt had 14 kills and 10 blocks versus Boise State, while posting 15 kills and 10 digs against UTEP. She narrowly missed a triple-double against the Miners as she fell a block short.
Other nominees included: Lauren Duggins, Hawai'i; Salaia Salave'a, Nevada; Rebecca Kainz, Rice; Jessie Shull, San Jose State and Jacky Niederstadt, SMU.
DIGGING IN (WEEK NINE) The 2003 WAC season enters its fifth week with the only one remaining undefeated team in WAC play, Hawaii. The Rainbow Wahine ended the Mustangs winning streak and handed SMU its first league loss of the season. This week, first-place Hawaii looks to extend its lead on the road against Tusa and Rice. Hawaii also has a non-conference match with LSU in Baton Rouge. Second-place Fresno looks to gain ground on the Rainbow Wahine on the road against SMU and Louisiana Tech. The two 6-1 teams will battle when the Bulldogs take on the Mustangs on Oct. 25. UTEP looks for its first WAC wins of the season against travel partner Boise State on Oct. 25.
LEADERS OF THE PACK In the WAC's main six individual statistical categories Hawaii leads in five categories. The Rainbow Wahine lead in hitting percentage (Kim Willoughby, .402), kills (Willoughby, 6.65 kpg) and service aces (Willoughby, 0.61). Rice leads the league in two categories, including assists (Kristina Hoban, 13.01) and blocks (Tessa Kuykendall, 1.49 bpg). San Jose State's Jessie Shull leads the WAC in digs, averaging 4.30 dpg. In WAC matches, the Rainbow Wahine lead in three categories, while the Owls lead in two categories with the Mustangs leading in one. Hawaii's Maja Gustin leads in hitting percentage (.459), while Willoughby leads in service aces (0.73 sapg) and kills (5.87 kpg). Rice's Rebekah Neal leads in digs (4.41 dpg), while Kuykendall is the leader in blocks, averaging 1.56 bpg. SMU's Jessica Mihm is the leader in assists (13.80 apg).
WEST LEADS EAST In the third year that the WAC has had divisional play for volleyball, the Western Division holds a dominating record over its Eastern Division foes. The West, led by Fresno State, Hawaii and Nevada, have won 12 of 16 matches against the Eastern Division this season. Both the Wolf Pack and the Bulldogs are 3-0 against the East, while the Rainbow Wahine hold a 4-0 mark. San Jose State is 2-1. SMU has captured two interdivisional wins, defeating Nevada and Boise State. The Mustangs are the only Eastern Division squad to earn at least two wins against the West.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES Two teams have already improved upon last season's win totals. SMU's strong start has already lifted them over last year's overall win total of 12. After 20 matches this season, the Mustangs are 15-5. Last season, SMU won only six WAC matches and this season have already matched that after seven league matches. Boise State was 1-24 last season with no league wins and this season have already won five matches and one WAC match.
BEST OF THE BEST Hawaii is second behind defending national champion Southern California for the most wins against ranked teams this season. The Rainbow Wahine are 7-1 against top 25 teams this season, while the Women of Troy are 9-0. Pepperdine is the next team with a 5-0 mark against ranked teams this season. Hawaii is ranked second and sports a 20-1 record this season. The Rainbow Wahine have won 19-straight matches.
FRESNO STATE OPENS SAVE MART CENTER The Fresno State volleyball team will get a bigger stage in November when the Bulldogs host Hawai'i at the brand-new Save Mart Center (16,116) on Sun., Nov. 9, 12:00 p.m.
After turning away fans last year as nearly 1,400 packed the standing-room only North Gym last November, the Fresno State Athletics Department announced a new venue and a new date as the Bulldogs push for another postseason appearance. The Bulldog volleyball team was scheduled to play the Rainbow Wahine on Sat., Nov. 8, 7:00 p.m.
Being the first true athletic competition in the Save Mart Center, the volleyball team will follow the lead of the Bulldog Basketball Extravaganza (Nov. 5) and a concert by Andrea Bocelli ( Nov. 7) as the first week of Grand Opening activities.
HAWAII AND NEVADA INCLUDED IN 2003 CSTV VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE College Sports Television (www.cstv.com), the first 24-hour college sports network, and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) is presenting a national volleyball match of the week package, Sunday Night Spike 2003, this fall that will boast 15 teams who competed in the 2002 NCAA Championships, including national semifinalists Florida, Stanford and Hawaii. The schedule began on Sunday, Sept. 7 with Florida at Stanford and will include an October 26 doubleheader featuring Santa Clara-Pepperdine and Utah-Colorado State.
The WAC will have at least two teams featured. Hawaii defeated Santa Clara on Sept. 28 in California. The Rainbow Wahine also defeated Nevada on Oct. 5 in Honolulu. Finally, the WAC Tournament Championship match will be televised on Nov. 23 in Reno, Nev.
Five teams featured within the Sunday Night Spike 2003 schedule have won volleyball national championships (Hawaii in 1982, 1983, 1987; Nebraska in 1995, 2000; Pacific in 1985, 1986; Stanford in 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001; Texas in 1988) and seven won conference titles in 2002 (Florida, Hawaii, Northern Iowa, Notre Dame, Pepperdine, Sacramento St., Utah). In addition, Colorado State and Eastern Washington won regular season conference titles.
CURRENT POINT STANDINGS The current point standing for seeding in the WAC Tournament are as follows:
Hawaii 10
Fresno State 9
SMU 8
Nevada 7
SJSU 6
Rice 5
Tulsa 3
Louisiana Tech 2
Boise State 2
UTEP 0
WAC TOURNAMENT CREDENTIAL DEADLINE Request forms for credentials to the 2003 WAC Volleyball Tournament in Reno, Nev., are now available through the league office. Media requesting hotel rooms must have their credential forms in by Monday, Nov. 3. If no room is requested, the deadline is Monday, Nov. 17. The WAC Volleyball Tournament is slated for Nov. 21-23 at the Virginia Street Gym.
NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS So far this season, the WAC is 78-59 (.569) against non-conference opponents. The WAC is 7-7 against ranked teams. Hawaii is 7-1 with wins over Louisville, UCLA, Kansas State, Stanford, Minnesota, LMU and Santa Clara. San Jose State fell to No. 20 Santa Clara, and Nevada fell to No. 15 Long Beach State. Boise State and Louisiana Tech also have losses to ranked teams. Rice has lost to formerly ranked Ohio State, and Fresno State lost to No. 23 Long Beach State.
AROUND THE COURT News and notes from around the league:
Boise State is led in kill average by freshman Cameron Flunder (3.33 kpg). She is followed by freshman Jessica Childress (2.45 kpg), senior Christina Moore (2.05 kpg) and freshman Sarah Johnson (2.09 kpg). Junior Kelsey Young averaged 2.55 kills before being sidelined at the end of September for six weeks with a broken hand. This Week, Boise State hosts non-conference and instate rival Idaho on Tuesday, Oct. 21. The Broncos then host WAC opponent and travel partner UTEP on Saturday, Oct. 25. Both the Miners and the Broncos are fighting to earn the last spot in the WAC Tournament. The Broncos currently have two points, while the Miners are looking for their first point.
Fresno State setter Robyn Keune was pushed into a starting role this season after joining the Bulldogs as a walk on last fall. With the loss of AVCA all-West Region Honorable Mention setter Whitney Arena, Keune has responded well by running the Bulldogs offense without skipping a beat from a year ago. With the Bulldogs hitting .259 on the year, Keune has totaled 972 assists for a 12.46 assist per game average. Nationally-ranked three times in assists per game this season, she currently ranks No. 29 (12.77) in the latest NCAA stats (Oct. 12). By tallying 78 assists last week, Keune is 28 assists shy of becoming the seventh Bulldog setter to record at least a 1,000-assist season. She would join Arena, Diann Aufdermaur, Brenda Gregersen, Jenny Streltzoff, Kieran O'Leary and Traci Sliester as setters to post a 1,000-assist season and it would mark the 13th time in Fresno State single-season history for a Bulldog to collect 1,000 or more assists.
Hawaii has now won 72-straight WAC matches, dating back to 1998. The Rainbow Wahine in the midst of a 19-match winning streak. After two-time WAC Player of the Year, Kim Willoughby, returned to the lineup, the Rainbow Wahine lost All-American Lily Kahumoku. The senior left-side hitter missed the Louisiana Tech match with an injury. The Rainbow Wahine had one 19-straight matches without losing a game until the, 3-2 win over Arizona on Oct. 10. The last time Hawaii had lost a game was in the narrow, 3-2 win over No. 6 Stanford on Sept 13.
Louisiana Tech freshman Ambra Hayes posted a career-high 13 kills in a loss at San Jose State. Senior Cristine SantAnna now has 953 career digs and 1321 career kills, just nine kills away from reaching No. 3 on the career kill list at Louisiana Tech. The Lady Techsters play host to Fresno State and Nevada this week, its last matches against Western Division teams. Megan Rush had eight blocks in Louisiana Techs two losses last week. The Lady Techsters play their last non-conference match of the season on Oct. 21 at Northwestern State.
Nevada freshman Carly Sorensen returned to the Wolf Pack lineup last week in style. Sorensen had missed six matches with an achilles heel injury but started both matches last week against UTEP and Boise State. Against UTEP she had a match-high 12 kills and in the Boise State match had 13
kills. In the two matches, she hit .477 and averaged 2.50 digs per game. Nevada snapped its four-match losing skid last week sweeping UTEP in three games on Oct. 16. It was the second time this year the Wolf Pack had lost four matches in a row. The first time came after the Wolf Pack opened the season with two wins then dropped four straight.
Rice played in its fifth five-game match of the season when they defeated Tulsa on Oct. 18, 3-2. Rice out-blocked Tulsa 12-7, marking the 14th time this season the Owls have out-blocked their opponent. With her 42 digs last week, libero Rebekah Neal stands alone in fourth place on the Rice all-time list with 1,084, surpassing Rices only All-America, Sammy Waldron. Junior Rebeca Pazo increased her career kills total to 1,386, 123 shy of taking over third on the Rice all-time list. The Owls return home to Autry Court in defense of its 15-match home winning streak, dating back to Sept. 7, 2002, when they face Hawaii on Thursday, Oct. 23. Rice will continue WAC play when San Jose State comes to Houston on Oct. 25.
San Jose State has recovered after a slow start to the season. The Spartans have won five of their last seven matches and hold a strong 4-3 record in WAC play. San Jose State has six points, having defeated two teams in the Eastern Division. Freshman Jessie Shull recorded 32 digs against SMU. The 32 digs is the most by a Spartan since Shane Donnellon had 31 against California on Nov. 1, 1994. There have only been nine other times when a Spartan player has recorded 30 or more digs in a match. Shull was six off the school record of 38 set twice by Lisa Ice.
SMU has matched last season's total league win total. Last season, the Mustangs were 6-7 in WAC matches and 12-17 overall. SMU is currently 15-5 and 6-1 in WAC matches. The Mustangs had a 10-match winning streak broken by Hawaii last week.The resurgence of the Mustangs is due in part to their young team. Three sophomores are among the leaders in the WAC stats. Setter Jessica Mihm has experienced no sophomore slump this season. She is fourth in the WAC in assists, averaging 12.34s assists per game. Fellow second-year player Ashley Zener is sixth in the league in blocks (1.06 bpg). Juniors Beth Karasek and Jacky Niederstadt are also having strong seasons for the Mustangs.
UTEP opened its five-match road swing by losing to Nevada, 3-0, on Oct. 16 in Reno. The road trip continued on Oct. 18 with a 3-1 loss to Fresno State. UTEPs 14-game losing streak came to a halt in the second game against the Bulldogs as the Miners downed Fresno State, 30-23, to even the match at 1-1. UTEP would not be able to continue its momentum as it dropped the next two games of the match, extending its losing streak to 11 matches, dating back to Sept. 13 when the Miners downed Northwestern State in the final match of the UMKC Kangaroo Classic in Kansas City, Mo. Freshman Nina Reeves led the Miners in kills with nine against Nevada and tied for the team-lead against Fresno State, along with Kari Stacy, with 12. Against the Wolf Pack, Brittney Bennett hit at a .357 clip, while senior Jennifer Abbruzzese recorded a match-high 15 digs against the Bulldogs.
Tulsa junior Vanessa Thon now owns the most assists for a career by a TU player with 2,651. The Golden Hurricane has five players with 350 or more attacks and three with 180 or more kills this season. Tulsa won seven consecutive home matches dating back to the end of the 2002 campaign, including five this season before losing to Rice on Oct. 18. It was the longest home streak in school history. The Golden Hurricane has won their conference home opener only three times, including this season, since joining a conference in 1992. For the first time in school history, Tulsa won its first two conference home matches.
TERRIFIC TOURNAMENTS The WAC performed very strong in tournaments this season. Fresno State traveled to the Northern Arizona Invitational and went 3-0 en route to the tournament win. SMU capture another title, winning the Loyola-Chicago Invitational. Last week, the WAC had a very good week at tournaments, Hawaii and Tulsa both won tournaments that they hosted. Louisiana Tech won its second tournament title of the season, capturing the Drake Tournament. The following players have also been named to all-tournament teams:
Cameron Flunder, BS Montana Invitational
Boise State Invitational
Gonzaga Invitational
Davidson Invitational
Tiffany Bishop, FS Northern Arizona Invitational
Kristen Fenton, FS Fresno State Invitational
Sacramento State Invitational*
San Diego Invitational
Northern Arizona Invitational*
Carrie Hartt, FS Northern Arizona Invitational
Robyn Keune, FS Sacramento State Invitational
Lily Kahumoku, UH State Farm Women's Volleyball Classic
Hawaiian Airlines Volleyball Classic
Aston Imua Volleyball Challenge
Sprint Invitational
Kanoe Kamana`o, UH Hawaiian Airlines Volleyball Classic
Lauren Duggins, UH Aston Imua Volleyball Challenge
Sprint Invitational
Kim Willoughby, UH State Farm Women's Volleyball Classic
Hawaiian Airlines Volleyball Classic*
Aston Imua Volleyball Challenge*
Sprint Invitational*
Lia Mora, LT UL-Lafayette Tournament
Texas State Tournament
Drake Tournament*
Tulane Tournament
Joy Okpa, LT Drake Tournament*
Cristine Sant'Anna, LT UL-Lafayette Tournament* Drake Tournament*
Tulane Tournament
Tristin Adams , UN CS-Fullerton Tournament
SBC/Sand Regency Tournament
Lauren Galler, UN SBC/Sand Regency Tournament
Christine Harms, UN Cal Golden Bear Tournament
Salaia Salave`a, UN CS-Fullerton Tournament
Lindsey Carter, RU Crowne Plaza/Rice Invitational
Rebeca Pazo, RU Crowne Plaza/Rice Invitational*
BYU Mizuno Classic
Kimberly Noble, SJSU Cowgirl Classic
SJSU Invitational
Jessie Shull, SJSU SJSU Invitational
Beth Karasek, SMU SMU Invitational
Kelly Larkan, SMU SMU Invitational
Jacky Niederstadt, SMU Loyola-Chicago Invitational
Jessica Mihm, SMU Loyola-Chicago Invitational*
Jennifer Abbruzzese, UTEPFiesta Bowl Tournament
Nina Reeves, UTEP Borderland Invitational
Fiesta Bowl Tournament
UMKC Kangaroo Classic
Ashley Ripple, UTEP Mean Green Classic
Kari Stacy, UTEP Borderland Invitational
UMKC Kangaroo Classic
Natalia Araujo, TU Dayton Flyer Classic
Kristin Bailey, TU Stephen F. Austin Tournament*
Lindsay Eaves, TU Stephen F. Austin Tournament
Ewing-Grover Olds/GMC Truck Invite*
Sam Rutherford, TU Ewing-Grover Olds/GMC Truck Invite
Brie Penaluna, TU Stephen F. Austin Tournament
Vanessa Thon, TU Ewing-Grover Olds/GMC Truck Invite
*Most Outstanding/Valuable Player
PACKING THE STANDS Once again, Hawaii is leading the nation in attendance. The Rainbow Wahine have drawn 123,194 in 14 home matches so far this season for an average of 7,165. The Rainbow Wahine have led the nation in attendance the last eight years. Hawaii also holds 14 of the top 15 single-match highs this season, including the nation's second best, 9,345 fans that saw No. 1 USC defeat No. 2 Hawaii. The attendance for UH's win over Stanford was 8,740 on Sept. 13. On Oct. 4, 8,529 fans saw the Rainbow Wahine sweep Nevada.
2003 Division I Volleyball Attendance
School Avg. Total Matches
1. Hawaii 7,246 123,194 17
2. Nebraska 4,112 32,897 8
3. Wisconsin 4,068 36,615 9
4. Florida 2,749 21,991 8
5. Penn State 2,598 18,188 7
6. Minnesota 2,205 17,641 8
7. Stanford 1,889 15,110 8
8. Kansas State 1,792 16,126 9
9. Northern Iowa 1,715 10,288 6
10. Long Beach St. 1,706 15,356 9