WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK Tulsa middle hitter Lindsay Eaves has been named the Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 15. The junior has earned Tulsa's first player of the week since Kristien Van Lierop earned the honor in 2000.
The Houston, Texas native, led the Golden Hurricane to a 3-0 record and a tournament title at the Ewing-Grover Olds/GMC Truck Invite presented by Adam's Mark. With the wins, Tulsa moved into first place in the WAC's Eastern Division with a 7-3 record. The Golden Hurricane lost only one game in three matches
Eaves earned MVP honors at the tournament after hitting .350 in three matches. For the season, she hits .305. She committed only six errors in 80 attacks in three matches. With 34 kills, she also improved her season kills per game average. She also added a season-high 14 kills in a win against UT-San Antonio. She finished the week with four assists, four aces, seven digs and nine blocks to lead the Hurricane.
Other nominees included: Cameron Flunder, Boise State; Kristen Fenton, Fresno State; Lily Kahumoku, Hawai'i; Lia Mora, Louisiana Tech; Christine Harms, Nevada; Rebeca Pazo, Rice; Kimberly Noble, San Jose State and Kelly Larkan, SMU.
WEEK FOUR IN THE WAC In the final week before WAC play begins, seven of 10 teams will be playing in tournaments. Nevada, Hawaii and San Jose State will not be involved in tournament play this weekend. After four tough weeks of playing ranked teams, the Rainbow Wahine will face two un-ranked teams at home, Loyola Marymount and UNLV.
Six tournament teams will take to the road for their final week of non-conference action. Both Tulsa and Louisiana Tech will play at the Tulane Tournament in New Orleans, but will not face each other. Boise State will also head south and play in Davidson, N.C. Fresno State will take on teams in the Northern Arizona Tournament, while SMU battles in the Loyola Invite. UTEP will stay instate for the North Texas Mean Green Classic, while Rice hosts the Challenge on the Bayou.
STREAKING Several WAC schools have been on a roll to start the season. Three schools currently have winning streaks of four or more matches. Hawaii leads the way winning eight-straight matches after losing to defending national champion USC. Hawaii has handled ranked teams, Stanford, Minnesota, UCLA and Louisville since its first loss of the season. Last week, the Rainbow Wahine defeated Stanford for the first time since 1991.
Louisiana Tech is currently in the midst of a four-match winning streak, recovering nicely from a four-match losing streak. The Lady Techsters recently captured their second tournament title of the season at the Drake Tournament. Tulsa also broke a losing streak and went on a roll. The Golden Hurricane had lost four-straight before winning three-straight to capture a home tournament.
HAWAI`I'S WILLOUGHBY BREAKS WAC CAREER KILL RECORD Against Baylor on Sept. 6, Hawaii senior Kim Willoughby had three great feats. She tied the school record for single-match aces with six. She also broke the school record for career aces (140). To top both of those achievements, she surpassed the 2,000 career kill mark, breaking the WAC record for career kills. The two-time WAC Player of the Year has 192 kills this season, to give her 2,038 career kills, breaking the record previously held by San Jose State's Joslynn Gallop (1997-00). Gallop ended her illustrious career with 1,196 kills. Willoughby is currently first in the WAC in kills per game (6.81 kpg).
SPREADING THE WEALTH In the WAC's main six individual statistic categories four different schools lead the way and each category is led by a different person. Hawaii leads three categories, including hitting percentage (Lauren Duggins, .417), kills (Kim Willoughby, 6.88 kpg) and assists (Kamana`o Kanoe, 13.29 apg). Nevada's Lauren Galler leads the league in service aces, averaging 0.76 sapg. Fresno State's Tiffany Bishop is first in blocks with 1.13 bpg, and San Jose State Jessie Shull is first in digs 4.23 dpg. Kanoe, Galler and Shull are all freshmen.
SEIFERT WINS 100TH CAREER MATCH SMU coach Lisa Seifert claimed her 100th career win in an exciting come-from-behind 3-1 victory over Stephen F. Austin in the opening round of the 2003 SMU Invitational on Friday, Sept. 12.
Seifert is in her eighth year as coach of the Mustangs and is the only head coach in the program's short but successful history.
Seifert is not the only WAC coach reaching milestones. In her 13th season, Fresno State coach Lindy Vivas collected her 300th career win in the season opener against New Mexico on Aug. 29. The 2002 WAC Coach of the Year will look for her 100th WAC win this year.
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) will present 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 commences 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 when Hawai`i takes on Santa Clara on Sept. 28 in California. The Rainbow Wahine and Nevada will be featured 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.
Sunday Night Spike 2003 (all times ET)
Sept. 7 6 p.m. Florida def. Stanford, 3-0
Sept. 14 6 p.m. Pepperdine def. Pacific, 3-1
Sept. 21 7 p.m. Illinois St. at No. Iowa
Sept. 28 4 p.m. Hawaii at Santa Clara
Oct. 5 6 p.m. Nevada at Hawaii
Oct. 12 6 p.m. Sac. St. at E. Washington
Oct. 19 6 p.m. Texas at Kansas State
Oct. 26 4 p.m. Santa Clara at Pepperdine
Oct. 26 6 p.m. Utah at Colorado St.
Nov. 2 6 p.m. No. Iowa at Nebraska
Nov. 9 6 p.m. Miami at Notre Dame
Nov. 16 6 p.m. Best of Sunday Night Spike
Nov. 23 6 p.m. WAC Championship
NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS WAC teams could face at least 27 non-conference teams that participated in last years NCAA Tournament. Hawaii could play the most (10), including defending national champion USC, 2001 champion Stanford, as well as Florida, UCLA and Minnesota. Nevada could face six teams, including California, Utah and Long Beach State. Fresno State is next (4) along with Louisiana Tech (3), Rice (3), San Jose State (2), SMU (2) and UTEP (1).
So far this season, the WAC is 55-45 (.550) against non-conference opponents. The WAC is 5-7 against ranked team. Hawaii is 5-1 with wins over Louisville, UCLA, Kansas State, Stanford and Minnesota. 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. Last week, Rice fell 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 freshman Cameron Flunder was named to her third all-tournament team this season. Flunder, in fact, has received all-tournament team honors in each tournament the Broncos have played. She was named to the Boise State Invitational, the Montana Invitational, and now the Gonzaga Invitational all-tournament teams. Most recently, she tallied 41 kills, three aces, 18 digs and seven blocks in 13 games. Her most productive match offensively would be the five-game win over Gonzaga in which she had 19 kills with an impressive hitting percentage of .459 (19 kills, 2 errors, 37 attempts).
Fresno State senior Kristen Fenton was selected to her third straight all-tournament team (fifth of career) at the University of San Diego Invitational. Fenton was one of just four players at the USD Invitational to tally a double-digit kill performance in all three matches played. In the tournament, Fenton recorded double-digit kill performances in all three matches played, including her first career 30-kill match with 31 against No. 19 Long Beach State). The last Bulldog to post 30 or more kills in a match was four years ago when Anamie Buckelew tallied 31 against TCU on Oct. 23, 1999. Fenton had her string of eight consecutive 20-kill matches broken when she recorded 15 in the three-game victory over Maryland-Eastern Shore in the tourney finale.
Hawaii had another strong weekend with two wins at the Sprint Invitational. The five-game win over Stanford marked the first time the Rainbow Wahine have beaten Stanford since Nov. 27, 1991. The Cardinal won seven-straight meetings between the schools. Last season, both Hawaii loses came against the Cardinal. Hawaii won its third-straight tournament, winning the Sprint Hawaii Invitational.
Making the all-tournament for the Rainbow Wahine were Lily Kahumoku, Lauren Duggins and Kim Willoughby (MVP).
Louisiana Tech won the Drake Tournament. The Lady Techsters fought off match points to win five- game matches against Stephen F. Austin and DePaul. Louisiana Tech won only one five-game match last season. Senior Cristine SantAnna was also named to the all-tournament team at Drake. SantAnna hit .317 in four matches, while posting 23 kills against DePaul in the five-game win.
Nevada sophomore middle blocker Salaia Salave`a set two single-season blocks marks a year ago and ranks in the top 10 in all three Nevada career blocking categories. Salave`as 132 total blocks and 106 block assists in 2002 were single season marks while her 26 solo blocks was the sixth best season in school history. Currently, she has 165 total blocks, 130 block assists, and 35 block solos which ranks 10th all-time in all three categories at Nevada. Senior outside hitter Laura Wooley will miss the remainder of the 2003 season due to medical reasons. Wooley a starter on the Packs 2002 NCAA Playoff team had played in just six matches this season all coming off the bench.
Rice played its third five-game match of the year, eventually falling to Ohio State. Lindsey Carter slammed down a career-high 25 kills behind a .400 hitting percentage. Julie Jackman recorded a personal-best 10 kills and six blocks in front of a home crowd against Ohio State. The Orem, Utah, native had eight total block assists on the week. Rookie Tessa Kuykendall notched a career-best seven assists against the Buckeyes and added two block solos at Texas Southern. Fellow classmate Amber Wiedemann led the Owls to an easy win over TSU with a match-high 11 kills, behind a .526 hitting percentage. The Owls served up 11 aces against the Tigers, with Wiedemann and Carter responsible for four apiece.
San Jose State outside hitter Kimberly Noble a set school record with 89 attempts against Duquesne on Sept. 12 in the first match of the SJSU Crowne Plaza Invitational. But the Spartans lost both matches to Duquesne, 34-36, 21-30, 30-23, 30-26, 13-15, and Cal State Northridge, 28-30, 22-30, 25-30. Against Duquesne, Noble had 28 kills on her school record 89 attempts. San Jose State captured its first home win one day later. In the Spartans victory, San Jose State was once again led by Noble who had 17 kills and hit .350 on 40 attempts and only three errors. Dana Rudd added 13 kills and four blocks, while Carrie Nash had 12 kills and 12 digs.
SMU middle blocker Kelly Larkan is having a solid sophomore campaign. Larkan is third in the WAC in hitting percentage with a mark of .396. The Amarillo, Texas, native was also named to the all-tournament team at the SMU Inivitational last week.
UTEP opened the week with just its third home match of the season as the undefeated Texas Tech entered Memorial Gym. After taking games one and two from the Red Raiders, the Miners looked primed to pull of the upset. But close losses in games three and four would send the match to the limit. When the dust had settled, UTEP was left with a moral victory, while Tech escaped with the 3-2 win. The Miners would have to shake off the loss and get ready for the UMKC Kangaroo Classic in Kansas City, Mo. The three-match tournament would be the beginning of the seasons longest road swing of the season, six matches. Montana won the opener, 3-1. The Miners swept host school, Missouri-Kansas City for the second time this season, 3-0 on Sept. 13. UTEP would follow the UMKC match with its second five-game match of the week against Northwestern State. The Demons would fight off three match-points in game four to force a fifth game, but the Miners would prove too much winning, 3-2.
Tulsa won the Ewing-Grover Olds/GMC Truck Invite presented by Adam's Mark Hotel with 3-0 record. The Golden Hurricane have four players with 55 or more attacks in three matches, five players with 25 or more kills. Tulsa has won seven of its last eight matches, after starting 0-2. With the wins, the Golden Hurricane take first place in the WAC's Eastern Division. Tulsa's Patricia Marques is second in the WAC in service aces, averaging 0.68 sapg. Teammate Sam Rutherford is third in the league in blocks with 1.10 bpg. As a team, the Golden Hurricane is first in the WAC in aces with 2.26 per game and second in the league in kills per game with 16.38 kpg.
TERRIFIC TOURNAMENTS Once again, the WAC had a very good week at tournaments, Hawaii and Tulsa both won tournament that they hosted. Louisiana Tech won its second tournament title of the season, capturing the Drake Tournament. Last week was a strong weekend for the Texas-based WAC schools. SMU won the Cal Poly Invitational, while Rice won the Crowne Plaza/Rice Invitational for the second-straight year. Hawaii won its second-straight tournament, capturing the Aston Imua Volleyball Challenge. Both Fresno State and Tulsa also won tournaments. The following players have also been named to all-tournament teams:
Cameron Flunder, BS Montana Invitational
Boise State Invitational
Gonzaga Invitational
Kristen Fenton, FS Fresno State Invitational
Sac. St. Invitational*
San Diego Invitational
Robyn Keune, FS Sac. St. Invitational
Lily Kahumoku, UH State Farm Classic
HAL Volleyball Classic
Aston Imua Challenge
Sprint Invitational
Kanoe Kamana`o, UH HAL Volleyball Classic
Lauren Duggins, UH Aston Imua Challenge
Sprint Invitational
Kim Willoughby, UH State Farm Classic
HAL Volleyball Classic*
Aston Imua Challenge*
Sprint Invitational*
Lia Mora, LT UL-Lafayette Tournament
Texas State Tournament
Drake Tournament*
Cristine Sant'Anna, LT UL-Lafayette Tournament*
Tristin Adams , UN CS-Fullerton Tournament
SBC/Sand Regency Tourney
Lauren Galler, UN SBC/Sand Regency Tourney
Christine Harms, UN Cal Golden Bear Tournament
Salaia Salave`a, UN CS-Fullerton Tournament
Lindsey Carter, RU Crowne Plaza/Rice Invite
Rebeca Pazo, RU Crowne Plaza/Rice Invite*
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
J. Abbruzzese, UTEP Fiesta Bowl Tournament
Nina Reeves, UTEP Borderland Invitational
Fiesta Bowl Tournament
UMKC Kangaroo Classic
Kari Stacy, UTEP Borderland Invitational
UMKC Kangaroo Classic
Natalia Araujo, TU Dayton Flyer Classic
Kristin Bailey, TU Stephen F. Austin Tourney*
Lindsay Eaves, TU Stephen F. Austin Tourney
Ewing-Grover Olds/GMC Truck Invite*
Sam Rutherford, TU Ewing-Grover Olds/GMC Truck Invite
Brie Penaluna, TU Stephen F. Austin Tourney
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 72,213 in 10 home matches so far this season for an average of 7,221. Hawaii also holds the top 10 single-match highs this season, including the nation-leading 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. Fresno State is 24th in the nation, averaging 638 fans a match.
2003 Division I Volleyball Attendance
School Avg. Total Matches
1. Hawaii 7,221 72,213 10
2. Nebraska 4,157 12,472 3
3. Wisconsin 3,583 17,916 5
4. Florida 2,939 14,697 5
5. Northern Iowa 2,052 2,052 1
6. Minnesota 1,939 5,817 3
7. Stanford 1,880 3,761 2
8. Texas A&M 1,767 5,302 3
9. Pacific 1,569 6,275 4
10. Kansas St. 1,452 5,806 4
24. Fresno St. 638 1,913 3