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Weekly Volleyball Release
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POLLSAVCA
RichKern.com
STATS
NCAA
WAC
PLAYER OF THE WEEK Fresno State outside hitter Tuli Peters has been named the Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 25. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor of the year for the sophomore and the first for her career.
The Laie, Hawaii, native sparked the Bulldogs to a pair of home WAC sweeps when the Bulldogs posted three-game victories over Louisiana Tech and SMU. Averaging nearly four kills a game (3.67) and four digs a game, Peters hit .305 overall, while tallying just over 25 points in six games. She recorded her 10th double-double of the year when she tallied 13 kills and had a team-high 17 digs against Louisiana Tech. She also hit .286 (13-3-35) against the Lady Techsters. Peters picked up five assists as she notched her 12th double-figure kill match of the season. Hitting .333 against SMU, she hit better than .300 for the third time this fall, while posting four assists against the Mustangs.
The wins helped Fresno State get over .500 overall (11-10). The Bulldogs are also within one match of .500 in league games (4-5).
Other nominees included: Kanoe Kamana`o, Hawai'i; Tristin Adams, Nevada; Rebeca Pazo, Rice; Dana Rudd, San Jose State; Jaymie Swift, UTEP and Joyce Silva, Tulsa.
WEEK SIX OF WAC ACTION The sixth week of WAC play has both the Western and Eastern Division leaders on the road. Hawaii travels to San Jose State on Wednesday, Oct. 27. The Rainbow Wahine will also face Boise State on Oct. 29. Rice will face in-state rival SMU and Louisiana Tech this week. Nevada, in the midst of a six-match winning streak, will host Fresno State in its only match of the week. When SMU and Tulsa meet in Dallas, one team will break its losing streak. the Mustangs have lost five-straight, while the Hurricane have dropped three-straight matches.
FAST STARTS This marks the third time in five years that Hawaii got off to an 18-0 start, also doing it in 2000 and 2002. Both of those seasons ended with a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Last season, the Rainbow Wahine lost the second match of the season and then won 35-straight matches before falling to Florida in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.
With a 19-3 record to open the 2004 campaign, Rice is off to its best start in program history behind first-year head coach Genny Volpe. The teams 8-1 WAC record marks the best start in league play ever.
BRONCO BREAKTHROUGH Boise State is having its best season in several years and its best conference season since joining the WAC. Pryor to the 2004 season, the Broncos had never won more than one match in conference play in any given WAC season.
With a record of 16-7, the 2004 Bronco program is in its first season of double-digit wins since 1998. In the three seasons prior to 2004, the Broncos combined for just eight wins total (one in 2001, one in 2002 and six in 2003). Boise States landmarks this season include the Broncoss historical first victories over SMU, Tulsa and Fresno State. Cameron Flunder also earned the programs first WAC Player of the Week on Sept. 6.
NCAA LEADERS Tulsa freshman Kassiana Urnau is seventh in the nation this week in service aces per game, averaging 0.66 sapg. Hawaii setter Kanoe Kamana`o is ninth in the country in assists per game (13.79 apg), while SMUs Jessica Mihm is 20th (13.25 apg). Boise States Heather Malaschak is 12th in blocks (1.65 bpg), while Rices Tessa Kuykendall is 13th (1.65 bpg). Hawaii transfer Victoria Prince continues to climb the charts in hitting percentage. She is 11th, hitting .400. Nevadas Salaia Salave`a is 27th in kills per game (4.94 kpg).
YOUNG GUNS Fresno State has seen its freshmen lead the team this season. Freshman outside hitter Christianna Reneau is the only freshman ranked in the WAC's top 10 in kills per game, as well as being only one of three conference hitters averaging at least 5.00 kills per game as she sits third overall (5.00 kpg). She's also the only freshman in WAC play who is listed among the league's top 10 in points scored as she is fourth with a 5.52 average. Freshman outside hitter Mounia Nihipali is now rankedamong the top three in digs per game (4.65 dpg) and she, along with freshman libero Yuko Mori, who is ranked eighth with a 3.80 dig per game average,are the only freshmen listed. Overall, Fresno State continues to sport a young squad as it gains experience and consistency.
TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO RENO For the third-straight season, the WAC Volleyball Tournament returns to Virginia Street Gym and the campus of the University of Nevada. The tournament will be played Nov. 19-21 with the top eight teams advancing.
CURRENT POINT STANDINGS The current point standings for seeding in the WAC Tournament are as follows:
Hawaii 13
Rice 12
Nevada 11
San Jose State 9
Boise State 9
Fresno State 7
SMU 3
UTEP 2
Tulsa 2
Louisiana Tech 1
TOURNAMENT CREDENTIAL DEADLINES Request forms for credentials for the 2004 WAC Volleyball Tournament are now available through the league office. Media requesting hotel rooms must have their credential forms in by Wednesday, Nov. 3. If no room is requested, the deadline is Monday, Nov. 15. The WAC Volleyball Tournament is slated for Nov. 19-21 at the Virginia Street Gym in Reno, Nev.
AGAINST THE BEST Hawaii leads the way this season against ranked teams. The Rainbow Wahine are 4-0 against teams that were ranked at the time of the match. Hawaii has wins over No. 17 Arizona, No. 17 Santa Clara, No. 3 UCLA and No. 14 California. The WAC is 5-5 (.500) against non-conference ranked teams. Three teams have losses to teams in the top 10. Rice lost in five games to No. 1 Minnesota, while defeating No. 20 LMU. Nevada also went the distance with then No. 6-Stanford. Boise State lost to then-No. 3 Washington.
PACKING THE STANDS Hawaii continues to pack the stands this season. The Rainbow Wahine have already drawn 96,048 fans in 14 matches for an average 6,861. Hawaii also has eight of the top 10 attended games, including the second highest attendance of the season when 8,656 saw Hawaii defeat Pepperdine in three games. There were also 7,954 fans that saw the Rainbow Wahine upset No. 3 UCLA 3-2. There were 7,453 fans that saw Hawaii beat Eastern Division rival Rice on Oct. 21. The highest attended match this season is the 10,921 that saw Minnesota defeat Illinois on Oct. 16.
WELCOME TO THE WAC Next season, Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State will join the WAC. Both Idaho and New Mexico State advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season. The Vandals lost to Hawaii in Honolulu in the first round. New Mexico State lost to BYU in the first round. The Aggies were a perfect 15-0 in the Sun Belt in 2003.
This season, New Mexico State is 20-2, 9-0 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Aggies have won 27-straight Sun Belt matches. The other Aggies, Utah State, are 7-11, 3-7 in the Big West. They are winners of four of their last five matches. The Idaho Vandals are 14-6 so far this season, 6-4 in the Big West Conference.
REGIONAL SITES SET The NCAA Division I Womens Volleyball Committee has announced the following sites for regional competition of the 2004 NCAA Division I Womens Volleyball Championships. The first sight is the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, Ky., along with the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis, Minn.; Bank America Arena in Seattle, Wash., and the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis. Louisville, Minnesota, Washington and Wisconsin-Green Bay are the hosts for regionals, which will be held December 9-12.
Boise State Broncos (16-7, 5-4 WAC)
The Broncos, currently 16-7, split on the road last week, losing a non-conference match to Eastern Washington, 1-3, and winning a WAC match at UTEP, 3-1 ... the Broncos are averaging 15.12 kills, 13.42 assists and 2.70 blocks per game ... the team is hitting .207 (1285 kills, 604 errors, 3285 attempts) ... Bronco leaders include Cameron Flunder (4.06 kpg, 0.86 bpg), Jamie Claussen (2.99 kpg, 2.85 dpg) and Telia Peterson (2.71 kpg, 2.77 dpg).
Fresno State Bulldogs (11-10, 4-5 WAC)
Fresno State is 36-9 in its last four years at home (North Gym and Save Mart Center) ... Fresno State is 17-3 in non-conference play in its last four years at home ... in the NCAA stats, Fresno State has appeared nationally in kills per game, assists per game, blocks per game and digs per game ... the Bulldogs have been ranked all seven weeks nationally in digs per game ...Fresno State is currently rank No. 14 in digs per game (19.07) ... Fresno State has ranked as high as No. 3 in kills per game (18.07, Sept. 5), No. 3 in assists per game (16.43, Sept. 5), No. 6 in digs per game (21.93, Sept. 5) and No. 29 in blocks per game (2.92, Sept. 19) ... junior setter Robyn Keune (Ventura, Calif.) made her fifth NCAA statistical appearance of her career when she appeared at No. 6 in assists per game (Sept. 5).
Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (18-0, 8-0 WAC)
Hawaii won matches against Eastern Division leading Rice and Tulsa last week ... the wins extended Hawaiis WAC winning streak to 86 matches and its winning streak against unranked opponents to 190 ... the Rainbow Wahine handed the Owls their first WAC loss of the season and only their third loss overall ... Alicia Arnott put her name in the UH record books, tying the school record for service aces with six versus Tulsa (10/22) ... at SMU (10/16), Arnott had 30 kills and hit over .450 (.463), becoming just the third player in school history to do so. Teee Williams-Sanders (44 kills and a .493 hitting percentage vs. UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 8, 1989) and Deitre Collins (30 kills, .472 hitting percentage vs. Pacific on Nov. 15, 1981) were the only others to accomplish the feat.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (5-17, 1-8 WAC)Louisiana Tech will close its WAC home schedule this week against Tulsa and Rice Joy Okpa averaged 3.17 digs per game last week in a pair of losses at Fresno State and at Nevada Okpa had 15 kills at Fresno State Natalie Shipp averaged 4.50 digs per game including a career high 21 at Fresno State freshman setter Rhyann Enny had two kills, seven digs and 37 assists against Fresno State Heather Anderson now has 1,231 career digs, fifth best ever at Louisiana Tech Megan Rush has 283 total blocks fifth best all time as well.
Nevada Wolf Pack (14-6, 7-2 WAC)
Nevada had wins over SMU and Louisiana Tech last week ... the wins gave the Wolf Pack a season-high six match winning streak ... sophomore setter Tristin Adams recorded her 2,000th assist in the match ... the Wolf Pack improved to 14-6 overall and 7-2 in conference ... junior Salaia Salave`a is 27th in the nation in kills per game, averaging 4.95 kpg ... as a team the Wolf Pack are 29th in blocks per game (2.88).
Rice Owls (19-3, 8-1 WAC)
Rebeca Pazo became the Owls' all-time kill leader with her nine kills in game one at Hawaii, finishing the weekend with a tally of 1,868. She also moved up to second on the Rice digs list with 1,218 ... Tessa Kuykendall tied the mark for the second-most blocks in a single match with her career-high 13 at San Jose State ... her four solo blocks matched her career high and brought the sophomore's career total to 49, sixth overall at Rice ... the Owls 3-2 win at San Jose State marked their first five-game win of the season in three tries ... the match featured a season-high 19 blocks for Rice.
San Jose State Spartans (13-6, 4-2 WAC)
San Jose State had its season-high five-game winning streak, snapped in a tough five-game loss to Rice ... it was the first five-game loss of the season for the Spartans, who are 6-1 in matches that go the distance ... against Rice, the Spartans had four players with 10 or more kills, led by Carrie Nash who had 18 ... freshman outside hitter Nia Freeman added 12 kills in the loss ... San Jose State joins the four other Western Division teams with at least four WAC wins and at least 10 overall wins.
SMU Mustangs (9-8, 3-4 WAC)
Junior setter Jessica Mihm moved into 10th place all-time in assists in the WAC with 3,650 assists ... Colorado States Analisa Saylor holds the record with a total of 5,873 assists from 1994-97 ... Mihm is 20th in the nation in assists per game, averaging 13.25 apg this season ... for her career she averages 12.63 apg, which places her fifth all-time in the WAC.
UTEP Miners (8-11, 1-8 WAC)
The Miners were 1-1 last week , sweeping UT-Pan American, 3-0, and losing, 3-1, to Boise State ... UTEP is led by junior Kari Stacy who recorded her 10th double-double performance of the season against Boise State on Oct. 23 ... she has totaled 289 kills (4.38 per game), 190 digs, 30 aces and 25 blocks ... Stacy has registered double-digit kills in 15 of 18 matches this season, including four 20-kill performances ... junior transfer Jaymie Swift, who took over libero duties late in the season, has emerged recently as a force for UTEP ... since her switch from defensive specialist, she has had two 20-plus dig matches including a career-high 29 against Boise State.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (13-8, 2-7 WAC)
The Golden Hurricane has won the second game in 17 of its 21 contests this season ... last season Tulsa played only three five-game matches out of 28 this year, TU has already played in seven ... in those matches, Tulsa was 1-2 in 2003, and this year the Hurricane is 2-5 ... sophomore Joyce Silva recorded the second most kills for a single match against San Jose State with 36 ... the 36 kills was the most in the WAC this season ... she has posted over 30 kills for the second time this season, the first time that has been done in school history ... Silva has the two highest kill totals this season with 36 and 31 against Air Force on Sept. 3.