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Week 12 Volleyball Notes



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    PLAYER OF THE WEEK Rice junior Olaya Pazo has been named the Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 15. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor this season for the transfer from Texas-Arlington. Pazo is the sister of Rice all-WAC selection Rebeca Pazo.

    The Caracas, Venezuela, native, hit .486 over two matches and averaged 3.33 kpg from the right side, while defensively she averaged 3.33 dpg and 1.50 bpg in the Owls' pair of 3-0 victories. At Houston, Pazo led Rice with her fifth double- double of the season with 13 kills and 11 digs. She hit .667 in game two against the Cougars, connecting six times on nine swings. She finished the match hitting .571 (13-1-21), with her kill total matching her Rice career high.

    At Tulsa, Pazo helped Rice to it's best three-game blocking match of the year as she got in on five of the Owls 16 team blocks. Her five block assists matched her Rice career high. She was also second in digs for Rice against the Golden Hurricane, finishing with nine. Pazos efforts helped Rice close out the regular season with a six match winning streak, including taking the last five in straight sets. The Owls have won 17-straight games, with the last loss a 30-28 game three at San Jose State.

    Other nominees included: Robyn Keune, Fresno State; Alicia Arnott, Hawaii and Salaia Salave`a, Nevada.

    HAWAII HAS NATIONS LONGEST CONFERENCE WINNING STREAK Hawaii won their ninth-straight WAC regular season title, finishing with an undefeated WAC record for the sixth-straight year. With two wins last weekend, Hawaii extended its WAC winning streak to 91. With Floridas loss to Tennessee on Nov, 14, Hawaii now has the longest conference winning streak (91), along with the longest overall win streak (23) and the longest home winning streak (38). The Gators had 145-match regular season winning streak (an NCAA record), snapped by the Lady Vols, 3-2.

    TOURNEY TIME 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.

    For the first times since the WAC since tournament was cut to eight teams, all five Western Division teams advanced to the to the championship.

    Rices second seed is the highest ever for the Owls. The last two seasons the Owls were the No. 5 seed. Rice is advancing to the WAC Tournament with its third coach in as many years. First-year head coach, Genny Volpe, has led the Owls to a 12-1 WAC record and 24 wins overall this season.

    Despite a slow start Fresno State earned the tournaments No. 4 seed. Hawaii, San Jose State and Fresno State are the only team to advanced to all seven WAC Tournaments.

    Hawaii is the No. 1 seed for the sixth time. In 1997, Hawaii was the Pacific Division top seed, while BYU was the Mountain Division top seed. The Rainbow Wahine have won all three tournaments since its reinstatement in 2001.

    SAN JOSE STATES SHULL SMASHES WAC RECORD Sophomore libero Jessie Shull had a record 42 digs for the San Jose State volleyball team, but the Spartans fell in four games to Fresno State, 30-27, 30-28, 22-30, 34-32, on Nov. 3 in a WAC match at The Event Center.

    Shulls 42 digs breaks the old San Jose State match record of 38 set by Lisa Ice against Hawaii in 1986 and against Cal Poly in 1986. Shull also broke the WAC single match record of 38 set by Suzanne Stonebarger against the Spartans during the 2000 season.

    STRONG SEASONS With its 13-0 WAC season, Hawaii has now finished undefeated in the league eight times. The Rainbow Wahine enter the WAC Tournament 23-0. 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. Rices 12-1 WAC record is its best league record. In 2001, the Owls were the Eastern Division Champions with a 10-3 record. The Owls have now won the Eastern Division three of the last four seasons. The 24 wins is the most for the Owls since joining the WAC.

    WOLF PACK WINNING STREAK ENDS AT 10 Nevada won a season-high 10 consecutive matches before falling, 3-2, to Hawaii in Honolulu on Nov. 13. The streak helped secure the third seed in the WAC Tournament for the Wolf Pack. Nevada improved to 18-7 overall and 10-3 in WAC action. Nevadas 10 WAC wins this season ties the school record set back in 2000. The Wolf Packs recent 10 match win streak equals the longest in head coach Devin Scruggs career. Nevada has twice taken WAC Champion Hawaii to five games this year.

    Nevada is in its fifth year in the WAC and have posted a 44-24 overall conference match record. The Wolf Pack have not posted a losing record since joining the conference going 10-6 (2000), 9-4 (2001), 8-5 (2002), 7-6 (2003) and 10-3 (2004).

    FINAL POINT STANDINGS The final point standings for seeding in the WAC Tournament are as follows:

    Hawaii 18
    Rice 16
    Nevada 13
    Boise State 10
    Fresno State 9
    San Jose State 9
    Tulsa 5
    SMU 5
    UTEP 3
    Louisiana Tech 1

    NCAA LEADERS Hawaii setter Kanoe Kamana`o is still seventh in the country in assists per game (13.91 apg), while Rices Kristina Hoban is 19th (13.28 apg) and SMUs Jessica Mihm is 20th (13.28 apg). Rices Tessa Kuykendall is 10th in blocks per game (1.63 bpg). Boise States Heather Malaschak is 14th (1.63 bpg), while Hawaii transfer Victoria Prince is 21st (1.56 bpg). Prince continues to climb the charts in hitting percentage. She is 11th, hitting .407. Tulsas Joyce Silva was 19th in kills per game (5.01 kpg), and Beth Karasek is 20th (5.01 kpg). Nevadas Salaia Salave`a is 25th (4.98 kpg). Tulsa freshman Kassiana Urnau is 9th in the nation this week in service aces per game, averaging 0.65 sapg, while Rices Rebeca Pazo is 20th (0.58 sapg).

    BOISE STATES BIG TURNAROUND Boise State is having its best season in several years and its best conference season since joining the WAC. Before the 2004 season, the Broncos had never won more than one match in conference play in any given WAC season. With a record of 17-11, the 2004 Bronco program is in its first season of double-digit wins since 1998. In the three seasons before 2004 (in other words 2001, 2002 and 2003), the Broncos combined for just eight wins total (one in 2001, one in 2002 and six in 2003). Among Boise State's landmarks this season - the program's historical first victories over SMU, Tulsa and Fresno State, and the program's first WAC Athlete of the Week (Cameron Flunder - Sept. 6).

    NCAA SELECTION SHOW ESPNEWS will present exclusive live national announcement of the 2004 NCAA Championship field for six Fall sports. The networks NCAA Fall Sports Championship Selection series will be presented within the one-hour programming windows listed and will feature video highlights, interviews with select coaches and analysis by insiders in each sport. The volleyball selection show will be aired Sunday, Nov. 28 at 7:00 p.m. ET.

    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 121,292 fans in 17 matches for an average 7,135. Hawaii also has eight of the top 10 attended games, including the second highest attendance of the season when 9,875 saw Hawaii defeat Western Division rival Nevada in five games on Nov. 13. There were also 3 8,656 fans that saw the Rainbow Wahine defeat Pepperdine.The highest attended match this season is the 10,921 that saw Minnesota defeat Illinois on Oct. 16. There were 8,048 fans saw Hawaii defeat Fresno State.

    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 27-2, 15-0 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Aggies have won 33-straight Sun Belt matches. NMSU has defeated future league partner UTEP, 3-0. The other Aggies, Utah State, are 9-15, 5-11 in the Big West. The Idaho Vandals are 17-9 so far this season, 9-7 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.