PLAYER OF THE WEEK Rice outside hitter Rebeca Pazo has been named the Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 20. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor of the year for the senior, who earned the honor twice in 2002.
The Caracas, Venezuela, native was named to the all-tournament team of the GlaxoSmithKline Carolina Classic after averaging 4.91 kills and 4.82 digs a game over the weekend. Against No.1 Minnesota, Pazo had 21 kills and 18 digs. The Owls took the top-ranked Gophers to five games before losing. Pazo rebounded the next match with an impressive nine kills and 11 digs in game one against North Carolina and went on to lead Rice with 14 kills and 26 digs in the match.
In the tournament finale against No. 20 Loyola Marymount, she again led Rice with 19 kills and nine digs as the Owls defeated an AVCA ranked opponent for just the second time in school history. Earlier in the week, Pazo posted 11 kills and 12 digs against rival Houston. With the Owls trailing late in game one, she put up four-straight Rice points setting up the win, then in game three, she served up eight points, including a pair of aces, to give the Owls a lead they would not relinquish.
Other nominees included: Christianna Reneau, Fresno State; Susie Boogaard, Hawaii; Megan Rush, Louisiana Tech; Salaia Salave`a, Nevada; Rebeca Pazo, Rice; Carrie Nash, San Jose State; Jacky Niederstadt, SMU; Kari Stacy, UTEP and Lindsay Eaves, Tulsa.
WAC ACTION TAKES OFF THIS WEEK Hawaii begins its quest for its ninth-straight WAC title this week as league play begins. The Rainbow Wahine have not lost a WAC match since losing to BYU in 1998. Last season, SMU captured the Eastern Division with an 11-2 WAC record. Upstart Boise State looks to top last years WAC win total in the first week. In 2003, the Broncos won only one WAC match.
BOLD BRONCOS Boise State is off to a solid start this season with a 9-2 record. The Broncos are an impressive 6-1 at home this season, twice as many as last seasons home total. At 9-2, Boise State has tallied more victories this season than they had all of the previous three years combined, winning one in both 2001 and 2002 and six in 2003.
SON DEFEATS FATHER Tulsa head coach Matt Sonnichsen defeated head coach Tom Sonnichsen (his father) on Sept. 17 for the first time meeting between the two on the volleyball court. The elder Sonnichsen coaches at Grinnell College. It also marked the first time in NCAA history that a father/son match-up had occurred.
ROAD WARRIORS Opening the year by playing nine of its first 13 matches on the road, Fresno State's 26-match regular-season schedule features 15 road contests and 11 home matches. With the majority of travel happening this month, the Bulldogs will play six at home and six on the road in the final two months. Since 2000, Fresno State will have played 76 road matches to just 62 home dates. The Bulldogs have fared well the last three years combined by going 28-13 away from home.
ATTENDANCE Hawaii continues to pack the stands early this season. The Rainbow Wahine have already drawn over 52,154 fans in eight matches for an average 6,519. Hawaii also has the top eight attended games, led by the 7,954 fans that saw the Rainbow Wahine upset No. 3 UCLA 3-2. There were 6,661 fans that saw Hawaii defeat Arizona on Sept. 5.
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 9-1. The Aggies have won seven-straight matches. The other Aggies, Utah State, have started the season 1-6. The Idaho Vandals have a reverse record through the first few weeks, 6-1.
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.
RICE NAMES NEW HEAD COACH The WAC welcomes one new coach this season. Genny Volpe, formerly an assistant coach at Texas A&M University, has been named Rices new head volleyball coach. Volpe spent the past three seasons at Texas A&M, where the Aggies were 70-26 and appeared in the NCAA tournament each season. Texas A&M finished the 2003 season ranked 16th in the final AVCA poll and advanced to the NCAA regional semifinals where it lost to eventual national champion Southern California.
This is not Volpes first stint at Rice. She spent the 1995 season as an assistant coach for the Owls under former head coach Henry Chen. She helped direct Rice to its first postseason bid as the Owls were selected to play in the NIVC tournament.
Boise State Broncos (9-2, 0-0 WAC)Boise State travels to the states of Louisiana and Texas this week to play two non-conference matches followed by two conference matches ... the Broncos will play at Centenary (Tues., Sept. 21) and at Louisiana-Monroe (Wed., Sept. 22) before opening WAC action Thurs., Sept. 23 at Louisiana Tech in Ruston, La. ... This season, the Broncos are averaging 15.33 kills, 13.51 assists, 1.97 service aces, 13.69 digs, and 2.90 blocks per game ... Bronco leaders include sophomore Cameron Flunder (3.82 kills, 0.64 digs, 0.90 blocks per game), Jamie Claussen (3.47 kills, 2.89 digs) and Telia Peterson (2.85 kills, 2.31 digs).
Fresno State Bulldogs (7-4, 0-0 WAC)After opening the year at 3-0, Fresno State is playing .500 ball with a 4-4 record in its last eight matches ... in preseason play, the Bulldogs have been a tournament runner-up twice and have finished third in the other ... the Bulldogs are 3-0 in sweeps, 2-3 in four-game decisions and 1-1 in five-game contests ... with a 3-2 neutral mark, the Bulldogs are 1-1 in road match ups, while being 3-1 at home ... of the four losses, eight of the 17 games played were lost by three points or less ... of the four losses, three have come to teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (8-0, 0-0 WAC)The Rainbow Wahine won two matches to win the Waikiki Beach Marriott Volleyball Invitational championship ... the team extended their winning streak against unranked teams to 180 ... Susie Boogaard, Kanoe Kamana`o and Alicia Arnott were named to the all-tournament team with Boogaard earning most outstanding player honors ... Hawaii is now 8-0 with five wins over teams currently ranked in the USA Today/CSTV Top 25 ... junior transfer Victoria Prince leads the WAC in hitting percentage, hitting .381 ... Kamana`o is second in the WAC in assists with 13.42 apg.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (3-8, 0-0 WAC)Rhyann Enny missed all three matches with an injury that occurred last week Heather Anderson had 22 digs in a loss to host Mississippi State ... Louisiana Tech dropped its first five-game match of the season to the Bulldogs (30-16, 31-33, 19-30, 32-30, 16-18) Kristen Fairbanks tied a career high with a pair of nine-kill matches over the weekend Joy Okpa had a career high six blocks against Mississippi State Tech returns home this weekend for its first home matches since opening the season on Sept. 1 against Stephen F. Austin by hosting Boise State and UTEP the Lady Techsters have won three-straight over the Miners including sweeping both matches a year ago.
Nevada Wolf Pack (6-4, 0-0 WAC)Nevada opens WAC play this weekend by playing two road matches against teams from the East Division ... on Sept. 24 the Wolf Pack take on Tulsa and Sept. 25 play at Rice with both matches starting at 7:00 p.m. ... the Wolf Pack are 9-1 in WAC play versus this weeks opponents posting a 5-0 record versus Tulsa and stand at 4-1 in WAC matches with the Owls ... in four years in the WAC Nevada has posted winning records each season ... the Pack have gone 10-6 (2000), 9-4 (2001), 8-5 (2002), and 7-6 (2003) for a combined 34-21 WAC record.
Rice Owls (9-2, 0-0 WAC)Rebeca Pazo and Rebecca Kainz were both named to the all-tournament team at the GlaxoSmithKline Carolina Classic ... Pazo averages 4.91 kpg and 4.82 dpg during the tournament while Kainz averaged 3.09 kpg and 1.00 bpg and hit .346 ... the two vied for the most impressive hitting performance in a game against North Carolina as Pazo hit .667 with nine kills (9-1-12) in the first game and Kainz hit .778 with seven kills and no errors (7-0-9) in game three ... Rice's victory against No. 20 Loyola Marymount was just the Owls' second over a ranked opponent in program history, while the match with No. 1 Minnesota was their first against a top-ranked team... Tessa Kuykendall had a solid week for the Owls, hitting .647 (12-1-17) against Houston then posting nine blocks against North Carolina.
San Jose State Spartans (8-3, 0-0 WAC)Dyana Thompson is the 16th Spartan in school history to record 10 or more blocks in a match ... she had 10 block assists in a, 3-1, win over Oregon ... in that match, two other players had seven blocks assists Dana Rudd and Jennifer Senftleben ... senior outside hitter Carrie Nash had a career-high 22 kills and 27 digs in the Spartans win over Oregon ... she also became the 16th Spartan player to record a 20-20.
SMU Mustangs (5-4, 0-0 WAC)All-WAC honoree Jessica Mihm continues her stellar play this season ... Mihm leads the WAC in assists per game, averaging 13.52 apg ... Mihm has a total of 433 assists this season ... she recorded 80 assists in an epic five-game loss to Cal State Northridge on Sept. 11 ... senior Beth Karasek is sixth in kills per game, averaging 4.31 kpg ... Karasek is also eighth in digs per game, averaging 3.84 dpg.
UTEP Miners (5-3, 0-0 WAC)Kari Stacy recorded five straight double-double performances (Texas Tech, UT-Pan American, Western New Mexico, Weber State and New Mexico) in six matches ... averaging 5.00 kills a game with 145 kills, 19 aces and 77 digs ... named to the Albuquerque-Marriott Lobo Classic all-Tournament team ... Stacy recorded 20 kills and 14 digs versus Western New Mexico in El Paso on Tuesday ... Led the Miners in Albuquerque, N.M., recording her fourth straight double-double with 18 kills and 10 digs, while putting up five blocks and five aces against Weber State ... she registered 22 kills and 11 digs, her fifth straight double-double performance versus New Mexico.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (11-1, 0-0 WAC)Golden Hurricane won the Kevin Grover Olds/GMC Invite with a 3-0 record winning the tournament for the third consecutive year and fourth time in the past six seasons.Tulsa has won 54 of its 65 games at the tournament, since the event began in 1999 ... last season TU played only three five-game matches out of 28 this year, TU has already tied that mark in just nine matches. In those matches, TU was 1-2 in 2003 this year TU is 2-1 ...the Hurricane is off to the best start in school history winning 11 of its first 12 matches to start the year ties the 2000 start that saw TU win its first 11 matches before loosing its 12th match ... Tulsa hit a school record .473 hitting percentage against Grinnell.