HALF-WAY POINT ?“ WAC play enters its fifth week with Hawai'i as the one undefeated team. The Rainbow Wahine moved to 7-0 with road wins last week.s Nevada is now 7-1 and in sole possession of second place with a win over Utah State last week. This week, Hawai'i will host Utah State and San Jose State. New Mexico States and Louisiana Tech will host Idaho and Boise State. The Broncos look to break a seven-match losing streak
Click Here for Week Nine Volleyball Notes
XBOX LIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK ?“ New Mexico State?™s Amber Simpson has been named the Xbox Live Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 17. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor for the freshman. She is the third Aggie to win the award with Kim Oguh and Alice Borden getting the honors earlier this season.
The Quincy, Ill., native, led the Aggies to sweeps over Fresno State and San Jose State as New Mexico State moved to 4-3 in the WAC. She played in both of the Aggies?™ matches last week as she totaled 22 kills in the two matches averaging 3.67 kills per game with seven block assists and one solo block. Against Fresno State, Simpson had nine kills and five block assists in the Aggies?™ 3-0 win. Against San Jose State, she hit a New Mexico State record .750 with 13 kills in 16 attempts with only one error, while tallying two block assists and one solo block.
Other nominees included: Ambra Hayes of Louisiana Tech had a career-high 27 kills in a 3-2 win over Northwestern State … Victoria Prince hit .452 with 4.00 kills per game and 2.33 blocks per game on the week … Teal Ericson of Nevada averaged 4.86 kills per game and 5.07 points per game in two WAC wins for the Wolf Pack … Beth Hodge of Utah State had 37 kills and 20 digs as the Aggies split WAC matches.
ENDURANCE CHAMPIONS ?“ Louisiana Techs has earned almost half of its wins the hard way. Of its 15 wins, seven have come in five-games. The Lady Techsters are 7-1 in five-game matches. Last week, the Lady Techsters won two matches in five games, defeating both Northwestern State and Fresno State.
GOING STREAKING ?“ Hawai'i has a lengthy conference winning streak. Hawai'i has won 98-straight conference matches, the longest streak in the nation. This week, the Rainbow Wahine look to extend their streak to triple digits. The Rainbow Wahine?™s streak became the longest after Florida?™s NCAA-record conference winning streak of 145 was broken last season.
IDAHO RECORDS ?“ Idaho senior Meghan Brown has already etched her name in the Vandal record books but will add more accolades to her resume during the 2005 season. Brown currently has 1,250 career digs and owns the top spot in that category. Brown needs three double-figure dig matches to become the all-time leader in that category. Outside hitter Kati Tikker needs two double-figure kill matches this season to enter the top 10 in that category. She currently has 54 career double-figure kill matches. Tikker should also enter the top 10 in career kills this season. She currently has 1,081 kills and needs 58 to reach the No. 10 spot. Junior Saxony Brown currently has 91 career service aces and needs 12 more this season to overtake the No. 10 spot.
PETERSON SETS SCHOOL RECORD ?“ Utah State junior libero Kelsi Peterson set a new school record on Oct.s 5s against Fresno State with 34 digs.s The old school record was 32 digs set by Stacey Blackburn against Cal State Fullerton in a four-game match during the 1994 season.
PACKING THE STANDS ?“ The WAC has two teams in the top 10 nationally in attendance. Hawai'i is first and New Mexico State is fifth. New Mexico State set a school record in attendance on Oct. 1 against Hawai'i when 7,115 packed the stands. It more than doubled their previous school record. There were 3,183 fans in the Pan American Center to see the Aggies season opener on Aug. 29. The Aggies have drawn 16, 768 in six matches.
sHawai'i continues to pack the stands with almost 95,000s fans packing the Stan Sheriff Center this season. The 8,499 that saw Hawai'i?™s match against No. 10 UCLA on Sept. 10 was the fifth-highest attended match in the nation this season. Hawai'i is first in the nation in attendance with an average of 7,247.
AGAINST THE BEST ?“ The WAC is 4-13 against non-conference ranked teams this season. Hawai'i captured the league?™s first win against a top 25 opponent when it swept then No. 7 USC. Hawai'is also has a win against No. 10 UCLA, 3-1. The Rainbow Wahine have two losses to Penn State and a loss to top-ranked Nebraska. Hawai'i also lost twice to No. 2 Washington. Nevada is 1-2 with losses to then-No. 18 San Diego and then-No. 13 UCLA. San Jose State fell to then-No. 10 Wisconsin and then-No. 15 Santa Clara. At the Circus Circus/Molten Invitational, the Wolf Pack defeated then-No. 21 California in five games. Fresno State lost twice to ranked teams at the Santa Clara Tournament to No. 18 UC Santa Barbara and No. 15 Arizona.
WELCOME TO THEs WAC ?“ This season, Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State join the WAC.
sLast year, New Mexico State was 30-3, 15-0 in the Sun Belt and won the conference tournament. The other Aggies, Utah State, were 9-18, 5-13 in the Big West. The Idaho Vandals were 17-13 last season, 9-9 in the Big West.
sBoth New Mexico State and Idaho lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies lost to San Diego in the opening round, while the Vandals lost to Washington in the first round
s In 2003, both Idaho and New Mexico State advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The Vandals lost to Hawai'i 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.
VOLLEYBALL FORMAT ?“ For the first time since 2001 the WAC will not compete in divisions. The teams competing in the WAC this season are: Boise State, Fresno State, Hawai'i, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State and Utah State. This season?™s format will be a double-round robin. Each team will face the other eight at home and on the road.
2005 WAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
November 24 (Quarterfinals)s
Match 1 - No. 8 vs. No. 9 ?” 9:30 a.m.ss
Match 2 - No. 4 vs. No. 5 ?” 12:00 p.m.
Match 3 - No. 3 vs. No. 6 ?” 2:30 p.m.
Match 4 - No. 2 vs. No. 7 ?” 5:00 p.m.
Match 5 - Winner Match 1 vs. No. 1 ?” 7:30 p.m.
November 25 (Semifinals)
Match 6 - Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4 ?” 4:00 p.m.
Match 7 - Winner Match 2 vs. Winner Match 5 ?” 6:30 p.m.
November 26 (Championship)
Match 8 - Winner Match 6 vs. Winner Match 7 ?” 4:30 p.m.
REGIONAL SITES SET ?“ The 2005 NCAA Volleyball Championship will be the 25th. The NCAA Division I Women?™s Volleyball Committee has announced the following sites for regional competition of the 2005 NCAA Division I Women?™s Volleyball Championships. The first sight is the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb., along with thes Recreation Building in University Park, Pa.; the Maples Pavillion in Stanford, Calif., and the G. Rollie White Coliseum in College Station, Texas. The University ofs Nebraska, Penn State University, Stanford University and Texas A&M University are the hosts for the regionals, which will be held December 8-11. The first and second rounds will be held December 1-4 in sites yet to be determined. The Final Four will be held December 15-17 in San Antonio, Texas.
RETURNING ALL-WAC PLAYERS ?“ Of the 12 first-team all-WAC players in 2004, seven should return for the 2004 season, including Hawai'i?™s Kanoe Kamana`o, the WAC?™s Player of the Year and Tara Hittle, the WAC?™s Freshman of the Year. Hawai'i also returns first-team all-WAC selections Alicia Arnott and Victoria Prince. Nevada?™s Salaia Salave`a, San Jose State?™s Jessie Shull and Boise State?™s Cameron Flunder also return from the 2004 first team. Four of the second-team all-WAC performers will also return this season, including Nevada?™s Tristin Johnson and Karly Sipherd. Hawai'i has a duo returning, including Susie Boogaard and Ashley Watanabe.
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