WEEK FOUR IN THE WAC ?“ In week four of the 2005 season, No. 6 Hawai'i will battle No. 2 Washington twice at home. The Rainbow Wahine have already faced five ranked teams in eight matches with wins against UCLA and USC. Utah State will play in the tough Stanford Invitational, taking on the defending national champion, Cardinal.s New Mexico State stay in the mountain time zone and face Colorado State in Fort Collins and Wyoming in Laramie. Nevada will host the Circus Circus/Molten Invitational, while Idaho will play at the Utah Tournament. Louisiana Tech will play at the Troy Tournament, while San Jose State will play at the CS Fullerton Tournament.
Click Here for a PDF of Week Four Volleyball Notes
PLAYER OF THE WEEK ?“s Hawai'i?™s Victoria Prince has been named the Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 12. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor of the year for Prince, who was an All-American in 2004.
sThe Kennewick, Wash. (Washington State), native earned Waikiki Beach Marriott Volleyball Challenge MVP honors. The senior hit .442 on the week with 3.00 kills per game and 1.22 blocks per game. In the match against CS Northridge on Sept. 9, she broke the tournament and school rally-scoring record with a .909 hitting percentage (10 kills, 11 attempts). She was four attempts shy of qualifying for the WAC record. Prince helped lead the Rainbow Wahine to a 3-1 win over No. 10 UCLA. Hawai'i also had sweeps over Cincinnati and CS Northridge.
sOther nominees included: Telia Peterson of Boise State had 30 kills and 33 digs in 10 games … Meghan Brown of Idaho had 38 kills and 23 digs in the Vandals three wins, including a sweep of host Washington State. Brown averaged 4.22 kpg, 2.56 dpg, while hitting .370 … Shannon Phillips of Louisiana Tech led the Lady Techsters to a 3-1 week with 30 digs and 86 kills … Kim Oguh of New Mexico State had 24 kills as the Aggies won two matches at the Sun Bowl Invitational … Salaia Salave`a of Nevada hit .410 as the Wolf Pack went 1-2 for the week. She added 56 kills and 43 digs in 11 games … Colleen Burke of San Jose State had 55 kills, hitting .302 as the Spartans went 2-2 in tournament play … Kelsi Peterson tied Utah State?™s all-time record for digs in a five-game match with 30 in the Aggies?™ five-game loss to Utah.
UTAH STATE?™S PETERSON TIES SCHOOL RECORD ?“ Utah State junior libero Kelsi Peterson tied a school record that was set 16 years ago as she recorded a career-high 30 digs in USU?™s five-game loss to Utah on Tuesday, Sept. 6. Those 30 digs tied the school record for digs in a five-game match set by Carrie Steverson against Nevada during the 1989 season. USU?™s single-match record for digs is 32 set by Stacey Blackburn in four games against Cal State Fullerton during the 1994 season.
PACKING THE STANDS ?“ New Mexico State set a school record in attendance in its sweep of rival New Mexico. There were 3,183 fans in the Pan American Center to see the Aggies season opener on Aug. 29.
sHawai'i continues to pack the stands with over 6,000 fans attending all each of the Rainbow Wahine?™s matches last week. The 8,499 that saw Hawai'i?™s match against No. 10 UCLA was the fifth highest attended match in the nation this season. Hawai'i is first in the nation in attendance with an average of 7,115. New Mexico State is eighth in attendance, averaging 1,848.
CARDIAC KIDS ?“ Louisiana Tech is off to its best start in school history with a 8-2 record. In 1994, the Lady Techsters started the season 10-3. Louisiana Tech has been winning with a team with stamina. The Lady Techsters are already 5-0 in five-game matches. Last week at the Bear Brawl in Macon, Ga., the Lady Techsters won two five-game matches against Memphis and host school Mercer.s Louisiana Tech has the most wins in the league with eight. This week, the Lady Techsters look to extend their two-match winning streak at home against Grambling State and ats the Troy Tournament.
AGAINST THE BEST ?“ The WAC is 2-8 against 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. Nevada is 0-2 with losses to then-No.s 18 San Diego and then-No. 13 UCLA. San Jose State fell to then-No. 10 Wisconsin. Fresno State lost twice to ranked teams at the Santa Clara Tournament to No. 18 UC Santa Barbara and No. 15 Arizona. This week, several teams will take on ranked opponents. Hawai'i will take on No. 2 Washington twice at home this week. Utah State will face three ranked teams at the Stanford Invitational, including No. 3 Stanford, No. 24 UC Santa Barbara and No. 23 Saint Mary?™s. Idaho will face No. 17 Santa Clara.
vandals re-writing record books ?“ 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 1,151 career digs and needs just 33 more this season to overtake the top spot of 1,184 set last year by Mandy Becker. Brown also needs 8 double-figure dig matches to become the all-time leader in that category. Outside hitter Kati Tikker needs 6 double-figure kill matches this season to enter the top 10 in that category. She currently has 50 career double-figure kill matches. Tikker should also enter the top 10 in career kills this season. She currently has 992 kills and needs 147 to reach the No. 10 spot.
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.
TWO CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS ?“ This season, the WAC will have two 2004 conference champions vying for the title. Both Hawai'i and New Mexico State won conference titles and tournaments last season. The Rainbow Wahine had a perfect 13-0 season as the WAC champion. The Aggies had their second-straight 15-0 perfect season as the Sun Belt champs.
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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