WAC PLAY BEGINS THIS WEEK ?“ Week five brings the first week of WAC play. The new-look WAC opens with Hawai'i hosting Boise State. The Rainbow Wahine look to break a two-match losing streak against the Broncos. Hawai'i is looking to win its 10th-straight WAC title. The Rainbow Wahine won both the regular season and tournament titles in 2004. San Jose State will host Idaho and Boise State to open league play. Nevada will host Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State. The Lady Techsters have won six-straight matches and have a 12-2 record this season. Utah State will play host to its first WAC matches, taking on New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech.
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK ?“ Nevada?™s Salaia Salave`a has been named the Xbox Live Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 19. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor of the year for Salave`a, who was an all-WAC selection in 2004.
The Leone, America Samoa (Leone) native, was named the MVP of the Circus Circus/Molten Invitational after averaging 4.69 kills, 2.46 digs and 1.46 blocks. She also had 5.81 points, while hitting .341 as Nevada claimed the title going 3-0. In the Wolf Pack?™s 3-2 win over No. 21 California, she posted her first career triple-double finishing with 18 kills, 14 digs, and 10 blocks (1 block solo, 9 block assists), while hitting .318. It was the first triple-double in the WAC this season. In the match with Akron, she totaled a match-high 23 kills and hit .425. In the final match of the invitational versus Montana State she had 20 kills, and 12 digs to post a double-double. The three wins improved Nevada?™s record to 5-5.
Other nominees included: Cameron Flunder of Boise State led the Broncos to a sweep of instate rival Idaho State … Kasie Spencer of Fresno State had 40 kills and 14 blocks in three losses last week … Shannon Phillips of Louisiana Tech led the Lady Techsters to a 4-0 week with 52 kills and 12 total blocks … Jackie Choi of New Mexico State had 68 assists as the Aggies split matches on the road last week … Zuzana Cernianska of Utah State led the Aggies to a 2-2 week, including a win over No. 24 UC Santa Barbara.
GOING STREAKING ?“ Both Hawai'i and New Mexico State have lengthy conference winnings streaks. Hawai'i has won 91-straight conference matches, the longest streak in the nation. The Rainbow Wahine?™s streak became the longest after Florida?™s NCAA-record conference winning streak of 145 was broken last season. New Mexico State won 36- straight matches in the Sun Belt.
HAWAI'I?™S HITTLE RETURNS TO THE LINEUP ?“ After spraining her ankle during two-a-day practices, Hawai'i?™s Tara Hittle finally made her way back to the front row, putting up nine kills, three blocks and 13 digs against Washington (Sept. 17). In the Waikiki Beach Marriott Volleyball Challenge, Hittle posted two double-digit dig matches, putting up 10 digs vs. Cincinnati (Sept. 8) and 12 vs. UCLA (Sept. 10). The sophomore was the 2004 WAC Freshman of the Year and was named to the 2005 preseason all-WAC team.
UTAH STATE?™S CERNIANSKA SETS NEW ALL-TIME KILLS RECORD ?“ Senior opposite side hitter Zuzana Cernianska set a new school record for career kills against St. Mary?™s Saturday as she posted a season-high 29 kills in the match to give her 1,469 career kills. The old record was 1,463 kills set by Amy Crosbie (1997-2000).
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.
Hawai'i continues to pack the stands with over 8,000 fans attending both of the Rainbow Wahine?™s matches last week. 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 7,385. New Mexico State is 10th 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 12-2. 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. 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 at the Troy Tournament.
AGAINST THE BEST ?“ The WAC is 4-12 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'i 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. 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. This week, several teams will take on ranked opponents. Utah State faced three ranked teams at the Stanford Invitational coming away with a win against then-No. 24 UCSB and losses to Stanford and Saint Mary?™s.
WELCOME TO THE WAC ?“ This season, Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State join the WAC.
Last 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.
Both 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
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.
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 the Recreation Building in University Park, Pa.; the Maples Pavillion in Stanford, Calif., and the G. Rollie White Coliseum in College Station, Texas. The University of 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.