PLAYER OF THE WEEK ? New Mexico State outside hitter Alice Borden has been named the Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 16. This is the second career WAC Player of the Week honor for the senior who was awarded the honor once last season.
The Anthony, N.M., (Gadsden) native, led the New Mexico State volleyball team to a 3-0 record last week. Borden led the Aggies in kills against Northern Arizona, No. 11 Hawai’i and New Mexico. She recorded 41 kills, six blocks and seven service aces. The senior averaged 4.73 points per game in a week that saw the Aggies record their fifth-consecutive 20-win season. Against Northern Arizona on Oct. 10, Borden was the only Aggie in double-digits as she had 11 kills. In the upset of No. 11 Hawai’i, Oct. 13, Borden had 17 kills and a pair of aces. She ended the week leading the Aggies to a sweep of in-state rival New Mexico, Oct. 15, while posting 13 kills, which is her sixth-straight match in double-figures. The Aggies win against No. 11 Hawai’i broke the Rainbow Wahine’s 114-conference win streak, which was the longest in the nation.
Other nominees included: Samantha Crowder of Louisiana Tech averaged 1.00 bpg, as the Lady Techsters split matches last week ... Tristin Johnson of Nevada had 77 assists in two matches as the Wolf Pack went 1-1 last week ... Jessie Shull of San Jose State became the first WAC player to surpass 2,000 digs. The senior now as 2,025 career digs.
WEEK NINE IN THE WAC ? The WAC race heats up with three one-loss teams, No. 16 Hawai?i, No. 22 New Mexico State and Idaho. This week, the Rainbow Wahine take a break conference action with a pair of matches against Notre Dame. New Mexico State will travel to Fresno State and San Jose State. The Bulldogs and Spartans will also host Louisiana Tech. Idaho travel to Nevada and Utah State. The Aggies look to recover from two five-game losses last week. The Wolf Pack and Aggies will both also host Idaho.
SHULL REACHES 2,000 DIGS, NCAA MILESTONE ? San Jose State senior libero Jessie Shull recorded her 2,000th career dig in game three against Nevada on October 12 to become just the 18th person in NCAA history to reach 2,000 digs. She is also the only player in WAC history to ever record 2,000 digs. Shull enters this week with 2,025 career digs and 441 season digs, 5.88 pg.
DID YOU KNOW??? ? When No. 24 New Mexico State hosted No. 11 Hawai?i last week, it was the first time that two ranked teams had a faced each other since the WAC Championship match in 1998 when Hawai?i defeated BYU.
NMSU HALTS HAWAI?I’S 114-MATCH CONFERENCE WINNING STREAK ? The No. 25 New Mexico State volleyball team upset No. 11 Hawai’i, in five-games, 22-30, 30-28, 27-30, 30-24, 15-13, to break the Rainbow Wahine’s streak of 114 consecutive WAC victories, Friday, Oct. 13 at Las Cruces High in front of a crowd of 2,803. The Aggies improved 5-1 and into a first-place tie with UH in the conference standings while the Rainbow Wahine fell to 7-1. Four Aggies were in double-digits with senior outside hitter Alice Borden providing 17 kills to give NMSU its first victory over Hawai’i school history. Junior outside hitter Anna Callis had 14 kills along with five blocks. Middle hitters junior Kim Oguh and sophomore Amber Simpson contributed 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Hawai?i hadn’t lost a WAC match since 1998.
NEVADA’S JOHNSON REACHES 4,000 ASSISTS ? Nevada senior setter Tristin Johnson became just the second Nevada player to record 4,000 assists in a career when she totaled 49 in the Pack 3-2 victory at Fresno State to give her 4,007 in her three plus seasons. Johnson’s 4,007 career assists is second only to Carla Busalacchi’s (1990-93) 4550. Johnson has two of the top 10 assist seasons in school history with her 1,373 in 2004 ranking third and her 1,168 in 2003 being the eighth best single season in school history. She recently passed former teammate Christine Harms (2002-05) for 10th place on the Wolf Pack career service aces list and three more would push her past Suzanne Stonebarger (1998-2001) into ninth.
WAC IN THE NCAA STATS ? Several WAC players earned a spot in the top 15 in the most recent NCAA stats. Hawai?i’s Jamie Houston is up to sixth in the nation in kills per game, averaging 5.55 kpg. San Jose State’s Jessie Shull is 15th in digs per game (5.88 dpg). Hawai?i’s Kanoe Kamana`o is fifth in assists (13.52 apg). New Mexico State’s Kim Oguh is 16th in hitting percentage (.408) As a team, New Mexico State tied for first in win-loss percentage (1.000). The Aggies are third in win/loss percentage (.957). The Aggies are also eighth in hitting percentage (.293).
PETERSON SETS NEW DIGS RECORD AT UTAH STATE ? Senior libero Kelsi Peterson set a new school record against Fresno State on Oct. 12 as she recorded 36 digs in the five-game loss to the Bulldogs. Those 36 digs breaks the old school record of 34 set by Peterson at Fresno State during the 2005 season. Overall, the 36 digs are the second-most in the WAC this season. On the year, Peterson is averaging 4.64 digs per game.
IN THE POLLS ? The Aggies moved up in the polls landing at No. 22 in both the AVCA/CSTV and RichKern.com polls. Hawai’i is No. 16 in both polls this week.
SENFTLEBEN JOINS 1,000 CAREER KILL CLUB ? San Jose State’s Jennifer Senftleben is eighth all-time in career kills at San Jose State with 1,139. She moved into eighth place on October 7, passing Christa Cook who had 1,101 kills from 1984-87. Senftleben needs 98 kills to move into seventh place which is currently occupied by Barbara Higgins with 1,237 kills from 1984-87. Former Spartan Joslynn Gallop owns the career kill record with 1,966 kills from 1997-2000.
HOME SWEET HOME ? A crowd of 2,803 watched New Mexico State defeat Hawai?i, giving the Aggies their largest crowd of the season. Currently, New Mexico State is No. 15 in the nation for home attendance. Hawai?i once again leads the nation in attendance, averaging 7,151. The Rainbow Wahine have eight of the top 10 attendances in the nation this season, including the 8,213 that saw Hawai?i host Stanford. There were 8, 138 people when the Gators took on the Rainbow Wahine, while 7,878 packed the Stan Sheriff Center to see Pepperdine.
SAN JOSE STATE’S SHULL BREAKS WAC RECORD ? San Jose State senior libero Jessie Shull broke her own WAC record with 47 digs in a five-game loss to Santa Clara on Sept. 2. Shull initially set the record again on Nov. 3, 2004 with 42 against Fresno State. Shull is first in the WAC in digs per game, averaging 5.88 dpg.
UTAH STATE’S LARSON TIES SCHOOL RECORD ? Freshman middle blocker Melissa Larson tied a school record and set a season-high with 10 block assists against San Jose State Saturday night. Those 10 block assists tie Denae Mohlman for the most in a four-game match in school history. Ironically, Mohlman also accomplished the feat during her freshman season in 1997 against Boise State.
PETERSON HOLDS CAREER DIGS RECORD AT UTAH STATE ? Senior libero Kelsi Peterson is Utah State’s career leader in digs with 1,203. She also holds the school’s single-season record with 510 digs set during the 2005 season. Those 510 digs (3.78 dpg) were the second-most in the Western Athletic Conference in 2005, while 3.78 digs per game average ranked seventh in the league. Thus far this year, Peterson is averaging 4.64 digs per game, which ranks fourth in the WAC.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME ? Due to multi-million dollar renovations to the Pan American Center, New Mexico State will be displaced for its home matches this season. With the Pan American Center still undergoing renovations, the Aggies are playing their home matches at Las Cruces High School.
VOLLEYBALL FORMAT ? For the second-straight year the WAC will not compete in divisions. This season’s format will be a double-round robin. Each team will face the other eight at home and on the road. All nine teams will compete in the WAC Volleyball Tournament.
2006 WAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
November 22 (Quarterfinals)
Match 1 - No. 8 vs. No. 9
Match 2 - No. 4 vs. No. 5
Match 3 - No. 3 vs. No. 6
Match 4 - No. 2 vs. No. 7
Match 5 - Winner Match 1 vs. No. 1
November 23 (Semifinals)
Match 6 - Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4
Match 7 - Winner Match 2 vs. Winner Match 5
November 24 (Championship)
Match 8 - Winner Match 6 vs. Winner Match 7
WAC TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO LAWLOR ? For the second-straight season, the WAC Volleyball Tournament will be played at the Lawlor Events Center on the campus of the University of Nevada. This is the fifth-straight year that the WAC Tournament has been played in Reno. Before playing in the Lawlor Events Center, the tournament was played in the regular season home of the Wolf Pack, Viriginia Street Gym.
HAWAI?I TO HOST VOLLEYBALL REGIONAL ? Hawai?i will host one of the four 2006 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Regionals, on Dec. 8 and 9. The other three sites will be Seattle, Wash. (University of Washington), Austin, Texas (University of Texas), and Gainesville, Fla. (University of Florida).
Hawai?i will be hosting a regional for the second time since the NCAA switched to predetermined regional sites in 2003, and the eighth time overall. UH last hosted a regional in 2003, when the Rainbow Wahine defeated Illinois and Georgia Tech to advance to the NCAA Championships.
UH has hosted at least one NCAA match in 16 of the 24 NCAA tournaments they have qualified for, but haven’t had an NCAA match in Honolulu in the past two seasons.
Hawai?i has led the country in attendance every year since moving into the Stan Sheriff Center in 1994, averaging over 7,000 fans a match in the 11 years at the facility. In the 2003 Honolulu Regional, each session drew crowds in excess of 9,000.
FAMILY AFFAIR? San Jose State’s Jessie Shull is not the only libero in her family. Her younger sister Jenny is in her third season as the libero for the Duke Blue Devils. Jenny, an honorable mention All-American last season, currently has 67 digs, 6.70 dpg and was named the Outstanding Libero of the Duke Invitational last weekend. The two sisters have an older brother, Jimmy, who was drafted and signed by the Oakland Athletics, in the fourth round of the 2005 MLB Draft.
Boise State Broncos (8-10, 2-4 WAC)
Boise State will travel to Nevada and Utah State this week ... senior Cameron Flunder leads the team in kills, averaging 3.46 per game .... not far behind is sophomore Jeanette Jenkins, who is posting 3.30 kills per game ... sophomore Mandy Klein leads the team in assists, averaging 9.68 per game ... senior Jackie Stroud leads the Broncos in digs with an average of 4.30 per game.
Fresno State Bulldogs (3-15, 1-6 WAC)
Fresno State will continue conference play against New Mexico State on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. and Louisiana Tech on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in the Save Mart Center ... the Bulldogs split matches last week and moved up a notch in the conference with a win against Utah State and a loss to Nevada ... New Mexico State is positioned at number two in the WAC compiling an overall record of 22-1 with its only loss to Nevada ... Louisiana Tech is 0-6 in the conference and 6-17 overall.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine (14-5, 7-1 WAC)
After suffering their first WAC loss since 1998, the Rainbow Wahine rebounded nicely against Notre Dame with a sweep ... No. 16 Hawai?i will play one more match against the Fighting Irish on Oct. 17 before taking the week off from conference action ... sophomore Jamie Houston is first in the WAC in kills per game, averaging 5.55 kpg ... despite the earthquake the rocked the islands on Sunday, Hawai?i was able to play its match on Monday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Idaho Vandals (5-12, 4-1 WAC)
After a slow start in non-conference action, the Vandals have rebounded nicely in WAC play ... the Vandals are third in the league winning four of their first WAC league matches ... this week, Idaho will travel to Utah State and Nevada, looking to increas their WAC win total ... in conference matches, senior Stacy Sode is first in digs per game, averaging 6.11 ... she has a total of 111 total digs in conference matches this season.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (6-17, 0-6 WAC)
The Lady Techsters will look for their first WAC win of the season this week on the orad against Fresno State and San Jose State ... this is the first meeting of the season for the Lady Techsters against both the Bulldogs and the Spartans ... San Jose State picked up two WAC wins last week, while the Bulldogs won their first WAC match last week ... in conference matches, freshman Samantha Crowder is sixth in blocks, averaging 1.23 bpg.
Nevada Wolf Pack (11-8, 5-2 WAC)
Junior Teal Ericson equaled her career high with 24 kills at Fresno State last Saturday and in the process reached 900 for her career which is ninth on the career list ... Ericson needs 10 kills to move past Kellie LaBossiere (1998-01) and take over the eighth spot ... she also ranks fourth in career points with 966.5 ... Nevada won its first WAC road match of the season at Fresno State defeating the Bulldogs 3-2 ... in the Fresno State match the Wolf Pack had season highs in kills (81), attempts(207), assists(72), aces(12) and blocks(13) ... Nevada started WAC play 4-0 for third time in school history since joining the conference in 2000, the Wolf Pack went 5-0 in 2001 and 2005.
New Mexico State Aggies (22-1, 7-1 WAC)
The No. 22 New Mexico State volleyball team went 3-0 last week with a pair of sweeps over Northern Arizona, Oct. 10, and New Mexico, Oct. 15 ... the Aggies also defeated No. 11 Hawai’i and broke the Rainbow Wahine’s 114-conference win streak, Oct. 13 ... with the win over Northern Arizona, New Mexico State recorded its fifth-consecutive 20-win season ... senior outside hitter Alice Borden led the team with 11 kills while junior outside hitter Anna Callis and junior middle hitter Kim Oguh both recorded nine kills ... Oguh also collected six blocks. In the Aggies first win against Hawai’i, four players were in double-figures with Borden pacing the squad with 17 kills.
San Jose State Spartans (12-8, 3-4 WAC)
San Jose captured two WAC home wins last week with a sweep of Nevada and a five-game win over Utah State ... senior Libero Jessie Shull leads the WAC in digs in overall matches, averaging 5.88 dpg ... she has a total of 441 digs ... Shull is third in the WAC in digs per game in league matches, averaging 5.27 dpg ... she has 137 digs in conference matches this season ... junior Jennifer Sebftleben is second in the WAC in kills per game, averaging 5.55 kpg ... in conference matches, Senftleben is also second in kills per game, averaging 5.04 kpg ... in WAC matches, setter Kristina Conrad is second in assists, averaging 12.56 apg.
Utah State Aggies (10-12, 3-5 WAC)
Junior middle blocker Monarisa Ale had her best blocking match of the season against San Jose State on Oct. 14 as she recorded a career-high 11 blocks, 10 of which were assists ... Ale is averaging 1.07 blocks per game ... middle blocker Melissa Larson continues to improve during her freshman season and has put up some impressive numbers during her last four matches as she is hitting .413 and averaging 1.94 kills and 0.94 blocks per game ... overall, Larson ranks sixth in the WAC with 1.25 blocks per game.