Hawai?i has a tough week at home, hosting the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic. The Rainbow Wahine will host No. 3 Florida, Colorado and No. 10 UCLA. Last week, Hawai?i had two five-game matches with then-No. 19 Pepperdine. Idaho also has a tough match this week with No. 21 Notre Dame at the Notre Dame Tournament. The Vandals are looking for their first win of the season. Louisiana Tech is the other team looking for its first win of the 2006 season. The Lady Techsters will travel to the Sam Houston Tournament. Undefeated New Mexico State stakes its undefeated record at home against Florida A&M on Sept. 1 and Sept. 2. San Jose State (3-0) will play at the USF Powerade/Asics Classic. Fresno State (1-2) looks to get back to .500 against USC and Loyola Marymount, while Boise State will travel to the Washington State Tournament. Nevada will host the AT&T Invite, while Utah State will play at the Fremont Loan and Investment Invitational.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK ? Hawai?i left-side hitter Jamie Houston has been named the Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Aug. 28. This is the first WAC Player of the Week for the 2006 season. This is also the first career honor for Houston.
The Huntsville, Ala. (Huntsville) native, led the Rainbow Wahine to two wins against No. 19 Pepperdine. She was the team leader in kills both nights, posting 21 and a career-high 28. The sophomore also had 19 and 13 digs, respectively to collect two double-doubles. Houston ended the week with 49 kills, 32 digs and seven blocks. Hawai?i won two thrilling matches over No. 19 Pepperdine in five-games. The first time the Rainbow Wahine started the year with two five-gamers since 1978 (losing to Utah State and beating Pepperdine).
Other nominees included: Cheryl Selenak of Fresno State led the team with 67 digs in four matches, averaging 5.15 dpg ... Stacy Sode of Idaho was named to the all-tournament team at the Sooner Legends Nike Classic, recording 50 digs ... Shannon Phillips of Louisiana Tech averaged 4.07 kpg and 2.71 dpg ... Teal Ericson of Nevada had 41 kills in three matches, as the Wolf Pack went 2-1 ... Alice Borden of New Mexico State had 61 kills in four matches, as the Aggies’ started the season 4-0 ... Jessie Shull of San Jose State had 62 digs, leading the Spartans to a 3-0 start ... Amanda Nielson of Utah State had 36 kills and 14 digs in three matches.
PERFECT BEGINNINGS ? Three WAC teams survived the first week undefeated. New Mexico State won the UTEP Sun Bowl Tournament with a perfect 4-0 record. San Jose State is 3-0 after a strong showing at the Sooner Legends Classic. Hawai?i survived two tough matches against Pepperdine, winning both in five games.
HAWAI?I RANKED IN PRESEASON POLL ? The University of Hawai’i is ranked seventh in the 2006 CSTV/AVCA volleyball preseason coaches’ poll. The Rainbow Wahine, who ended the 2005 season with a 27-7 record, finished last season ranked ninth.
Defending national champion, Washington, starts the season ranked No. 3, while last season’s runner-up, Nebraska, starts the season ranked No. 1. Penn State takes the No. 2 spot, while Stanford is ranked No. 4 and Florida is ranked No. 5.
This season, the Rainbow Wahine return five starters, including All-American and WAC Player of the Year, Kanoe Kamana`o. Hawai?i also returns first-team all WAC selections, Sarah Mason and Juliana Sanders . Last season, Hawai?i earned its sixth Western Athletic Conference Tournament title.
The Rainbow Wahine and New Mexico State were picked by the WAC coaches to finish first and second, respectively, in the WAC this season. The 2006 WAC volleyball season begins on Friday, Aug. 25 with all nine WAC teams competing.
2006 PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAM ANNOUNCED ? The WAC Preseason all-WAC volleyball team was announced today as voted on by the nine coaches. Hawai?i All-American Kanoe Kamana`o was named WAC Preseason Player of the Year. The senior setter was the 2004 and 2005 WAC Player of the Year.
Hawai?i led the way placing five on the 12-player team. Along with Kamana`o, senior Sarah Mason and junior Juliana Sanders earned preseason honors. The three were first-team all-WAC selections in 2005. Also earning honors were junior Tara Hittle and sophomore Jamie Houston, who were both second-team all-WAC honorees in 2005.
New Mexico State placed four players on the preseason team, including 2005 WAC Freshman of the Year, Amber Simpson. The Aggies also had senior Jackie Choi and junior Kim Oguh named to the team. Both were first-team selections last season. Alice Borden was the final Aggie named to the preseason all-WAC squad.
Boise State senior Cameron Flunder was the Broncos’ only honoree. Rounding out the team are San Jose State junior Jennifer Senftleben and Idaho sophomore Haley Larsen. Senftleben was a first-team selection last season, while Larsen was named to the second-team all-WAC and the all-freshman.
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.
SCHAAP HAS SOLID WEEKEND FOR UTAH STATE ? Utah State sophomore setter Dani Schaap had a solid weekend setting the ball for Utah State as she played in more games last weekend than she did during her entire freshman year when she appeared in four games. At the 2006 Hilton Albuquerque Classic, Schapp played in all 10 games and averaged 8.70 assists, 1.50 digs, 0.60 blocks, and 0.40 kills per game.
SPARTAN NEARS LANDMARK ? San Jose State’s Jennifer Senftleben enters the week with 857 career kills as she is three games into her junior season. She needs just 157 kills to become the 10th Spartan in school history to record 1,000 kills in her career. Former Spartan Joslynn Gallop owns the career kill record with 1,966 kills from 1997-2000.
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
FREQUENT FLIER MILES ? New Mexico State sophomore middle blocker Amber Simpson spent her summer vacation playing volleyball in Argentina as a member of the Bring It Promotions All-Frosh USA Select Team. Simpson joined some of the best collegiate freshman from around the country. Team USA played matches in Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Freyre, Cordoba, Nogoya, Villaguay, Diamante and Ramallo. Simpson had a breakout season for the Aggies, earning WAC Freshman of the Year honors in 2005.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY ? Utah State began its 30th season of collegiate volleyball in 2006 with an overall record of 486-577-8 (.458). The Aggies have reached the NCAA Tournament three times in school history (2000, 2001, 2005), advancing to the second round in 2000 and 2001. Utah State has produced nine All-American’s in its history, one academic All-American, and a national championship in 1978, followed by a runner-up finish in 1979. Utah State has also had two players play professionally in Elaine Roque and Karolyn Kirby, who was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2004.
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 Gainsville, 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 ? 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 pg 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 AND UTAH STATE NAME NEW HEAD COACHES ? The WAC will have two new head coaches this season with the addition of Robin Davis at Boise State and Grayson DuBose at Utah State.
Davis was the associate head coach at a very successful Notre Dame program. A 16-year veteran of the college game, Robin Davis has been a member of the Notre Dame volleyball staff for the past five seasons, and this past season (2005-06) served as associate head coach. In addition to assisting in all aspects of the Irish program, he worked closely with Notre Dame’s middle and outside blockers and was instrumental in building the Irish into one of the top blocking teams in the country.
DuBose was named the new head women’s volleyball coach at Utah State University. DuBose, a former assistant coach at Utah State from 1999-2000, has spent the last four seasons as an assistant on Brigham Young’s men’s volleyball team.
DuBose began his collegiate coaching career at Utah State from 1999-2000 as an assistant to Tom Peterson. During that time, the Aggies won the Eastern Division of the Big West Conference in 1999, and advanced to the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament in 2000. USU finished the 2000 season ranked 22nd in the country, the program’s first-ever top-25 ranking
Boise State Broncos (1-2, 0-0 WAC)
Before traveling to the Washington State Tournament, the Broncos will take on Idaho State on Wednesday, Aug. 30 at Bronco Gym ... after hosting Idaho State, the Broncos will travel to Pullman, Wash. ... Boise State will play UC Davis Friday, Sept. 1 ... the Broncos will play two matches on Saturday, Sept. 2, playing Washington State and UNLV ... sophomore Andrea Kelly is first in the WAC in services aces, averaging 0.71 ... as a team, the Broncos are also the WAC leaders in service aces with 27 total aces and an average of 2.79 sapg.
Fresno State Bulldogs (1-2, 0-0 WAC)
The Bulldogs started out 1-3, winning one match in the Fresno State Invitational to finish third in their own tournament ... Fresno State continues in tournament play this weekend, as Fresno State travels to Los Angeles for the USC/Loyola Marymount Tournament ... senior Cheryl Selenak is second in this young season in digs per game, averaging 5.15 dpg behind San Jose State’s Jessie Shull (6.20 dpg) ... as a team, the Bulldogs are first in the WAC in digs with a total of 224 for an average of 17.23 dpg.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine (2-0, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai?i won two thrilling matches over No. 19 Pepperdine in five-gamers, the first time the Rainbow Wahine started the year with two five-gamers since 1978 (losing to Utah State, then beating Pepperdine) ... this is just the fifth time UH started the year with a five-game match (also in 1995, 96, 97) ... Dave Shoji collected wins No. 898 and 899, putting him just one shy of the 900 milestone.
Idaho Vandals (0-3, 0-0 WAC)
Idaho looks for its first win of the season this week at the Notre Dame Tournament ... the Vandals will have to face No. 21 host Notre Dame on Sept. 1 ... senior Stacy Sode was the only Vandal named to the all-tournament team at the Sooner Legends Nike Classic ... she recorded 50 digs in 10 games ... Idaho is now 5-2 in season openers under coach Debbie Buchanan ... despite the three losses, Amanda Bowman had a double-double against Arkansas with 13 kills and 11 digs.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (0-4, 0-0 WAC)
The Lady Techsters are looking for their first win of the season at the Sam Houston Tournament ... Louisiana Tech will take on Radford, Southern Mississippi, North Texas and host Sam Houston State ... Shannon Phillips averaged 4.07 kills and 2.71 digs per game in her first four matches ... she finished with three double-doubles last weekend with 12 kills and 10 digs against Syracuse, 23 kills and 12 digs against UTSA and 10 kills and 10 digs against Eastern Washington ... Phillips and New Mexico State’s Alice Borden were the only two in the WAC to have three double-doubles.
Nevada Wolf Pack (2-1, 0-0 WAC)
The Wolf Pack rebounded from a season-opening loss to Creighton to finish 2-1 at the Holiday Inn Classic ... Teal Ericson and Tristin Johnson earned all-tournament honors at the Holiday Inn Classic ... this week, Nevada hosts the AT&T Invite ... Ericson is third in the WAC in kills, averaging 4.10 kpg ... Johnson is second in the league in service aces with an average of 0.70 sapg ... she is also fourth in assists with a total of 110 and an average of 11.00 apg.
New Mexico State Aggies (4-0, 0-0 WAC)
New Mexico State won its second consecutive UTEP/Sun Bowl title after going 4-0 ... senior Alice Borden earned MVP honors, while sophomore Amber Simpson joined her on the all-tournament team ... the Aggies collected a 3-0 win over Eastern Michigan and a 3-1 win against Sacramento State on Aug. 25 ... New Mexico State began the second day of the tournament with its first five-game match of the season rebounding to defeat Texas Tech ... New Mexico State concluded the tournament with a 3-0 win over tournament host, UTEP.
San Jose State Spartans (3-0, 0-0 WAC)
Jessie Shull was named the MVP of the Hilton Garden Inn/NAU Invitational ... Colleen Burke and Jennifer Senftleben were also named to the all-tournament team ... the Spartans won their first tournament title since the 2004 season when San Jose State went 2-0 at the UNLV Classic ... that same season, the team started the year 4-0 ... Shull leads the WAC in digs per game, averaging 6.20 ... the libero is the WAC leader in kills per game, averaging 5.34 in 2004 ... she also holds the league record in digs in a match with 42 also in 2004.
Utah State Aggies (2-1, 0-0 WAC)
Utah State will travel to Northridge, Calif., to compete in the Fremont Loan and Investment Invitational hosted by Cal State Northridge ... the Aggies open the tournament against Oregon (2-0) on Sept. 2 and will face the host Matadors (2-1) ... Utah State is 2-1 on the season after finishing in second-place at the 2006 Hilton Albuquerque Classic with wins against New Mexico and UC Riverside and a loss to Stephen F. Austin ... the Aggies are led by junior Amanda Nielson who is averaging 4.50 kills, 1.75 digs, and 0.75 blocks per game, while junior Beth Hodge is averaging 2.82 kills, 2.36 digs, and 0.55 blocks per game ... as a team, Utah State is hitting .128 on the season and holding its opponents to a .104 hitting percentage.
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