PLAYER OF THE WEEK ? Utah State outside hitter Hailey Jeppson has been named the Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 25. This is the first career WAC Player of the Week for the freshman.
The Pleasant Grove, Utah, (Pleasant Grove) native, led Utah State to a 2-0 record last weekend with wins against Fresno State (3-1) and San Jose State (3-1) to begin WAC play. Against the Bulldogs, Jeppson recorded a season-high 21 kills and hit .308 (21-5-52) in the match, to go along with 11 digs and two blocks. Against the Spartans, Jeppson added 15 kills, 11 digs and five blocks assists, while hitting .237 (15-6-38). For the week, she hit .278 and averaged 4.50 kills, 3.00 digs, and 0.88 blocks per game. Utah State is now 9-7 overall and 2-0 in the WAC. The Aggies alone with the Aggies of New Mexico State are the only 2-0 teams in the WAC.
Other nominees included: Kari Gregory of Hawai?i had seven kills and seven blocks in a three-game win over Fresno State ... Shannon Phillips of Louisiana Tech had a career-high 30 kills against Boise State in a five-game loss ... Teal Ericson of Nevada had 19 kills and six digs for the Wolf Pack last week, as Nevada went 1-0 to start WAC play ... Alice Borden of New Mexico State had 22 kills in two matches as the Aggies moved to 16-0 this.
WEEK SIX IN THE WAC ? There are four WAC teams undefeated in WAC play. Utah State and New Mexico State are both 2-0. The teams meet in Logan on Thursday, Sept. 28. Hawai?i is 1-0 and will travel for the first time this season. The Rainbow Wahine will face Fresno State and San Jose State. Nevada is 1-0 as well and will host Louisiana tech and New Mexico State. Both Fresno State, San Jose State and Louisiana Tech are all looking for their first WAC wins.
DID YOU KNOW??? ? New Mexico State has swept its last seven opponents as NMSU travels to Utah State and Nevada. Out of the 16 matches this season, the Aggies have posted 12 sweeps.
WAC IN THE NCAA STATS ? Several WAC players earned a spot in the top 10 in the most recent NCAA stats. Hawai?i’s Jamie Houston is ninth in the nation in kills per game, averaging 5.15 kpg. New Mexico State’s Amber Simpson moved up from ninth to seventh in the nation in hitting percentage (.465). San Jose State’s Jessie Shull is 11th in digs per game (6.05). As a team, New Mexico State tied for first in win-loss percentage (1.000). The Aggies are one of six teams that are undefeated this season, including No. 1 Nebraska and No. 3 UCLA. The Aggies are also ninth in hitting percentage (.299).
RED-HOT START ? New Mexico State won its first two WAC matches to move to 16-0 to start the season. It is the best start in the WAC since the 2004 Hawai?i team went 30-0 before losing in the NCAA Regional Semifinals to finish the season 30-1. The Aggies moved to No. 22 in the AVCA/CSTV Coaches’ Poll.
SAN JOSE STATE’S SENFTLEBEN’S REACHES MILESTONE ? San Jose State’s Jennifer Senftleben moved into ninth all-time in kills at San Jose State with 21 in a four-game loss at Utah State, 30-28, 19-30, 30-28, 30-25, in a WAC match at the Smith Spectrum. With the 21 kills, Senftleben now has 1,055 career kills at San Jose State. She passed Melissa Myers who had 1,046 kills from 1995-98. It is also the second time this week and third consecutive match that Senftleben has recorded 20 or more kills in a match. Senftleben added five blocks and seven digs for San Jose State.
IN THE POLLS ? The Aggies are in the AVCA poll for a second-straight week. They jumped two spots in the polls from No. 24 to No. 22. San Diego, who the Aggies defeated in five games, entered the poll at No. 25 and the only other WAC team ranked is Hawai’i who sits at No. 15. Last week was the first time that the Aggies had been ranked. It was also the first time since the final poll in 2001, that the WAC has two teams ranked in the AVCA/CSTV poll. Hawai?i has been ranked all season.
UTAH STATE-NEW MEXICO STATE CONNECTIONS ? When No. 22 New Mexico State faces Utah State this week, they will have several connections to each other. NMSU head coach Mike Jordan was an assistant coach at Utah State in 1996 and 1997, while New Mexico State assistant coach Debbie (Nield) Baker played at Utah State in 1992 and 1993, and graduated from USU in 1994 with a degree in marketing. Baker was also a volunteer assistant at Utah State in 2000 and an assistant coach at New Mexico in 2001, along with current USU head coach Grayson DuBose.
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 6.70. She is second in total digs with 134 just behind Louisiana Tech’s Brittany Nakamura.
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. On the year, Larson now ranks third in the WAC with 1.42 blocks per game.
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 4.20 digs per game, which ranks sixth 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 (7-7, 1-1 WAC)
The Broncos are in their second week of traveling in WAC action ... this week Boise State plays one match versus Idaho on Saturday, Sept. 29 at 7:00 p.m. ... the Vandals are 2-10 overall and 1-1 in WAC play ... last week, the Vandals were on the same road trip as the Broncos, defeating Louisiana Tech and losing to New Mexico State ... after the first four weekends of play, Cameron Flunder averages 3.39 kills and 0.70 blocks; Jeanette Jenkins is at 3.28 kills; and Arlee Tamietti averages 2.82 ... Mandy Klein averages 9.60 assists per game.
Fresno State Bulldogs (2-11, 0-2 WAC)
Fresno State lost its opening two WAC matches to Utah State and No. 15 Hawai?i ... this week, the Bulldogs will face No. 15 Hawai?i once again, this time at the Save Mart Center in Fresno ... senior Cheryl Selenak is third in the WAC in digs per game, averaging 4.56 ... freshman Lisa Gera is having a solid freshman campaign ... she is 11th in the WAC in assists, averaging 5.74 apg ... Gera has 247 assists this season.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine (7-4, 1-0 WAC)
The Rainbow Wahine won their 108th-straight conference game by defeating Fresno State, 3-0 at home ... Hawai?i looks to extend that streak this week traveling to Fresno State and San Jose State ... All-American setter Kanoe Kamana`o is back in the Hawai?i lineup ... Kamana`o is first in the WAC in assists, averaging 12.67 apg ... the two-time WAC Player of the Year has the two highest assist totals this season ... she had 69 assists against Cal Poly on Sept. 15 and 67 assists against Pepperdine on Aug. 25.
Idaho Vandals (2-10, 1-1 WAC)
Idaho won its second match of the season with a four-game win over Louisiana Tech ... in the win against Louisiana Tech, Haley Larsen had 25 kills ... Saxony Brown added 11 kills and 38 assists in the win ... this week, the Vandals take on instate rival Boise State at home ... Larsen is sixth in the WAC in kills, averaging kpg ... senior Stacy Sode is fourth in the WAC in digs per game, averaging 4.55 dpg.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (5-13, 0-2 WAC)
Louisiana Tech dropped a tough five-game match to Boise State to open the WAC season ... junior Shannon Phillips posted a career high 30 kills in the battle against Boise State and posted 14 digs ... her 15 kill, 13 dig performance against Idaho gave her a WAC leading 16 double-doubles ... the Lady Techsters look to pick up their first WAC wins this week against Nevada and Utah State on the road.
Nevada Wolf Pack (7-6, 1-0 WAC)
Nevada got off to a hot start in WAC play with a win against San Jose State ... last season, the Wolf Pack started the WAC season 4-0 ... Nevada looks to continue its hot WAC play this week at home against Louisiana Tech and No. 22 New Mexico State ... senior setter Tristin Johnson is fourth in the WAC in assists, averaging 11.00 apg ... Karly Sipherd’s nine blocks against Sacramento State on Sept. 5 are among the leaders in the WAC this season ... Nevada had its five-match winning streak versus intrastate rival UNLV snapped falling 30-20, 30-24, and 30-27 to the Rebels ... the Wolf Pack’s current three-match streak also came to an end leaving them at 7-6
New Mexico State Aggies (16-0, 2-0 WAC)
New Mexico State ranks first in the conference in team hitting percentage (.299), opponent hitting percentage (.091), blocks per game (3.06), kills per game (15.76) and service aces (126) ... individually, Amber Simpson (.465) and Kim Oguh (.389) are first and second in the league in hitting percentage ... Simpson is second in blocks per game (1.44) with Oguh ranking fourth (1.33) ... Alice Borden is sixth in kills per game (3.70) while Jackie Choi ranked second in assists per game (11.96).
San Jose State Spartans (9-6, 0-2 WAC)
The Spartans dropped their first two WAC games of the year, losing to Utah State and Nevada ... with the 21 kills, Jennifer Senftleben now has 1,055 career kills at San Jose State ... she passed Melissa Myers who had 1,046 kills from 1995-98 ... it is also the second time this week and third consecutive match that Senftleben has recorded 20 or more kills in a match ... Senftleben added five blocks and seven digs for San Jose State ... this week, the Spartans host No. 15 Hawai?i.
Utah State Aggies (9-7, 2-0 WAC)
Utah State is 23-29 all-time against New Mexico State, which includes a 10-12 record at home ... this last time the two teams met was in the semifinals of the 2005 WAC Tournament as Utah State recorded the five-game win ... overall, USU has won six of the last eight matches played in the series, including four- straight at home ... Utah State is 2-0 all-time against Louisiana Tech after defeating the Lady Techsters in Logan in three games and in Ruston in four games last year.