WAC NOTES
NEW MEXICO STATE’S GIDDENS EARNS WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
New Mexico State senior outside hitter Kayleigh Giddens has been named Verizon Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 18-24. This is the third WAC Player of the Week honor of the season for Giddens and the fifth of her career.
Giddens, from Lubbock, Texas (Frank Phillips JC), led New Mexico State to road wins over Nevada (3-1) and Utah State (3-0) last week. Giddens posted a match-high 23 kills with nine digs and three blocks in the win at Nevada. She then registered a match-high 17 kills with six digs and two blocks against Utah State. On the week, Giddens tallied 40 kills with a .303 attack percentage. She averaged 5.71 kills, 2.14 digs and 0.71 blocks per set over her two matches. There are now six matches where Giddens has marked at least 20 kills. She has posted double-digit kill figures in 19 of the Aggies’ 24 matches this season. She also has seven double-doubles this season.
Other nominees included: Breann Nesselhuf of Boise State averaged 9.29 assists for the Broncos last week … Fresno State’s Korrin Wild posted 22 kills and 19 digs as the Bulldogs went 2-0 … Brittany Hewitt averaged 2.83 kills while hitting .481 as Hawai‘i went 2-0 … Nevada’s Lindsay Baldwin averaged 3.43 kills and 1.57 blocks as the Wolf Pack went 1-1 … Shantell Durrant helped Utah State to a 1-1 record as she hit .588 and averaged 1.83 kills.
HAWAI‘I IS RANKED NO. 5 IN AVCA POLL
Hawai`i dropped one spot to No. 5 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I Coaches Poll released Monday. The Rainbow Wahine received two first-place votes in the poll.
FIVE WAC MATCHES FEATURED ON ESPNU THIS SEASON
Four of WAC’s five ESPNU televised matches have aired so far this season. The fifth and final match that will air on the ESPN network will be the WAC Tournament’s championship match on Wednesday, Nov. 25 at 6:30 p.m. PT, live from Las Vegas.
The complete schedule of 2010 WAC volleyball matches on ESPNU is listed below.
Wednesday, Sept. 29 Hawai`i 3, at New Mexico State 0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-14)
Wednesday, Oct. 6 Utah State 3, at Idaho 1 (25-18, 25-22, 20-25, 25-17)
Thursday, Oct. 21 Hawai`i 3, at Idaho 0 (25-13, 25-23, 25-20)
Monday, Oct. 25 Hawai`i 3, at Utah State 0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-16)
Wednesday, Nov. 25 WAC Tournament Championship Match 6:30 p.m. (PT)
WAC IN THE NATIONAL STATS
The WAC currently has four teams ranked in the Top 50 nationally in blocking, led by Hawai`i in 11th place with 2.78 per set. Idaho (14th, 2.74), Utah State (17th, 2.72), and Boise State (50th, 2.42) are also ranked.
In other statistics, Hawai`i is second in winning percentage (.947), 18th in kills (14.20), 20th in hitting percentage (.274) and 21st in assists (13.23). New Mexico State is 47th ins assists (12.74) and 44th in hitting percentage (.246).
Individually, several WAC players rank in the Top 50 in various categories. Hawai`i’s Brittany Hewitt leads the nation in blocks (1.77), followed by Utah State’s Shantell Durrant (17th, 1.35), Idaho’s Kelsey Taylor (21st, 1.31) and Fresno State’s Brianna Clarke (23rd, 1.28). New Mexico State’s Jennah DeVries is 26th in assists (11.04), while New Boise State’s Breann Nesselhuf is 28th (10.95) and Hawai`i’s Dani Mafua is 33rd (10.80). Louisiana Tech’s Lori Hunsucker is 34th in digs (5.15), while Utah State’s Liz McArthur is 21st in service aces (0.44). New Mexico State’s Kelsey Brennan is 36th in hitting percentage (.375), followed by Hewitt (37th, .375) and Clarke (46th, .361). New Mexico State’s Kayleigh Giddens is ninth in kills (4.79), followed by Kanani Danielson of Hawai`i (11th, 4.57) and McArthur (21st, 4.27). Giddens is ninth in points (5.30), followed by Danielson (15th, 5.13) and McArthur (17th, 4.94).
WAC STAT LEADERS
In team statistics, Hawai`i leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.269), opponent hitting percentage (.130), assists (13.22), kills (14.15), and blocks (2.85). Utah State leads the league in service aces (1.51), while Louisiana Tech is tops in digs (15.11).
In WAC matches only, Hawai`i leads the conference in hitting percentage (.292), opponent hitting percentage (.097), assists (14.04), blocks (3.06), and digs (15.59). Nevada is tops in kills (14.75) and Utah State leads in service aces (1.59).
Individually, New Mexico State’s Kayleigh Giddens leads the WAC in kills (4.79) and points (5.30), while teammate Kelsey Brennan is tops in hitting percentage (.375). Jennah DeVries of New Mexico State leads the league in assists (11.04), while Liz McArthur of Utah State leads the WAC in service aces (0.43). Hawai`i’s Brittany Hewitt leads the league in blocks (1.81), while Lori Hunsucker of Louisiana Tech is tops in digs (5.15).
In conference matches only, Giddens leads the WAC in kills (5.31) and points (5.86), while Brennan is tops in hitting percentage (.408). Tatiana Santiago of Nevada leads the league in assists (11.72), while McArthur is tops in service aces (0.59). Hewitt leads the WAC in blocks (1.88), while teammate Elizabeth Ka’aihue leads the league in digs (5.22).
RAINBOW WAHINE LEAD NATION IN ATTENDANCE
Hawai`i currently leads the nation in attendance with an average of 6,215 fans per match, over 1,000 fans ahead of the second-place team, Nebraska (4,960). Meanwhile, New Mexico State ranks 21st (1,603) and Fresno State is 45th (871). All 15 of Hawai`i’s home matches this season rank in the Top 25 nationally for individual match attendance. The Rainbow Wahine have led the nation in average attendance in each of the last 16 seasons.
HAWAI’I BOASTS LONGEST CONFERENCE WINNING STREAK IN THE NATION
With 34 consecutive WAC wins, Hawai`i currently boasts the longest active conference winning streak in the nation, just ahead of Central Arkansas with 31. The Rainbow Wahine had been behind North Dakota State, which had a streak of 42 straight conference victories until it fell to IPFW Oct. 1.
2010 WAC TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO LAS VEGAS
The 2010 WAC Volleyball Tournament will be held Nov. 22-24 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., and will include the top six teams in the regular-season standings. The championship match will be televised live on ESPNU.
All-session tickets are $45 and can be purchased through each institution’s ticket office. For more information about the 2010 WAC Volleyball Tournament, visit www.wacsports.com.
Monday, Nov. 22 (Quarterfinals)
No. 3 Seed vs. No. 6 Seed 5 p.m.
No. 4 Seed vs. No. 5 Seed 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 23 (Semifinals)
Winner Match 1 vs. No. 2 seed 5 p.m.
Winner Match 2 vs. No. 1 Seed 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 24 (Championship)
Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4 6:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
BOISE STATE BRONCOS (17-9, 4-6 WAC)
Boise State has gone 0-3 over its last three matches ... the Broncos stepped out of conference play with a 3-1 setback to Utah Valley ... the team then dropped a 3-0 decision to Hawai‘i before falling in five sets to Fresno State ... Alisha Young led the Broncos with 33 kills over the three matches (2.75 per set) ... Breann Nesselhuf had a strong week for BSU, averaging 9.83 assists and 1.5 digs per set over the three matches ... Boise State has 17 wins this season, which ties it for the most wins by a Bronco team since 2004 ... next up on Boise State’s slate is a trip to play Hawai‘i on Friday, Oct. 29.
FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS (10-11, 4-5 WAC)
Fresno State is a perfect 3-0 in its last three matches, all of which were on the road ... the Bulldogs opened play last week with a 3-2 (24-26, 25-23, 25-20, 25-27, 15-11) victory at Cal State Bakersfield ... the team then defeated San Jose State 3-1 (25-19, 25-16, 17-25, 25-21) before taking down Boise State 3-2 (25-18, 19-25, 19-25, 25-21, 15-13) ... Marissa Brand helped the Bulldogs over the past three matches, compiling 59 kills (4.21 per set) with 44 digs (3.14 per set) ... Kasey Van Grouw led the offensive charge with 7.36 assists per set, while Brianna Clark helped on the defensive side with 16 blocks (1.14 per set) ... this week, Fresno State returns home to host Nevada on Thursday and Utah State on Saturday.
HAWAI‘I RAINBOW WAHINE (19-1, 9-0 WAC)
Hawai‘i continues to roll as the Rainbow Wahine were a perfect 3-0 this past week, including a couple of shutout victories on ESPNU ... UH defeated Idaho 3-0 (25-20, 25-7, 25-19) and Boise State 3-0 (25-13, 25-23, 25-20) ... the team then picked up another 3-0 victory on Monday at Utah State (25-18, 25-22, 25-16) ... Kanani Danielson led the Rainbow Wahine over thier last three matches with 41 kills (4.56 per set), while hitting .240 ... Chanteal Satele was also impressive, collecting 32 kills (3.56 per set) ... Elizabeth Ka’aihue led UH with 49 digs (5.44 per set), while Brittany Hewitt led the team with 17 blocks (1.89) ... the Rainbow Wahine are on a 14-match and 35-set winning streak ... the team returns home to host Boise State on Friday before welcoming New Mexico State on Sunday.
IDAHO VANDALS (10-11, 5-5 WAC)
The Vandals played just one match last week, falling to Hawai‘i 3-0 (20-25, 7-25, 19-25) on ESPNU ... Allison Walker had a team-high seven kills for the Vandals, while Alex Sele finished with five kills and hit a team-high .364 hitting percentage ... Kelsey Taylor had four kills and four blocks for Idaho, and Alicia Milo had four kills, seven digs and three blocks ... Cassie Hamilton led the Vandals with 14 digs ... the Vandals have two full weeks off between matches, as they played on Oct. 21, and will not play again until Nov. 4 ... the break is the longest in-season break for the Vandals in program history (records date back to 1982) ... the Vandals currently rank second in the conference in blocks, averaging 2.74 per game.
LOUISIANA TECH LADY TECHSTERS (10-14, 0-9 WAC)
Bianca Bin recorded a season-high five blocks against Utah State (10/21) … Clara Vido totaled career-highs in kills (12) and attack percentage (.333) against Nevada (10/23) … Kara Jones now has 346 career blocks, ranking third on the Tech all-time list needing 37 more to catch K.C. Clayton … Lori Hunsucker leads the WAC with 5.15 digs per set …the seven total blocks against Nevada ties a season-high against conference foes this season ... Louisiana Tech will host Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Tursday before traveling to play Houston Baptist on Saturday.
NEVADA WOLF PACK (11-11, 5-4 WAC)
Nevada went 1-1 at home last week ... the Wolf Pack dropped a 3-1 decision to New Mexico State before sweeping Louisiana Tech 3-0 ... Lindsay Baldwin led the team with 24 kills (3.43 per set), while hitting .354 over the two matches ... Baldwin has now moved into a tie for 10th in school history with 43 solo blocks ... Baldwin is six points from becoming the fifth player in Nevada history to reach 1,300 and is 12 kills from becoming the 11 player to total 1,000 kills ... Kylie Harrington has led or tied for the team lead in kills in 14-of-22 matches this season ... Tatiana Santiago posted her second double-double of the season with 43 assists and 11 digs vs. NMSU ... Santiago is eight assists from 1,400 ... Nicole Link recorded her 1,300th dig last week becoming the third player in school history to reach that mark.
NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (15-9, 9-1 WAC)
New Mexico State went a perfect 2-0 on the road last week ... the Aggies defeated Nevada 3-1 before downing Utah State 3-0 ... senior Kayleigh Giddens leads the conference in kills with 4.79 per set and is even better in WAC play averaging 5.31 kills per set ... Giddens was named WAC player of the week after posting a match-high 23 kills at Nevada before tallying 17 kills at Utah State ... there are now six matches where Giddens has marked at least 20 kills and she has posted double-digit kill figures in 19 of the Aggies 24 matches this season ... NM State is averaging 13.57 kills per set while out hitting its opponents .246 to .195 ... the Aggies have served up 93 service aces with Kayleigh Giddens leading the way with 21 on the year.
SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (8-15, 3-6 WAC)
San Jose State went 0-2 last week ... the team stepped out of WAC play on Tuesday, dropping a 3-0 (23-25, 21-25, 19-25) decision to Pacific ... the team then dropped a 3-1 (19-25, 16-25, 25-17, 21-25) decision to Fresno State on Saturday ... Hanah Blume fronted the team last week with 23 kills (3.29 per set) to go along with 18 digs (2.57 per set) ... Brianna Amian had 21 kills (3.00) with 14 digs ... Caitlin Andrade led the Spartans with 76 assists (10.86) while Katie Turner fronted the squad with 23 digs (3.29) ... San Jose State continues play this week at home against Utah State on Thursday and against Nevada on Saturday.
UTAH STATE AGGIES (15-7, 3-6 WAC)
Utah State owns a 1-2 record over its last three matches ... the team swept Louisiana tech 3-0 (25-13, 25-23, 25-12) to open play last week ... the team then dropped a 3-0 decision to New Mexico State before falling 3-0 to No. 5 Hawai‘i on ESPNU ... Liz McArthur led the Aggie attack with a team-high 26 kills (2.89 per set) over the past three matches ... McArthur also posted 15 digs in those three matches ... Chelsea Fowles led the team with 83 assists (9.22 per set) ... defensively, Shantell Durrant and Josselyn White each recorded 11 blocks ... Christine Morrill led the team with 28 digs ... this week, Utah State travels to play San Jose State on Thursday before heading to play Fresno State on Saturday.