IDAHO’S WALKER EARNS WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Idaho sophomore outside hitter Allison Walker has been named Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 24-30. This is the second WAC Player of the Week honor of the season and third of her career for Walker.
The Othello, Wash., native averaged 5.29 kills on .278 hitting to go with 1.29 digs, 0.43 blocks and 5.50 points per set as the Vandals defeated Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State last week and moved within a half game of second place in the WAC standings. Walker opened the week by hitting .389 with 17 kills in a sweep of LA Tech, helping head coach Debbie Buchanan become the school’s all-time wins leader. Against NM State, she got off to a slow start , finishing the first set with just two kills and four errors, but bounced back to combine for 18 kills in the final three sets. She finished the match hitting .204 with 20 kills, five digs and three blocks in what was Idaho’s second win over New Mexico State in the last 12 meetings between the teams.
Other nominees included: Fresno State’s Lauren Albertson averaged 2.88 kills on .356 hitting as the Bulldogs went 1-1 on the week ... Kanani Danielson of Hawai‘i averaged 4.10 kills and 2.90 digs as the Rainbow Wahine extended their WAC regular-season win streak to 53 matches ... Louisiana Tech’s Stephany Salas averaged 5.67 digs per set ... Janelle Batista of Nevada averaged 2.50 kills per set on the week ... Utah State’s Liz McArthur averaged 3.38 kills, 2.50 digs and 0.38 service aces as the Aggies went 2-0 on the week.
BUCHANAN BECOMES ALL-TIME WINS LEADER AT IDAHO
When the Vandals defeated Louisiana Tech on Oct. 27, it was career win number 175 for Idaho head coach Debbie Buchanan, making her the all-time wins leader in the 38-year history of the program. In her 12th year at the helm, she boasts a 176-173 (.504) record.
BRENNAN REACHES 300 CAREER BLOCKS
In the first set at Idaho on Oct. 29, New Mexico State senior middle blocker Kelsey Brennan recorded her 300th career block. She now has 304 on her career, just outside of the New Mexico State top 10 in that category.
SANTIAGO SURPASSES 2,500 CAREER ASSISTS, RANKS FIFTH IN SCHOOL HISTORY
After her 25-assist performance against Hawai‘i on Oct. 29, Nevada senior setter Tatiana Santiago moved her career total to 2,501, good for fifth place on the Pack’s career assists list. She is 741 assists shy of fourth place.
HAWAI‘I LEADS NATION IN ATTENDANCE
Hawai‘i leads the nation with an average of 6,400 fans per match, more than 1,600 ahead of the second-place team, Nebraska (4,736). Seventeen of the Rainbow Wahine’s 18 home matches this rank in the top 32 most attended matches this season. Meanwhile, New Mexico State ranks 25th (1,560) and Fresno State ranks 45th (1,047).
WAC STAT LEADERS
In team statistics, Hawai‘i leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.303), assists (13.27) and kills (14.51). Utah State is tops in digs (15.76) and blocks (2.85), while New Mexico State leads the league in opponent hitting percentage (.158) and Fresno State is tops in service aces (1.55).
Individually, New Mexico State’s Meredith Hays leads the WAC in kills (4.42) and points (4.89). Hawai‘i’s Emily Hartong, Mita Uiato and Brittany Hewitt are tops in hitting percentage (.390), assists (11.22) and blocks (1.41), respectively. Nevada’s Grace Anxo leads the WAC in service aces (0.36), while Stephany Salas of Louisiana Tech is tops in digs (4.62).
In WAC matches, Hawai‘i leads the league in hitting percentage (.301), opponent hitting percentage (.136), assists (12.93), kills (14.24) and service aces (1.54). Idaho is tops in blocks (2.72) and digs (15.49).
Individually, in WAC matches Hays leads the league in kills (4.61) and points (5.10). Hawai‘i’s Chanteal Satele is tops in hitting percentage (.366), while teammate Kalei Adolpho is the leader in blocks (1.41). Jennah DeVries of New Mexico State is the leader in assists (10.92), Fresno State’s Korrin Wild leads the league in service aces (0.43) and Idaho’s Cassie Hamilton is the leader in digs (4.44).
WAC TOURNAMENT TICKETS ON SALE NOW
All-session tickets are on sale for the WAC Volleyball Tournament at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas Nov. 21-23. Tickets are general admission seating. The 2011 tournament will consist of five matches in three sessions.
Ticket prices are as follows: All-Session: $45
Single-Session Adult: $20
Single-Session Students/Youth: $10
All-session tickets are on sale through each institution’s ticket office. Single-session (one day) tickets will not be available for purchase until Nov. 21 and can only be purchased through the Orleans Arena. To purchase tickets, go to wacsportsvolleyballtournament.com.
2011 WAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Monday, Nov. 21 (Quarterfinals)
No. 3 Seed vs. No. 6 Seed, 5 p.m.
No. 4 Seed vs. No. 5 Seed, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 22 (Semifinals)
Winner Match 1 vs. No. 2 seed, 5 p.m.
Winner Match 2 vs. No. 1 Seed, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 23 (Championship)
Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4, 6 p.m. (ESPNU)
TWO WAC MATCHES AIR ON ESPNU
ESPNU is televising two WAC women’s volleyball matches this season as part of its Wednesday Night Women’s Volleyball package. On Oct. 12, the network aired the Hawai‘i at New Mexico State match, which went to five sets. In addition, the network will air the championship match of the WAC Tournament at 6 p.m. (PT) Wednesday, Nov. 23.
FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS (11-12, 5-5 WAC)
Fresno State fell to No. 7 Hawai‘i (20-25, 18-25, 25-23, 18-25) last Thursday and beat San Jose State (20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-13) on Saturday ... Against Hawai‘i, Korrin Wild and Maci Murdock led the team with 15 and 12 kills, respectively ... In the win over the Spartans, Lauren Albertson had a career-high 15 kills ... Wild ranks second in the WAC in service aces (0.35) and sixth in digs (3.19) ... Barbara Alcantara ranks third in the WAC in service aces (0.34) and seventh in assists (8.49) ... Cecilia Agraz is fifth in the WAC in service aces (0.30), while Murdock is fifth in hitting percentage (.336) and Brianna Clarke is sixth (.330) ... As a team, Fresno State leads the WAC in service aces per set (1.55), ranks third in assists (11.87) and fourth in kills (12.47) ... In conference-only stats, Wild leads the WAC in service aces (0.43), and is fifth in both points (4.18) and kills (3.58) ... In WAC matches only, Christina Lee is third in the conference in digs (3.58), while Alcantara is third in assists (10.68) ... In conference play, Fresno State ranks second in service aces (1.48) and third in assists (11.88) ... The Bulldogs play at New Mexico State on Thursday and at Louisiana Tech on Saturday.
HAWAI‘I RAINBOW WAHINE (24-1, 12-0 WAC)
Hawai‘i picked up road wins over San Jose State (25-17, 25-20, 25-19), Fresno State (25-20, 25-18, 23-25, 25-18) and Nevada (25-14, 25-21, 25-17) to remain unbeaten in WAC play ... Against the Spartans, Chanteal Satele had a career-high 15 kills on .464 hitting ... Jane Croson posted a match-high 17 kills to go along with nine digs vs. Fresno State ... Kanani Danielson recorded her WAC-leading 14th double-double of the season with 14 kills and 16 digs against the Bulldogs ... Danielson and Croson had 13 and 12 kills, respectively against Nevada ... Hawai‘i leads the nation in hitting percentage (.303) and winning percentage (.960), ranks 10th in kills (14.51), and 14th in blocks (2.77) and assists (13.27) ... Mita Uiato ranks 21st nationally in assists (11.22), while Hewitt is 17th in blocks (1.41) and Emily Hartong is 14th in hitting percentage (.390) ... Danielson ranks 34th nationally in points (4.64) and 45th in kills (4.04) ... As a team, Hawai‘i leads the WAC in hitting percentage, assists and kills ... Hartong leads the WAC in hitting percentage, while Satele is second (.352), Hewitt is fourth (.337) and Danielson is seventh (.309) ... Hawai‘i is idle this week.
IDAHO VANDALS (13-11, 7-4 WAC)
Idaho swept Louisiana Tech (25-21, 25-17, 25-21) last Thursday and beat New Mexico State in four sets (19-25, 25-23, 25-14, 25-14) on Saturday ... Allison Walker hit .389 with 17 kills vs. LA Tech ... Walker posted 20 kills against the Aggies, while Cassie Hamilton had her seventh 20-plus dig match of the season as she finished with 21 ... Head coach Debbie Buchanan became the school’s all-time wins leader with her 175th career win against LA Tech ... The win over New Mexico State was Idaho’s second in the last 12 meetings between the teams and was Idaho’s sixth consecutive home victory ... Hamilton has 1,328 career digs, 80 shy of Idaho’s all-time record ... As a team, the Vandals rank 32nd nationally in blocks (2.59) ... Alyssa Schultz ranks 31st in the nation in blocks (1.27), while Jenny Feicht is 38th in assists (10.89) and Walker is 36th in kills (4.11) ... The Vandals rank second in the WAC in digs (15.45), third in hitting percentage (.212), kills (12.80) and blocks (2.59), and fourth in opponent hitting percentage (.178) and assists (11.84) ... Idaho plays at Utah State on Saturday in its only match this week.
LOUISIANA TECH LADY TECHSTERS (9-18, 0-10 WAC)
Louisiana Tech fell at Idaho (21-25, 17-25, 21-25) last Thursday and at Utah State (15-25, 17-25, 22-25) on Saturday ... Against Idaho, Marcella Braz and Bridget Benditz tallied nine kills apiece, while Stephany Salas recorded a team-high 18 digs ... Salas posted a match-high 16 digs and Braz led the team with 10 kills against Utah State ... As a team, LA Tech ranks third in the WAC in digs (15.03), fourth in service aces (1.29) and fifth in opponent hitting percentage (.199) ... Salas leads the WAC with 4.62 digs per set ... Clara Vido ranks seventh in the WAC in digs (3.16) and eighth in kills (2.78) ... Bianca Bin ranks eighth in the WAC with 7.77 assists per set, while Ana Rodrigues is 10th with 0.24 service aces per set ... In WAC play, Salas ranks fifth in the league in digs (3.48), while Bin is eighth in assists (6.66) and Braz is 10th in kills (2.74) ... The Techsters host Nevada on Thursday and Fresno State on Saturday.
NEVADA WOLF PACK (4-18, 1-9 WAC)
Nevada fell to San Jose State (19-25, 14-25, 17-25) last Thursday and to No. 7 Hawai‘i (14-25, 21-25, 17-25) on Saturday ... Against Hawai‘i, Janelle Batista led the Pack with 10 kills, while Tatiana Santiago had 25 assists ... Santiago recorded her 2,500th career assist against the Rainbow Wahine. Her 2,501 assists ranks fifth in school history ... As a team, Nevada ranks third in the conference in service aces (1.31) ... Grace Anxo leads the WAC in service aces (0.36), while Santiago is fifth in assists (9.47) and Kelly Chang is fifth in digs (3.36) ... Janelle Batista ranks eighth in the WAC in hitting percentage (.306), ninth in points (3.35) and 10th in kills (2.73) ... In WAC matches only, Nevada ranks fourth in service aces (1.26) ... In WAC matches, Santiago ranks sixth in assists (9.50), while Chang is sixth in digs (3.35) ... Batista is ninth in service aces (0.26) and 10th in points (3.12), while Anxo is eighth in aces (0.27) ...Tessa Lea‘ea is fifth in WAC matches only in blocks (1.09) ... The Wolf Pack play at Louisiana Tech on Thursday and at New Mexico State on Saturday for their final regular-season road matches of the season ...
Nevada defeated LA Tech earlier this season for its only WAC win.
NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (18-7, 7-3 WAC)
New Mexico State fell at Utah State (21-25, 25-19, 18-25, 25-19, 16-18) last Thursday and at Idaho (25-19, 23-25, 14-25, 14-25) on Saturday ... Against USU, NM State had three match-point opportunities but didn’t capitalize ... The Aggies have now fallen in three of the last four meetings with Utah State ... Meredith Hays posted a career-high 25 kills, the most kills by an Aggie this season. She also posted 12 digs for her 10th double-double of the year ... Against Idaho, Hays had a team-high 17 kills, while Jennah DeVries tallied a double-double with 38 assists and 12 digs ... DeVries has 3,780 career assists, good for fourth place all-time at NM State ... The Aggies rank 44th nationally in kills (13.77) and 46th in assists (12.80) ... Hays leads the WAC and ranks 19th nationally in kills (4.42) and tops the conference and ranks 22nd in the nation in points (4.89) ... DeVries ranks third in the conference and 47th nationally in assists (10.76) ... Kelsey Brennan is third in the league in hitting percentage (.346), while Kelsi Phillips is fourth in digs (4.02) ... The Aggies host Fresno State on Thursday and Nevada on Saturday.
SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (10-15, 5-7 WAC)
San Jose State fell to No. 7 Hawai‘i (17-25, 20-25, 19-25) last Tuesday, swept Nevada (25-19, 25-14, 25-17) last Thursday and fell at Fresno State (25-20, 22-25, 21-25, 13-25) on Saturday ... Against the Rainbow Wahine, Savanah Leaf recorded 12 kills ... In the win over Nevada, four Spartan hitters – Alex Akana (.500), Kylie Miraldi (.455), Krista Miller (.455) and Leaf (.360) – hit above .300 on the match ... As a team, San Jose State hit .350, the third-best hitting percentage in a match this season ... Against the Bulldogs, Miraldi led San Jose State with 12 kills, while Miller fell just short of a double-double, finishing with nine kills and 12 digs ... Caitlin Andrade moved into fourth place on the SJSU career assist list with 2,622 assists ... Andrade ranks fourth in the WAC with 9.53 assists per set, while Miraldi is ninth in hitting percentage (.306) ... Kiely Pieper ranks seventh in the conference in service aces (0.29), while Katie Turner is ninth in digs (2.87), and Leaf is seventh in kills (2.95) and eighth in points (3.37) ... As a team, San Jose State ranks fourth in the conference in hitting percentage (.191) ... The Spartans are idle this week.
UTAH STATE AGGIES (11-13, 6-5 WAC)
Utah State defeated New Mexico State (25-21, 19-25, 25-18, 19-25, 18-16) last Thursday and swept Louisiana Tech (25-15, 25-17, 25-22) on Saturday ... Against NM State, Shay Sorensen recorded a career-high 19 kills, while Liz McArthur posted her 11th double-double of the season with 16 kills and 13 digs ... McArthur added a team-best 11 kills vs. LA Tech ... McArthur ranks second all-time at Utah State in career attempts (4,041), fourth in kills (1,358) and 10th in service aces (91). She is 11 kills shy of third place ... As a team, the Aggies lead the WAC and 11th nationally in blocks (2.85) ... USU also leads the league in digs (15.76) and ranks third in opponent hitting percentage (.164) ... Utah State boasts four of the top 10 blockers in the WAC – Alyssa Everett (3rd, 1.24), Kaitlyn VanHoff (4th, 1.22), Nicole Gneiting-Theurer (6th, 1.15) and Josselyn White (7th, 1.11) ... McArthur ranks fourth in the WAC in kills (3.74) and points (4.14), while White is seventh in points (3.56) and ninth in kills (2.74) ... Laurel Bodily is third in the WAC in digs (4.12) and Paige Neves is sixth in assists (8.89) ... The Aggies play at Utah Valley on Thursday and host Idaho on Saturday.