NEW MEXICO STATE’S DEVRIES EARNS WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
New Mexico State senior setter Jennah DeVries has been named Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 5-11. This is the first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor for DeVries.
The Sedalia, Colo. (Douglas HS) native earned CenturyLink Premier Tournament MVP honors after leading New Mexico State to the tournament title by defeating four teams in two days. She tallied two double-doubles, averaged 12.07 assists and 2.93 digs and set her team to a .246 hitting percentage over the four matches. Her first double-double came in a four-set win over Northwestern State when she posted 47 assists, 12 digs and four kills. She followed that up with her second double-double of the weekend against host Texas State, when she tallied a season-high 51 assists while adding 15 digs and four kills. DeVries currently ranks second in the WAC with 10.77 assists per set and has six double-doubles on the year.
Other nominees included: Fresno State’s Marissa Brand averaged 3.67 kills and 1.67 digs per set as the Bulldogs went 1-1 on the week ... Kanani Danielson of Hawai‘i was named Most Outstanding Player of the Verizon Volleyball Challenge after averaging 4.50 kills and 3.30 digs as the Rainbow Wahine went 3-0 on the week … Idaho’s Alicia Milo was named to the all-tournament team at the Montana Invitational after averaging 4.20 kills and 1.90 digs as the Vandals went 2-1 … Clara Vido of Louisiana Tech averaged 3.85 digs and 2.77 kills as the Lady Techsters went 2-2 on the week ... Nevada’s Tessa Lea‘ea was named to the all-tournament team at the Hilton Garden Inn Classic after averaging 2.45 kills and 1.09 blocks over the three matches ... Utah State’s Liz McArthur was named to the all-tournament team at the Baden Classic after averaging 4.47 kills and 3.27 digs over the four matches.
NUMEROUS WAC PLAYERS NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS IN THIRD WEEKEND
The WAC had 11 of its players named to all-tournament teams in the third weekend of play, including two MVPs in Kananni Danielson of Hawai‘i and New Mexico State’s Jennah DeVries. Joining Danielson on the Verizon Volleyball Challenge all-tournament team were teammates Jane Croson and Brittany Hewitt. Joining DeVries on the CenturyLink Premier all-tournament team were teammates Kelsey Brennan and Meredith Hays. Other all-tournament team selections from WAC schools were Alicia Milo, Idaho (Montana Invitational); Caitlin Germany and Emily Maher, Louisiana Tech (LA Tech Invitational); Tessa Lea’ea, Nevada (Hilton Garden Inn Classic); and Liz McArthur, Utah State (Baden Classic).
HAWAI‘I MOVES UP IN POLLS
After defeating Rice, Pacific and Cincinnati last week, Hawai‘i moved up to No. 10 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll and to No. 9 in the RichKern.com poll released Monday.
BRAND EXTENDS KILL STREAK TO 11 MATCHES
With 10 kills at No. 5 Washington and 12 at Seattle last weekend, Fresno State junior Marissa Brand extended her double-digit kill streak to 11 straight matches, dating back to last season. She has reached double-digit kills in 27 of 36 matches on her career.
WAC STAT LEADERS
In team statistics, Hawai‘i State leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.315), assists (13.59) and kills (14.69). Utah State is tops in blocks (3.22) and digs (16.50). Meanwhile, New Mexico State leads the league in opponent hitting percentage (.121), while Fresno State is tops in service aces (1.63).
Individually, New Mexico State’s Meredith Hays leads the WAC in kills (4.26) and points (4.71). Hawai‘i’s Brittany Hewitt and Mita Uiato are tops in hitting percentage (.412) and assists (11.44), respectively, while Utah State’s Alyssa Everett is tops in blocks (1.50). Grace Anxo of Nevada leads the WAC in service aces (0.46), while Stephany Salas of Louisiana Tech is tops in digs (4.94).
2011 WAC TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO LAS VEGAS
The 2011 WAC Volleyball Tournament will be held Nov. 21-23 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.
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 MATCHES TO AIR ON ESPNU
ESPNU will televise two WAC women’s volleyball matches this season as part of its Wednesday Night Women’s Volleyball package.
The first match is Wednesday, Oct. 12, when Hawai‘i plays at New Mexico State at 8 p.m. (MT). In addition, the network will air the championship match of the WAC Tournament at 6 p.m. (PT) Wednesday, Nov. 23.
FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS (4-4, 0-0 WAC)
Fresno State went 1-1 last week, falling to No. 5 Washington (25-14, 25-15, 25-14) and sweeping Seattle (26-24, 25-19, 25-18) ... Against the Huskies, Marissa Brand led the team with 10 kills ... Brand led the team with 12 kills vs. Seattle ... The Bulldogs posted a season-high .276 hitting percentage vs. the Redhawks ... Brand has now had 10 or more kills in 11 straight matches, dating back to last season ... Korrin Wild ranks second in the WAC in digs per set (4.52), while Brand is second in kills (4.00) and third in points (4.43) per set ... Brianna Clarke ranks seventh in the conference in hitting percentage (.321) and 10th in blocks (1.07) ... As a team, Fresno State leads the WAC in service aces per set (1.63), ranks third in assists (11.85), and fourth in kills (12.41) and hitting percentage (.173) ... Fresno State has tallied five or more service aces in five of its nine matches this season and have posted 11 more aces on the season than its opponents ... Eight of the Bulldogs’ last 11 matches have been decided in three sets and Fresno State is 4-4 in those matches ... The Bulldogs travel to Las Vegas this weekend for the UNLV Classic, where they will face Baylor, San Francisco and the Rebels.
HAWAI‘I RAINBOW WAHINE (8-1, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai‘i went 3-0 to win the Verizon Volleyball Challenge last weekend, defeating Rice (25-10, 25-18, 25-19), Pacific (25-17, 25-17, 20-25, 25-15) and Cincinnati (25-18, 25-23, 25-21) ... Kanani Danielson was named Most Outstanding Player after posting two double-doubles and averaging 4.50 kills, 3.30 digs and 0.40 service aces over the three matches ... Jane Croson and Brittany Hewitt were also named to the all-tournament team. Croson averaged 4.00 kills, 2.50 digs and 0.60 service aces, while Hewitt averaged 2.90 kills and 1.10 blocks over the three matches ... The Rainbow Wahine hit a season-high .417 vs. the Owls ... As a team, Hawai‘i leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.315), assists (13.59) and kills (14.69) ... Hewitt leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.412) and ranks sixth in blocks (1.25) ... Danielson is second in the WAC in points (4.56), third in kills (3.97), ninth in digs (3.00) and 10th in hitting percentage (.280) ... Hawai‘i has had 5,000 or more fans at every match this season, with a season-high 8,525 vs. UCLA, its only loss of the season ... The Rainbow Wahine host No. 21 Pepperdine for a pair of matches this weekend.
IDAHO VANDALS (4-5, 0-0 WAC)
Idaho went 2-1 and finished in second place at the Montana Invitational last weekend, defeating Cal State Fullerton (25-22, 25-19, 25-23) and Montana (25-22, 25-14, 25-23), and falling to South Dakota (25-20, 18-25, 25-15, 25-16) ... Alicia Milo earned all-tournament team honors after averaging 4.2 kills and 1.9 digs. She had a double-double in Idaho’s sweep of Montana, finishing with 13 kills and 13 digs ... Six of Idaho’s last seven matches have been three-setters (3-3) ... Idaho’s win over Cal State Fullerton was its third this season against an NCAA Tournament team from 2010, and the Vandals are 3-0 in such matches ... As a team, the Vandals rank third in the WAC in hitting percentage (.202), kills (12.42) and blocks (2.32), and fourth in assists (11.61) and digs (14.58) ... Allison Walker ranks fourth in the league in kills (3.77) and points (4.24) ... Milo ranks fifth in kills (3.68) and points (4.08), while Alex Sele ranks fourth in hitting percentage (.333) ... Ryann Carter is fourth in the WAC in assists (9.32), while Cassie Hamilton is fourth in digs (3.97) ... Idaho plays at Portland on Wednesday, at No. 24 Long Beach State on Friday and at UC Irvine on Saturday.
LOUISIANA TECH LADY TECHSTERS (6-5, 0-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech fell in five sets (25-16, 17-25, 23-25, 25-16, 15-10) at Jackson State last Tuesday, then went 2-1 at the Louisiana Tech Invitational last weekend, defeating Grambling State (25-20, 25-16, 25-20) and Southeastern Louisiana (25-16, 22-25, 25-14, 25-14) before falling to Texas Tech (25-14, 25-17, 27-25) ... Caitlin Germany and Emily Maher were both named to the all-tournament team, as Germany posted 21 kills on .349 hitting to go with 12 blocks and Maher recorded a combined 11 kills over the three matches ... Clara Vido posted her fifth double-double of the season against Southeastern Louisiana, finishing with 16 kills and a career-high 22 digs ... As a team, LA Tech ranks second in the WAC in digs (16.17), opponent hitting percentage (.150) and service aces (1.62) ... Stephany Salas leads the WAC in digs per set (4.94) ... LA Tech has three players – Regan Himmelberg (7th, 0.32), Maher (8th, 0.32) and Bianca Bin (10th, 0.30) – ranked in the top 10 in the WAC in service aces ... The Techsters host McNeese State on Tuesday before traveling to Houston for the Husky Classic this weekend, where they will face Southern Miss, Southeastern Louisiana and host Houston Baptist.
NEVADA WOLF PACK (2-8, 0-0 WAC)
Nevada went 1-2 at the Hilton Garden Inn Classic, falling to Sacramento State (19-25, 25-23, 25-27, 24-26) and No. 1 California (26-24, 25-18, 25-12), before defeating UT Arlington (22-25, 25-17, 25-16, 25-16) ... Tessa Lea’ea was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 2.45 kills on .350 hitting to go along with 1.09 blocks over the three matches ... Brianna Heinen had a career-high 20 digs vs. the Hornets ... Setter Tatiana Santiago became the sixth player in school history to record 2,000 career assists against Sacramento State. Her 2,113 career assists ranks sixth in school history ... Santiago leads the team with four double-doubles, while Grace Anxo and Elissa Ji have two each ... Erin Garvey is 13 kills from 600 in her Pack career ... As a team, Nevada ranks fourth in the WAC in service aces (1.38) ... Anxo leads the conference with 0.46 service aces per set, while Lea‘ea is fifth in hitting percentage (.325) ... Janelle Batista ranks eighth in the WAC in hitting percentage (.311) ... Santiago is fifth in the conference in assists (9.22), while Kelly Chang is seventh in digs (3.51) ... The Wolf Pack are off until Sept. 21 when they host UNLV in their home opener.
NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (8-2, 0-0 WAC)
New Mexico State won the CenturyLink Premier Tournament, defeating Louisiana-Lafayette (25-13, 25-16, 25-16), Houston Baptist (25-15, 25-18, 25-22), Northwestern State (23-25, 25-21, 26-24, 25-14) and host Texas State (25-20, 25-18, 22-25, 26-24) ... Jennah DeVries was named tournament MVP after averaging 12.07 assists and 2.93 digs over the four matches ... Meredith Hays and Kelsey Brennan were also named to the all-tournament team. Hays averaged 4.86 kills and 3.57 digs, while Brennan averaged 3.08 kills, 0.92 digs and 0.85 blocks ... Hays leads the WAC in kills (4.26) and points (4.71), while DeVries ranks second in assists (10.77) and 10th in digs (2.94) ... Brennan is third in the league in hitting percentage (.381), while Michelle Kuester is ninth (.307). Kuester also ranks second in blocks (1.40) ... Kelsi Phillips is third in the WAC in service aces (0.40) and fifth in digs (3.94) ... As a team, NM State leads the WAC in opponent hitting percentage (.121) and is second in hitting percentage (.219) ... The Aggies host UTEP on Tuesday, then travel to Evanston, Ill., for the Northwestern Challenge this weekend, where they will face Colgate, Duquesne and the host Wildcats.
SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (2-6, 0-0 WAC)
San Jose State dropped a pair of matches at the SJSU/Santa Clara Invitational last weekend, falling to North Dakota (25-19, 25-22, 25-21) and UC Santa Barbara (22-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-18) ... Against North Dakota, Savanah Leaf led the team with nine kills and 10 digs, while Kylie Miraldi added a team-best five blocks ... Against the Gauchos, Leaf again led the team with 18 kills ... Krista Miller recorded her first career double-double with 10 kills and a team-high 17 digs ... Caitlin Andrade currently ranks 10th all-time at San Jose State in assists with 2,068. She needs 24 assists to move into ninth place and would need 3,414 assists over the next two years to break the record of 5,482 set by Michelle Sarkees (1996-99) ... Andrade ranks third in the WAC with 9.83 assists per set, while Alex Akana is eighth in blocks (1.12) ... Leaf ranks ninth in both kills (3.03) and points (3.53) ... As a team, San Jose State ranks fourth in the WAC in opponent hitting percentage (.183), and fifth in both assists (11.59) and kills (12.28) ... The Spartans play in the Hilton Stockton Invitational this weekend, where they will face Pacific, Cal State Bakersfield, Loyola Marymount and UC Riverside.
UTAH STATE AGGIES (4-6, 0-0 WAC)
Utah State defeated Weber State in five sets (25-18, 23-25, 25-23, 23-25, 15-13) last Tuesday, before going 0-3 at the Long Beach State Baden Classic, falling to Oregon State (25-14, 25-18, 25-21), No. 22 LBSU (25-22, 25-22, 25-17) and SMU (25-21, 25-13, 23-25, 28-26) ... Liz McArthur tied her career high with 25 kills against Weber State ... McArthur was named to the all-tournament team of the Baden Classic after averaging 4.20 kills and 3.60 digs over the three matches ... Against SMU, she posted 18 kills and a career-high 16 digs ... McArthur leads the WAC with seven double-doubles this year ... As a team, the Aggies lead the WAC in blocks (3.22) and digs (16.50), and rank third in opponent hitting percentage (.159) ... Utah State boasts four of the top 10 blockers in the WAC – Alyssa Everett (1st, 1.54), Kaitlyn VanHoff (4th, 1.271), Nicole Gneiting-Theurer (5th, 1.27) and Josselyn White (7th, 1.21) ... McArthur ranks sixth in the WAC in both kills (3.58) and points (4.01), while White is eighth in points (3.78) and 10th in kills (2.89) ... The Aggies host Brigham Young on Tuesday, then play at UC Irvine on Friday and Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.