FRESNO STATE’S BRAND EARNS WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Fresno State junior outside hitter Marissa Brand has been named Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Aug. 29-Sept. 4. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor of the season and the second of her career for Brand.
The Cypress, Calif., native tallied 46 kills, 31 digs, five service aces and five blocks over three matches en route to all-tournament team honors at the Sacramento State Invitational last week. Brand averaged 4.60 kills on .300 hitting, 3.10 digs, 0.50 blocks, and 0.50 service aces as she led the Bulldogs to a second-place finish with a 2-1 record. She opened the week with 15 kills, 13 digs, three blocks and three service aces in a win over Sacramento State. It was her fourth double-double in as many matches this season. Against Cal State Northridge, Brand was just shy of a double-double, finishing with 15 kills, nine digs. She closed out the tournament with 16 kills on .500 hitting, nine digs, two blocks and two service aces vs. Marist. She currently leads the WAC in kills (4.10) and points (4.55).
Other nominees included: Hawai‘i’s Kanani Danielson was named to the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic all-tournament team after averaging 3.50 kills, 2.92 digs, 0.75 blocks and 0.50 assists … Allison Walker of Idaho was named to the all-tournament team at the Kansas State Invitational after averaging 3.22 kills, 1.89 digs and 0.89 blocks over three matches … Nevada’s Tatiana Santiago was named to the all-tournament team at the Portland Nike Invitational after averaging 8.21 assists and 3.00 digs over the four matches and leading the Wolf Pack to their first win of the season … Meredith Hays of New Mexico State averaged 3.50 kills and 2.60 digs as the Aggies went 2-1 at the Hotel Encanto Classic … San Jose State’s Krista Miller was named to the all-tournament team at the Fiesta Bowl Tournament after averaging 2.50 kills, 1.99 digs and 1.00 blocks over the three matches … Josselyn White of Utah State was named MVP of the Utah State Invitational after averaging 3.07 kills, 2.64 digs and 1.14 blocks as the Aggies won the tournament.
NUMEROUS WAC PLAYERS NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS IN SECOND WEEKEND
The WAC had 13 of its players named to all-tournament teams in the second weekend of play, led by Utah State’s Josselyn White, who was MVP of the Utah State Invitational. Teammates Liz McArthur and Shay Sorensen were also named to the all-tournament team. Other honorees included Fresno State’s Marissa Brand and Brianna Clarke were named to the Sacramento State Invitational all-tournament team, while Hawai‘i’s Kanani Danielson and Emily Hartong earned Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic all-tournament honors. Idaho’s Allison Walker was named to the Kansas State Invitational all-tournament team, while Bianca Bin of Louisiana Tech earned all-tournament honors at the South Alabama Tournament. Nevada’s Tatiana Santiago (Portland Nike Invitational), Meredith Hays and Kelsi Phillips of New Mexico State (Hotel Encanto Classic) and San Jose State’s Krista Miller (Fiesta Bowl Tournament) rounded out the group.
FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS (3-3, 0-0 WAC)
Fresno State went 2-1 at the Sacramento State Invitational, defeating Marist (25-22, 25-16, 25-14) and the host Hornets (14-25, 25-21, 25-13, 25-23), and falling to Cal State Northridge (15-25, 20-25, 18-25) ... Marissa Brand was named WAC Player of the Week and to the all-tournament team after averaging 4.60 kills, 3.10 digs and 0.50 service aces per set over the three matches. She opened the week with 15 kills, 13 digs, three blocks and three service aces against Sacramento State. It was her fourth double-double in as many matches this season ... Brianna Clarke was also named to the all-tournament team after averaging 2.30 kills, 1.40 blocks and 0.70 digs ... Barbara Alcantara and Cecilia Agraz both notched four service aces vs. Marist ... Korrin Wild currently leads the WAC in digs per set (5.29), while Brand is tops in kills (4.10) and points (4.55) per set ... Clarke ranks fourth in the conference in hitting percentage (.342) ... As a team, Fresno State leads the WAC in service aces per set (1.26) and ranks third in assists (12.19), kills (12.86) and digs (15.10) ... The Bulldogs travel to the Seattle this weekend, where they will face No. 5 Washington and Seattle.
HAWAI‘I RAINBOW WAHINE (5-1, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai‘i went 2-1 at the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic, defeating No. 22 Ohio State (25-18, 25-23, 25-14) and No. 23 Long Beach State (25-17, 21-25, 23-25, 25-19, 15-11), before falling to No. 12 UCLA (20-25, 26-28, 25-20, 17-25) ... Kanani Danielson, Emily Hartong and Jane Croson were named to the all-tournament team. Danielson averaged 3.50 kills, 2.92 digs and 0.75 blocks, Hartong averaged 2.42 kills on .410 hitting and 1.25 blocks, and Croson averaged 2.92 kills and 2.42 digs over the three matches ... The Rainbow Wahine had a season-high 63 kills and 20 total blocks vs. Long Beach State ... There were 8,525 tickets issued for the match against UCLA, the most since 2006, and a turnstile count of 7,339 ... As a team, Hawai‘i leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.298), assists (13.27) and kills (14.14) ... Hartong leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.449), while Hewitt is fifth (.330) and Chanteal Satele is 10th (.277) ... Setter Mita Uiato ranks second in the WAC with 11.05 assists per set ... The Rainbow Wahine host the Verizon Volleyball Challenge this weekend, where they will face Rice, Pacific and Cincinnati.
IDAHO VANDALS (2-4, 0-0 WAC)
Idaho went 1-2 at the Kansas State Invitational, falling to Brigham Young (16-25, 17-25, 21-25) and Kansas State (23-25, 19-25, 22-25), and defeating Georgia Southern (25-20, 25-19, 25-21) ... Allison Walker earned all-tournament team honors after averaging 3.22 kills, 1.89 digs and 0.89 blocks over the three matches ... Idaho’s win over Georgia Southern was its second this season against an NCAA Tournament team from last year. The Vandals are 2-0 in such matches with wins over GSU and Butler ... Idaho’s sweep of the Eagles was its first three-set win of the season ... The Vandals had lost 11-consecutive sets before sweeping Georgia Southern, after dropping the final two sets to Notre Dame and being swept by Eastern Michigan, BYU and Kansas State ... The Vandals rank third in the WAC in hitting percentage (.196) and blocks (2.19), and fourth in assists (11.57) and digs (14.62) ... Walker ranks second in the league in kills (3.90) and points (4.40) ... Jenny Feicht leads the WAC in assists (11.14) ... Idaho travels to Missoula, Mont., for the Montana Invitational this weekend, where it will face Cal State Fullerton, South Dakota and Montana.
LOUISIANA TECH LADY TECHSTERS (4-3, 0-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech went 3-1 at the South Alabama Tournament last weekend, defeating Southeastern Louisiana (25-27, 25-16, 23-25, 25-22, 15-6), Alabama A&M (25-19, 24-26, 25-18, 25-21), and the host Jaguars (28-26, 25-23, 25-16, 25-21), and falling to Samford (15-25, 19-25, 23-25) ... Bianca Bin was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 8.31 assists, 1.88 digs and 0.50 service aces per set ... Bin recorded her second double-double of the season against Southeastern Louisiana when she posted 39 assists and 16 digs ... Clara Vido posted a pair of double-doubles on the week, finishing with 10 kills and 14 digs vs. Southeastern Louisiana and 11 kills and 18 digs against South Alabama ... Emily Maher posted a season-high 13 kills against Alabama A&M ... Tech holds a 21-19 record in non-conference tournaments under head coach Matt Sonnichsen ... As a team, LA Tech ranks second in the WAC in digs (16.19) and service aces (1.56) ... Stephany Salas is second in the WAC in digs per set (4.58) ... The Techsters play at Jackson State on Tuesday before hosting the Louisiana Tech Invitational this weekend, where they will face Grambling State, Southeastern Louisiana and Texas Tech.
NEVADA WOLF PACK (1-6, 0-0 WAC)
Nevada went 1-3 at the Nike Invitational, falling to Washington State (17-25, 21-25, 20-25), Butler (21-25, 27-29, 25-27) and Texas A&M (12-25, 21-25, 20-25), before defeating the host Portland Pilots (15-25, 25-22, 20-25, 25-16, 15-13) ... Tatiana Santiago was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 8.21 assists and 3.00 digs per set over the four matches ... Santiago posted double-doubles against Butler (24 assists, 13 digs) and Portland ( 44 assists, 15 digs) ... Grace Anxo posted a double-double of 10 kills and 12 digs vs. Butler ... Ruth Lawanson earned her first victory at Nevada when the Wolf Pack defeated Portland ... Tessa Lea‘ea had a career-high 18 kills in the Pack’s first victory of the season at Portland ... As a team, Nevada ranks fourth in the WAC in service aces (1.23) ... Janelle Batista ranks second in the WAC in hitting percentage (.396), followed by Lea‘ea in seventh (.314) ... Anxo ranks second in the conference with 0.50 service aces per set ... The Wolf Pack travel to Berkeley, Calif., for the Hilton Garden Inn Classic this weekend, where they will face Sacramento State, UT Arlington and No. 1 California.
NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (4-2, 0-0 WAC)
New Mexico State went 2-1 at the Hotel Encanto Classic, defeating Grambling State (25-14, 25-16, 25-16) and Arkansas-Little Rock (25-21, 29-27, 25-16), before falling to LSU (22-25, 25-22, 23-25, 18-25) ... Meredith Hays and Kelsi Phillips were named to the all-tournament team. Hays averaged 3.50 kills and 2.60 digs, while Phillips averaged 2.90 digs, 0.80 assists and 0.70 service aces ... Jennah DeVries posted her fourth double-double of the season against UALR, finishing with a season-high 42 assists and 10 digs ... Hays tallied her first career double-double against LSU, finishing with a team-high 14 kills to go along with 11 digs ... Hays ranks third in the WAC in kills (3.86) and fourth in points (4.21) ... Phillips leads the conference in service aces (0.52) ... Kelsey Brennan is sixth in the WAC in hitting percentage (.326), while Michelle Kuester is eighth (.299) ... NM State leads the WAC in opponent hitting percentage (.126), and ranks second in hitting percentage (.199), assists (12.57) and kills (13.52) ... The Aggies travel to San Marcos, Texas, for the CenturyLink Premier Tournament, where they will face Louisiana-Lafayette, Houston Baptist, Northwestern State and host Texas State.
SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (2-4, 0-0 WAC)
San Jose State went 1-2 at the Fiesta Bowl Tournament, falling to New Mexico (25-22, 17-25, 17-25, 21-25) and host Northern Arizona (13-25, 19-25, 21-25), and defeating Hampton (25-14, 25-8, 25-12) ... Krista Miller was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 2.50 kills, 1.99 digs and 1.00 blocks ... Miller tied her career high with nine kills against both Northern Arizona and New Mexico. She also tied a career-best with five blocks at Northern Arizona ... Caitlin Andrade had a double-double of 33 assists and 12 digs against New Mexico ... Alex Akana had no hitting errors against Hampton, finishing with nine kills on .818 hitting ... The Spartans tied a Fiesta Bowl Tournament record after allowing just eight points in the second set against Hampton ... The team also hit a season-best .427 ... Andrade ranks fourth in the WAC with 9.64 assists per set, while Akana is seventh in blocks (1.16) ... As a team, San Jose State ranks fourth in the WAC in both opponent hitting percentage (.169) and kills (12.36) ... The Spartans host the SJSU/Santa Clara Invitational this weekend, where they will face North Dakota and UC Santa Barbara.
UTAH STATE AGGIES (3-3, 0-0 WAC)
Utah State went 2-1 to win its own tournament last weekend, falling to Idaho State (25-21, 25-17, 24-26, 18-25, 12-15) before defeating Syracuse (25-23, 25-23, 17-25, 25-19) and Texas State (16-25, 25-23, 25-15, 20-25, 15-10) ... Josselyn White was named tournament MVP after averaging 3.07 kills, 2.64 digs and 1.14 blocks per set ... Liz McArthur and Shay Sorensen were also named to the all-tournament team. McArthur averaged 2.93 kills, 2.00 digs and 0.29 service aces, while Sorensen averaged 2.36 kills and 1.21 blocks over the three matches ... Against Texas State, White recorded a career-high 20 kills and tied her career high with seven blocks. She posted double-doubles in the other two matches, as she had 11 kills and 13 digs against Idaho State and 11 kills and a career-high 15 digs against Syracuse ... As a team, the Aggies lead the WAC in blocks (3.48) and digs (16.44) ... Utah State boasts four of the top 10 blockers in the WAC – Kaitlyn CanHoff (1st, 1.61), Alyssa Everett (2nd, 1.60), White (5th, 1.30) and Shay Sorensen (9th, 1.08) ... The Aggies play at Weber State on Tuesday, then travel to the Long Beach State Baden Classic where they will face Oregon State, SMU and the host 49ers.
HAWAI‘I DROPS TO NO. 12 IN BOTH POLLS
After sweeping No. 22 Ohio State, beating No. 23 Long Beach State in five sets and falling to No. 12 UCLA in four sets last weekend, Hawai‘i dropped to No. 12 in both the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and RichKern.com polls released Monday.
DEVRIES RECORDS 3,000TH ASSIST
New Mexico State senior setter Jennah DeVries dished out her 3,000th career assist in the third set of a sweep of Arkansas-Little Rock last Friday. She currently has 3,041 career assists, good for fifth place all-time in the Aggie record books. She is 51 assists away from fourth place and 1,253 shy of the all-time Aggie record of 4,294, held by Christine Jinbo (1993-96).
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.
REGIONAL, SEMIFINAL/CHAMPIONSHIP SITES SELECTED
The NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee announced the following sites for regional and semifinal/championship competition of the 2011 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championships.
Regionals (4): Dec. 9-10, 2011
Host: University of Florida
Stephen C. O’Connell Center
Gainesville, Fla.
Host: University of Minnesota
Sports Pavilion
Minneapolis, Minn.
Host: University of Hawai‘i
Stan Sherriff Center
Honolulu, Hawaii
Host: University of Kentucky
Memorial Coliseum
Lexington, Ky.
Semifinals and Championship: Dec. 15 and 17, 2011
Co-Hosts: University of Texas at San Antonio and the San Antonio Sports Foundation
Alamodome
San Antonio, Texas