NEW MEXICO STATE EARNS NCAA TOURNAMENT BID, WILL FACE BYU FRIDAY
New Mexico State will travel to Provo, Utah, to face No. 12 seed Brigham Young in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at 7 p.m. (MT) this Friday, Nov. 30. The Aggies (22-10) earned the WAC’s automatic bid by winning the WAC Tournament title. This is New Mexico State’s sixth NCAA Tournament appearance and first since the 2008 season.
Host BYU (26-3) earned the automatic bid out of the West Coast Conference after sharing the regular-season title with a 13-3 record. The Cougars are ranked No. 16 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.
In the other match, Arizona State will face Oklahoma. Arizona State ended the regular season 20-13 overall and 9-11 Pac-12 play. Oklahoma is 21-10 overall and 10-6 in the Big 12. The winners of the two matches will play at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
NEW MEXICO STATE CLAIMS FIRST-EVER WAC TOURNAMENT TITLE
Fourth-seeded New Mexico State defeated No. 2-seed Idaho in four sets to claim its first-ever. The Aggies become just the fourth team in the 15-year history of the event to win the title. Meredith Hays was named tournament MVP after averaging 3.90 kills, 3.30 digs and 0,60 service aces over the three matches. Also named to the all-tournament team were McKenzie Adams, UTSA; Allison Baker, Idaho; Janelle Chow, Idaho; Annie Kunes, UTSA; Desiree Scott, New Mexico State; Taylor Wilkinson, Idaho; and Stephanie Ziegler, New Mexico State.
2012 ALL-WAC TEAM
UTSA junior outside hitter McKenzie Adams was named WAC Player of the Year, while teammate Annie Kunes was named Libero of the Year. Utah State’s Elle Brainard captured Freshman of the Year honors, while head coach Grayson DuBose was named WAC Coach of the Year.
Nine schools were represented on the teams, led by top-seeded Utah State with four players on the first team and two on the second team. No. 3 seed UTSA had one player on the first team and three on the second team, while Idaho and New Mexico State both had two first-team selections and one second-team pick.
Adams earned WAC Player of the Year honors after leading the league in kills (4.73) and points (5.30) and ranking seventh in digs (3.77) per set. She was named WAC Player of the Week five times during the season and posted double-doubles in 13 of the 18 WAC matches. In the most recent NCAA statistics, Adams ranked 25th nationally in kills per set and 33rd in points per set.
Kunes earned Libero of the Year honors after leading the WAC with 5.39 digs per set. The freshman posted double-digit digs in 15 of the 16 WAC matches in which she played and had 20 or more digs in seven WAC matches. In the most recent NCAA statistics, the second team All-WAC pick ranked 64th nationally in digs per set.
Brainard earned Freshman of the Year honors. She averaged 1.63 kills and 1.38 blocks per set in WAC play. Brainard ranks second in the WAC and 17th nationally in overall blocks per set. Her 143 block assists on the season rank third on the Aggies’ single-season list, while her 149 total blocks rank fourth.
DuBose led his team to its first-ever WAC regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the WAC Tournament. This is the second time in his career he’s earned the honor (2007).
UTAH STATE CLAIMS FIRST-EVER WAC REGULAR-SEASON TITLE
Utah State, which was selected fourth in the preseason poll, captured its first-ever WAC regular-season title with a 15-3 record in conference play. The Aggies won the WAC Tournament title in 2010. USU’s last conference title was winning the Eastern Division of the Big West in 1999.
SEATTLE U’S BIETTE EARNS ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT HONORS
Seattle U senior Kelly Biette earned Capital One Academic All-District first team honors. She now advances to the national ballot for Academic All-America consideration. A senior middle hitter from Brighton, Colo., Biette boasts a 3.92 grade-point average as a biology major. She is the president of the Seattle U Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) and a member of the WAC SAAC. Earlier this fall, she traveled to Switzerland to present at an international conference of scientists.
BAKER EXTENDS DOUBLE-DIGIT KILL STREAK TO 44 MATCHES
Idaho junior Allison (Walker) Baker has posted double-digit kills in 47 consecutive matches, dating back to Sept. 16, 2011. In her three years as a Vandal, the outside hitter has had 10 or more kills in 78 of the 86 matches she has played, or 91 percent.
CHOW TALLIES 1,000TH CAREER DIG
Idaho senior libero Janelle Chow notched her 1,000th career dig in the second set of the Vandals’ sweep of Louisiana Tech on Nov. 8. She closed out her career with 1,089.
NEW MEXICO STATE RANKS NATIONALLY IN ATTENDANCE
New Mexico State currently ranks 23rd nationally in attendance with an average of 1,654 fans per match. The Aggies have ranked in the top 25 in attendance every year since joining the WAC in 2005. NM State’s highest ranking as a member of the WAC came in 2005, when the Aggies were 11th with an average attendance of 2,075.
FOUR WAC PLAYERS RANK IN TOP 50 IN BLOCKING
Four WAC players – Denver’s Faimie Kingsley (7th, 1.64), Idaho’s Alyssa Schultz (20th, 1.42), and Utah State’s Elle Brainard (21st, 1.41) and Kaitlyn Van Hoff (31st, 1.33) – currently rank in the top 50 nationally in blocks per set.
WAC STAT LEADERS
In team statistics, UTSA leads the WAC in assists (13.26), kills (14.35) and digs (18.94). Denver is tops in hitting percentage (.245), while Utah State leads the WAC in opponent hitting percentage (.158) and blocks (3.00), and San Jose State is tops in service aces (1.32).
Individually Idaho’s Allison (Walker) Baker leads the WAC in kills (4.41) and points (4.95). Denver’s Faimie Kingsley is tops in hitting percentage (.380) and blocks (1.64). San Jose State’s Michaela Leonard leads the league in assists (11.11), while Kaytlyn Dill of Seattle U leads the WAC in service aces (0.41) and UTSA’s Annie Kunes is tops in digs (5.05).
In WAC matches, UTSA leads the league in assists (13.80), kills (14.83) and digs (19.64). Denver is tops in hitting percentage (.240), while Utah State leads the WAC in opponent hitting percentage (.145). Idaho leads the WAC in blocks (3.00) and San Jose State is tops in service aces (1.37).
Individually, UTSA’s McKenzie Adams led the WAC in kills (4.73) and points (5.30) in WAC matches, while New Mexico State’s Desiree Scott was tops in hitting percentage (.420). Leonard led the league in assists (11.27), while Dill was tops in service aces (0.42). Kingsley led the WAC in blocks (1.70) and Kunes was tops in digs (5.39).