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NM STATE FALLS TO NO. 8 STANFORD IN NCAA TOURNAMENT
NM State fell at No. 8 Stanford in straight sets (25-20, 25-13, 25-17) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, snapping a 19-match winning streak. The Aggies conclude the season 28-6. NM State was out-hit .415 to .133 on the match. The Cardinal also out-blocked the Aggies 8-1. WAC Player of the Year Gwen Murphy paced NM State with nine kills and three aces, while Andrea Tauai added seven kills and Bradley Nash had six. Jordan Abalos had a match-high 15 digs in the loss.
NM STATE'S MURPHY NAMED AVCA HONORABLE MENTION ALL-AMERICAN
NM State senior Gwen Murphy was named a 2015 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Honorable Mention All-American. This marks the first year all Honorable Mention All-Americans were selected by the AVCA Division I All-America Committee, as previously players who made All-Region were automatically honorable mention if they didn't make one of the three teams.
Murphy, who was earlier named to the AVCA All-Midwest Region Team, was the WAC Player of the Year and WAC Tournament MVP. She averaged 3.29 kills on .421 hitting, 0.83 blocks and 0.67 digs per set. A three-time WAC Player of the Week during the season, she was named AVCA National Player of the Week for Aug. 24-30, becoming the first Aggie ever to earn the honor. Murphy also broke the WAC record for hitting percentage in a match when she finished with 14 kills on 15 attempts and no errors for a .933 hitting percentage against Robert Morris. The previous record was .889.
NM STATE WINS WAC TOURNAMENT
Top-seeded NM State swept No. 5 Missouri-Kansas City (25-18, 25-18, 25-19) in the semifinals and swept No. 2 CSU Bakersfield (25-22, 25-23, 25-16) in the championship match to win the WAC Tournament. It was the Aggies' third WAC Tournament title since joining the league in 2005. WAC Tournament MVP Gwen Murphy averaged 4.92 points, 4.17 kills on .449 hitting and 1.00 blocks per set over the two matches.
All-Tournament Team
Luiza Martins, CSU Bakersfield
Bojana Mitrovic, UTRGV
Martina Samadan, Seattle U
Kelsee Sawyer, CSU Bakersfield
Andrea Tauai, NM State
MVP: Gwen Murphy, NM State
ALL-WAC TEAMS ANNOUNCED
The 2015 WAC volleyball award winners, as selected by the league's eight head coaches, were announced at the WAC Tournament banquet. NM State senior outside hitter Gwen Murphy was named WAC Player of the Year, while Utah Valley's Abby Jensen was named WAC Freshman of the Year and NM State head coach Mike Jordan was named WAC Coach of the Year.
Murphy earned WAC Player of the Year honors after ranking second in the league in hitting percentage (.435), fifth in blocks (0.98), seventh in points (3.78) and eighth in kills (3.00) in WAC matches. She hit .300 or better in 10 of 14 WAC matches and had 10 or more kills in eight WAC matches. She set the all-time WAC record for hitting percentage earlier this season when she hit .933 against Robert Morris.
Jensen earned WAC Freshman of the Year honors after averaging 3.28 points, 2.88 kills and 1.87 digs in WAC play. In WAC play only, she ranked ninth in the conference in kills per set, had one double-double and posted 10 or more kills eight times.
Jordan led his team to a perfect 14-0 mark in WAC play to become just the fourth school ever to finish WAC play unbeaten. This is NM State's third WAC regular-season title, its second outright title and first since the 2013 season. This is the fifth time Jordan has earned the honor.
WAC STAT LEADERS
NM State led the WAC in hitting percentage (.283), opponent hitting percentage (.185), assists (13.10) and kills (14.26). Meanwhile, Utah Valley was tops in blocks (2.65), Seattle U led the WAC in service aces (1.89) and Missouri-Kansas City was tops in digs (16.10).
Individually, UT Rio Grande Valley's Bojana Mitrovic led the WAC in kills (4.30) and points (4.82), while Seattle U's Martina Samadan was tops in hitting percentage (.454). CSU Bakersfield's Luiza Martins led the league in assists (10.48), while Jelena Vujcin of Seattle U was tops in service aces (0.50). Utah Valley's Lauren Bakker led the WAC in blocks (1.26), while Missouri-Kansas City's Taryn Miller was tops in digs (4.95).
In WAC matches only, NM State led the WAC in hitting percentage (.301), opponent hitting percentage (.165) and kills (14.44). CSU Bakersfield was tops in assists (13.42), while Utah Valley led the league in blocks (2.85). Seattle U led the WAC in service aces (2.00) and UMKC was tops in digs (15.27).
Individually in WAC matches, Samadan led the WAC in hitting percentage (.463), while Mitrovic was tops in kills (4.29) and points (4.80). Martins led the league in assists (11.89), while Seattle U's Iris Ivanis was tops in service aces (0.46). Bakker led the WAC in blocks (1.37), while Miller was tops in digs (4.64).
SAMADAN SETS SEATTLE U CAREER, SEASON HITTING PERCENTAGE RECORDS
Seattle U senior middle blocker Martina Samadan closed out her career as the best hitter in program history. She holds the program records for career hitting percentage (.412) and season hitting percentage (.454, 2015). Her 2015 mark led the nation and is also a WAC record, while her career percentage ranks second all-time in WAC history.
In addition, she holds six of the top 10 single-match hitting percentage records in program history:
3. .786 vs. CSU Bakersfield, Sept. 26, 2013
5. .684 vs. CSU Bakersfield, Oct. 3, 2015
6. .667 vs. Kansas State, Sept. 12, 2015
8. .645 vs. Montana, Sept. 18, 2014
T-10. .600 vs. Idaho, Oct. 11, 2013
T-10. .600 vs. Chicago State, Oct. 17, 2013
UMKC'S CRIMMINS POSTS 1,000TH CAREER KILL AT WAC TOURNAMENT
Missouri-Kansas City senior Sydney Crimmins tallied her 1,000th career kill in the ‘Roos' first round match vs. Seattle U in the WAC Tournament. She closed out her career with 1,017 kills.
NM STATE POSTS FIRST UNDEFEATED SEASON IN WAC PLAY SINCE 2011
NM State closed out WAC play with a perfect 14-0 record to claim its third WAC regular-season title, its second outright title and first since the 2013 season. The Aggies are the fourth team ever to go unbeaten in WAC play, the first team to do so since the 2011 season and the first team other than Hawai‘i to do so since 1993.