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NM STATE'S MURPHY NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
NM State senior outside hitter Gwen Murphy has been named Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Aug. 24-30. This is the first-ever honor for Murphy.
The Elfrida, Ariz. native led the Aggies to a 3-1 record at the Falcon Classic last weekend, with the only loss coming at the hands of No. 16 Arizona State in a thrilling five-set match. Murphy tallied 57 kills, nine blocks, seven digs and six service aces en route to all-tournament team honors. She posted a WAC-best .478 hitting percentage and averaged 3.80 kills, 0.60 blocks, 0.47 digs and 0.40 service aces per set. Murphy had the match high in kills in all four matches, with a career-high 16 kills in back-to-back matches, including versus the Sun Devils. She also had a career-high three service aces in the season opener against Northeastern and hit an astounding .722 versus Montana, the third-highest hitting percentage in a match of her career.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Luiza Martins averaged 6.20 assists and 1.90 digs and was named to the all-tournament team at the San Francisco Invitational ... Elli Woinowsky of Chicago State averaged 2.11 kills and 1.33 digs and earned all-tournament team honors at the Women of Troy Baden Invitational ... Grand Canyon's Natalie Tardy was named to the all-tournament team at the Nebraska Invite after averaging 3.30 kills and 3.40 digs per set over the three matches ... Sydney Crimmins of Missouri-Kansas City was named to the Redhawks Invitational All-Tournament Team after averaging 3.73 kills, 2.73 digs and 0.73 blocks per set over three matches ... Seattle U's Jelena Vujcin was named Molten Classic MVP after leading the Redhawks to the title and averaging 3.33 kills, 1.22 digs, 1.00 blocks and 0.56 service aces over three matches ... Bojana Mitrovic of UT Rio Grande Valley earned all-tournament honors at the HBU Tournament after averaging 4.00 kills, 2.30 digs and 0.90 blocks per set ... Utah Valley's Lauren Bakker earned all-tournament team honors at the Pepperdine Asics Classic after averaging 2.10 kills and 1.60 blocks per set.
NM STATE'S MURPHY NAMED AVCA NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
NM State senior outside hitter Gwen Murphy has been named the Sports Imports/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I National Player of the Week, becoming the first Aggie ever to earn the honor. In leading NM State to a 3-1 record to start the season, she averaged 3.80 kills on .478 hitting to go along with 0.60 blocks, 0.47 digs and 0.40 service aces per set. During the four matches, Murphy posted a career-high 16 kills twice, including in a five-set loss to No. 16 Arizona State, and had a career-high three service aces against Northeastern. She also hit a blazing .722 in a sweep of Montana.
Murphy is the 14th player in WAC history and the first since the 2007 season to receive the AVCA weekly honor.
WAC HAS 12 PLAYERS NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS
The WAC had 12 of its players named to all-tournament teams in the opening weekend of play, headlined by Seattle U's Jelena Vujcin, who was named MVP of the Molten Classic. Teammates Kerry Lane and Maja Stojanovic joined Vujcin on the all-tournament team. CSU Bakersfield's Luiza Martins was named to the all-tournament team at the San Francisco Invitational, while Elli Woinowsky of Chicago State earned all-tournament honors at the Women of Troy Baden Invitational. Natalie Tardy of Grand Canyon was named to the Nebraska Invite All-Tournament Team, while Missouri-Kansas City's Sydney Crimmins and Taryn Miller earned honors at the Redhawks Invitational. Gwen Murphy of NM State was named to the Falcon Classic All-Tournament Team, while UT Rio Grande Valley's Alexandra Ecker and Bojana Mitrovic earned all-tournament honors at the HBU Tournament. Finally, Utah Valley's Lauren Bakker was named to the Pepperdine Asics Classic All-Tournament Team.
WAC STAT LEADERS
After the first weekend of play, NM State leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.247), assists (12.00) and kills (13.20), while Seattle U is tops in opponent hitting percentage (.000), blocks (4.11) and service aces (3.00). Meanwhile, Missouri-Kansas City leads the league in digs (17.00).
Individually, NM State's Gwen Murphy leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.478), while UT Rio Grande Valley's Bojana Mitrovic is tops in kills (4.00) and points (4.95). Seattle U's Kerry Lane leads the league in assists (8.89), while teammates Kristin Schauble and Maja Stojanovic are tops in service aces (1.00) and blocks (2.11), respectively. UMKC's Taryn Miller leads the WAC in digs (4.82).
SEATTLE U OFF TO BEST DIVISION I START IN PROGRAM HISTORY
Seattle U is off to its best start as a Division I program after defeating Eastern Washington, Nevada and host California, all in straight sets, to win the Molten Classic title last weekend in Berkeley, Calif. The victory over Cal was Seattle U's first victory over a Pac-12 school in volleyball on its 25th attempt.
UTRGV'S DUNHAM RANKS IN FOUR PROGRAM CAREER CATEGORIES
UT Rio Grande Valley senior Haley Durham ranks in the Top 10 in four categories in the program career record books - blocks per set (0.80, first), hitting percentage (.233, fifth), total blocks (256, sixth) and blocks assists (205, seventh).
MISSOURI-KANSAS CITY FAVORED IN WAC PRESEASON POLL
The WAC coaches selected Missouri-Kansas City as the team to beat in 2015. The Kangaroos received four of the first-place votes and 45 total points to earn the top spot in the poll. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.
NM State earned two first-place votes and 40 total points, followed by Seattle U with one first-place vote and 37 points in third place. CSU Bakersfield was picked to finish fourth with 33 points and the other first-place vote, followed by Utah Valley in fifth with 28 points. Grand Canyon in sixth with 20 points, while The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and Chicago State round out the poll with 13 and eight points, respectively.
PRESEASON ALL-WAC
Utah Valley senior middle blocker Lauren Bakker was selected as the WAC Preseason Player of the Year for the second year in a row.
UMKC, NM State and Seattle U placed the most players on the preseason All-WAC team with three apiece, while CSU Bakersfield and Utah Valley had two each.
Joining Bakker on the team is teammate Macky Fifita, UMKC's Sydney Crimmins, Jessica Hendin and Taryn Miller, NM State's Nathalie Castellanos, Gwen Murphy and Bradley Nash, Seattle U's Matea Mamic, Martina Samadan and Jelena Vujcin, CSU Bakersfield's Luiza Martins and Kelsee Sawyer, and Grand Canyon's Natalie Tardy.
2015 WAC TOURNAMENT
The 2015 WAC Volleyball Tournament will be held Nov. 19-21 at the Swinney Recreation Center in Kansas City, Mo., and will include the top six eligible teams in the regular-season standings.
Thursday, Nov. 19 (First Round)
Match 1 - No. 6 seed vs. No. 3 seed, 5 p.m.
Match 2 - No. 5 seed vs. No. 4 seed, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 20 (Semifinals)
Match 3 - Winner Match 1 vs. No. 2 seed, 5 p.m.
Match 4 - Winner Match 2 vs. No. 1 seed, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 21 (Championship)
Match 5 - Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4, 5 p.m.
RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYERS
Of the seven first team All-WAC players in 2014, four return for the 2015 season, led by Preseason Player of the Year Lauren Bakker of Utah Valley. Also returning from the first team are Missouri-Kansas City's Sydney Crimmins and Taryn Miller, and Martina Samadan of Seattle U.
Four of the seven second team honorees return, including Nathalie Castellanos and Gwen Murphy of NM State, Luiza Martins of CSU Bakersfield and Utah Valley's Macky Fifita.
All six of the All-Freshman Team honorees a year ago return - Jordan Abalos and Sasha-Lee Thomas of NM State, Sydney Haynes of CSU Bakersfield, Natalie Tardy of Grand Canyon, Jelena Vujcin of Seattle U and Madison Dennison of Utah Valley.