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CSU BAKERSFIELD'S GRASSO NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
CSU Bakersfield senior outside hitter Carol Grasso has been named Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 10-16. This is her first WAC Player of the Week honor of the season and the second of her career.
The São Paulo, Brazil, native posted her ninth and 10th double-doubles of the season and averaged 3.70 kills, 3.60 digs and 1.10 service aces per set last week. Grasso opened the week with 17 kills, a season-high 22 digs, four service aces and two blocks in a five-set loss to Utah Valley. On Saturday, she nearly posted a triple-double, finishing with 20 kills on .310 hitting, 14 digs and a career-high-tying seven service aces in a win over Seattle U. The seven aces tied the program Division I record. Grasso currently leads the WAC in points (4.61), kills (3.86) and service aces (0.55) per set.
Other nominees included: Grand Canyon's Heidi Carpenter averaged 7.00 assists, 2.11 digs and 0.78 service aces per set last week ... Emma Hagedorn of UMKC averaged 2.75 kills on .559 hitting and 0.75 blocks per set ... NM State's Sasha-Lee Thomas averaged 2.83 kills on .323 hitting and 1.33 blocks per set last week ... Ragni Steen Knudsen of UT Rio Grande Valley averaged 4.64 kills, 1.55 digs and 0.45 service aces per set as the Vaqueros went 3-0 on the week ... Utah Valley's Kelcee Munk averaged 9.56 assists, 2.11 digs, 1.00 blocks and 0.33 service aces per set.
WAC STAT LEADERS
NM State currently leads the WAC in opponent hitting percentage (.153), assists (13.12) and kills (14.25), while UMKC is tops in hitting percentage (.253). Utah Valley leads the league in blocks (3.04), Seattle U is tops in service aces (1.69) and UT Rio Grande Valley leads the WAC in digs (16.67).
Individually, UMKC's Emma Hagedorn leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.451), while teammate Kaylyn Brandt leads the league in assists (10.78). CSU Bakersfield's Carol Grasso is tops in kills (3.86), service aces (0.55) and points (4.61), while Utah Valley's Madison Dennison leads the WAC in blocks (1.53) and teammate Nakisha Willden is tops in digs (5.10).
In WAC matches only, UT Rio Grande Valley leads the league in hitting percentage (.252) and assists (13.20), while NM State is tops in opponent hitting percentage (.125) and kills (14.19). Utah Valley leads the league in blocks (3.13) and digs (16.23), and Seattle U is tops in service aces (2.00).
Individually in WAC matches, Hagedorn leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.480), while Grasso is tops in kills (4.21), service aces (0.93) and points (5.34). Brandt leads the league in assists (10.57), while Dennison is tops in blocks (1.57) and Willden leads the league in digs (6.37).
SEATTLE U'S MAMIC FIVE KILLS SHY OF 1,000 ON HER CAREER
Seattle U senior outside hitter Matea Mamic currently has 995 kills on her career. She looks to become the only active player in the WAC and just the seventh player in Seattle U Division I history with 1,000 career kills. Mamic has 282 kills this season and currently leads the Redhawks and ranks fourth in the WAC with 3.71 kills per set.
UTRGV OFF TO BEST START IN DIVISION I HISTORY
At 15-7, UT Rio Grande Valley is off to its best start at the Division I level. The Vaquero have a minimum of nine matches remaining this season and need just four more victories to tie the program Division I record for wins at 19 (1996, 2003). UTRGV has five conference wins for the first time in its Division I history.
NM STATE EXTENDS WAC WIN STREAK TO 21 MATCHES
With a come-from-behind five-set win over UMKC and a sweep of Chicago State last week, NM State extended its WAC winning streak to 21 matches. The Aggies went 14-0 in WAC play last season, their first-ever unbeaten conference record since joining the WAC in 2005. NM State's last WAC loss came on Nov. 15, 2014, a 3-1 defeat at UMKC.
UTRGV'S THREE-PRONGED ATTACK
UT Rio Grande Valley has three players averaging three or more kills per set in Ragni Steen Knudsen (3.78), Bojana Mitrovic (3.43) and Alisha Watson (3.11). Only three teams in the Top 25 - Texas, Florida and Ohio State - can say the same. There are only eight players in the WAC averaging at least three kills per set and only one other team with multiple players (Grand Canyon).
SEATTLE U'S IVANIS RECORDS 1,000TH CAREER DIG
Seattle U senior libero Iris Ivanis recorded her 1,000th career dig in the fourth set of the Redhawks' loss at Utah Valley on Oct. 8. The Pozega, Croatia, native transitioned to libero this season currently and leads Seattle U and ranks fourth in the WAC with 296 digs. She is the only active player in the WAC with more than 1,000 career digs.
UTRGV'S DACOSTA ON PACE TO ENTER RECORD BOOK FOR DIGS
UT Rio Grande Valley senior libero Fatoumata Dacosta currently ranks 17th nationally and leads the WAC with 413 digs. She has posted double-digit digs in all but three matches, has 20 or more digs in nine of 22 matches and had a career-high 34 digs against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Oct. 11. With a minimum of nine matches remaining this season, at her current pace she would finish the season with 582 digs, good for second all-time in program history and ninth in the WAC record books.
CHICAGO STATE WINS FIRST-EVER WAC MATCH
Chicago State came back from a two-set deficit to capture its first WAC victory in program history on Oct. 6 with a 3-2 win over Grand Canyon. The win snapped a 47-match losing streak in WAC play dating back to the 2013 season and marked the Cougars' first conference win since Nov. 12, 2011, when the team posted a 3-2 victory at NJIT as a member of the Great West Conference.
UTRGV'S SILVA CURRENTLY HOLDS BEST SEASON BLOCKING AVERAGE
UT Rio Grande Valley freshman middle blocker Barbara Silva is currently averaging 1.26 blocks per set, the best single-season average in program history. Sophomore teammate Alexandra Ecker is close behind in third place with 1.08 blocks per set.
UTAH VALLEY POSTS 20 BLOCKS AGAINST CSUN
In a Sept. 17 five-set battle against CSUN, Utah Valley recorded 20 blocks against the Matadors, the second highest output in program history and one shy of the record of 21. Junior middle blocker Madison Dennison led Utah Valley at the net, putting up a career-high 12 blocks in the contest.
UTRGV'S WATSON APPROACHING 1,000 CAREER KILLS
UT Rio Grande Valley senior right side hitter Alisha Watson currently has 941 career kills, good for eighth place all-time in program history. She looks to become just the seventh player in program history to surpass 1,000 career kills. Watson also ranks fourth all-time in career service aces (114), seventh in service aces per set (0.29) and eighth in block assists (150).
UTAH VALLEY'S DENNISON POSTS CAREER HIGH 12 BLOCKS
Utah Valley preseason All-WAC selection Madison Dennison posted the first two double-doubles of her career for the Wolverines with a 12-kill, 10-block outing against Utah State on Sept. 13 and a 12-kill, 12-block performance against CSUN on Sept. 17. Dennison's 12-block outing against the Matadors was a new career high and a WAC season high.
UTRGV'S WATSON SURPASSES 1,000 CAREER POINTS
UT Rio Grande Valley senior right side hitter Alisha Watson tallied her 1,000th career point on Sept. 17 against Florida Gulf Coast. She now has 1,139 points during her four years with the program. Watson is one of just two active players in the WAC with more than 1,000 career points.