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NM STATE'S SIERRA NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
NM State junior libero Ariadnne Sierra has been named Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 17-23. This is her first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor.
The El Paso, Texas, native set two career highs and averaged 6.12 digs, 1.12 service aces and 1.12 assists per set as the Aggies picked up a pair of key road wins last week to remain the only unbeaten team in WAC play. Sierra opened the week with a career-high 31 digs in a five-set win over Utah Valley. She also added five assists and three service aces. In a sweep of Seattle U on Saturday, she finished with 18 digs, a career-high six service aces and four assists to give the Aggies their 23rd consecutive WAC victory and a three-match lead in the WAC standings. Sierra, who entered the week averaging 4.54 digs and 0.29 service aces per set, now ranks third in the WAC in both digs (4.68) and service aces (0.36) per set.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Marina Sanches finished with 11 kills on .562 hitting and five blocks in a sweep of Grand Canyon ... Heidi Carpenter of Grand Canyon posted a double-double of 19 assists and 10 digs in a loss to CSUB ... UMKC's Madison Mosier finished with 11 kills on .458 hitting in a sweep of Chicago State ... Katarina Marinkovic of Seattle U averaged 4.62 kills, 2.25 digs, 0.62 blocks and 0.50 assists as the Redhawks went 1-1 on the week ... UT Rio Grande Valley's Ragni Steen Knudsen averaged 3.50 kills and 1.50 digs per set on the week ... Madison Dennison of Utah Valley averaged 2.70 kills, 1.10 blocks and 0.80 digs per set as the Wolverines went 1-1 on the week.
WAC STAT LEADERS
NM State currently leads the WAC in opponent hitting percentage (.154), assists (13.16) and kills (14.30), while UMKC is tops in hitting percentage (.256). Utah Valley leads the league in blocks (2.95), Seattle U is tops in service aces (1.65) and UT Rio Grande Valley leads the WAC in digs (16.40).
Individually, UMKC's Emma Hagedorn leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.449), while teammate Kaylyn Brandt leads the league in assists (10.85). CSU Bakersfield's Carol Grasso is tops in kills (3.87), service aces (0.55) and points (4.64), while Utah Valley's Madison Dennison leads the WAC in blocks (1.48) and teammate Nakisha Willden is tops in digs (5.11).
In WAC matches only, NM State leads the league in opponent hitting percentage (.132), assists (13.09) and kills (14.31), while UT Rio Grande Valley is tops in hitting percentage (.246) and digs (15.60). Utah Valley leads the league in blocks (2.92) and CSU Bakersfield is tops in service aces (2.00).
Individually in WAC matches, Hagedorn leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.474), while Brandt is tops in assists (10.77). Grasso leads the league in kills (4.19), service aces (0.90) and points (5.34), while UT Rio Grande Valley's Barbara Silva is tops in blocks (1.51) and Willden leads the league in digs (6.07).
NM STATE EXTENDS WAC WINNING STREAK TO 23 MATCHES
With a five-set win over Utah Valley and a sweep of Seattle U last week, NM State extended its WAC winning streak to 23 matches. Last season, the Aggies posted their first-ever unbeaten WAC record since joining the league in 2005. NM State's last WAC loss came on Nov. 15, 2014, a 3-1 defeat at UMKC.
UTAH VALLEY TIES PROGRAM RECORDS FOR FIVE SET MATCHES
With a five-set victory over UT Rio Grande Valley on Oct. 22, Utah Valley tied the program record for five-set victories in a season at the Division I level with five. The Wolverines also tied the program record for most five-set thrillers in a season with eight, as they are now 5-3 in 2016 in five-set matches, which includes a 3-2 mark in WAC play.
SEATTLE U'S MAMIC RECORDS 1,000TH CAREER KILL
Seattle U senior outside hitter Matea Mamic became the only active player in the WAC with 1,000 or more kills when she recorded her 1,000th career kill against NM State on Oct. 22. Mamic, who now has 1,003 career kills, is the third Redhawk in the Division I era (since 2008) to achieve the feat.
UTRGV OFF TO BEST START IN DIVISION I HISTORY
At 15-9, UT Rio Grande Valley is off to its best start at the Division I level. The Vaqueros have a minimum of seven 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.
UTRGV'S THREE-PRONGED ATTACK
UT Rio Grande Valley has three players averaging three or more kills per set in Ragni Steen Knudsen (3.75), Bojana Mitrovic (3.29) and Alisha Watson (3.11). Only three teams in the Top 25 - Texas, Florida and Ohio State - can say the same. There are only nine players in the WAC averaging at least three kills per set and only two other teams with multiple players (Grand Canyon and NM State).
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 322 digs. She is the only active player in the WAC with more than 1,000 career digs at 1,052.
UTRGV'S DACOSTA ON PACE TO ENTER RECORD BOOK FOR DIGS
UT Rio Grande Valley senior libero Fatoumata Dacosta currently ranks 15th nationally and leads the WAC with 451 digs. She has posted double-digit digs in all but three matches, has 20 or more digs in 10 of 24 matches and had a career-high 34 digs against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Oct. 11. With a minimum of seven 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 HOLDS BEST SEASON BLOCKING AVERAGE
UT Rio Grande Valley freshman middle blocker Barbara Silva is currently averaging 1.29 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.