Complete Release in PDF
NM STATE'S TOHM NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
NM State senior outside hitter Kassandra Tohm has been named Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 9-15. This is her first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor.
The Toronto, Ontario, Canada native led the Aggies to a pair of wins last week, averaging 4.57 kills on .373 hitting, 1.29 digs, 0.71 blocks and a WAC-best 5.00 points per set. Tohm opened the week with 11 kills, four digs and four blocks in a sweep of CSU Bakersfield last Thursday. She followed it up with a match-high 21 kills on .390 hitting to go with five digs in a four-set win over Grand Canyon on Saturday. Tohm's .390 hitting percentage is her best this season in four-set matches. In WAC play, Tohm ranks second in the league in kills per set (3.85), third in points per set (4.12) and sixth in hitting percentage (.287).
Other nominees included: Teagan DeFalco of Grand Canyon averaged 3.22 kills and 3.56 digs per set ... UT Rio Grande Valley's Bojana Mitrovic averaged 3.89 kills, 2.56 digs, 0.67 blocks and 4.28 points per set as the Vaqueros went 2-0 on the week ... Madison Dennison of Utah Valley averaged 3.00 kills on .400 hitting, 1.43 blocks and 4.00 points per set as the Wolverines went 2-0 on the week.
WAC STAT LEADERS
NM State leads the WAC in opponent hitting percentage (.129), assists (12.90) and kills (13.61), while UT Rio Grande Valley leads the league in hitting percentage (.224) and Utah Valley is tops in blocks (2.80). Grand Canyon leads the WAC in service aces (1.40) and CSU Bakersfield is tops in digs (17.71).
Individually, Chicago State's Lauryn Dela Cruz leads the WAC in kills (4.33) and points (4.64), while teammate Carmen Carvajal is tops in service aces (0.36). Kansas City's Emma Dyer leads the league in hitting percentage (.329), while Utah Valley's Sierra Starley is tops in assists (10.10) and teammate Madison Dennison is tops in blocks (1.62). CSU Bakersfield's Emily Lopes leads the WAC in digs (5.91).
In WAC matches only, NM State leads the league in opponent hitting percentage (.117), assists (12.88) and kills (13.54), while CSU Bakersfield is tops in service aces (1.68) and digs (17.56). UT Rio Grande Valley leads the hitting percentage (.250), while Utah Valley is tops in blocks (3.00).
Individually in WAC matches, Utah Valley's Lexi Thompson is tops in kills (3.86) and points (4.27), while NM State's Sasha-Lee Thomas leads the league in hitting percentage (.405). UT Rio Grande Valley's Dubravka Vukoja is tops in assists (10.61), while Seattle U's Anna Palmer leads the league in service aces (0.43). Dennison leads the WAC in blocks (1.82) and Lopes is tops in digs (6.24).
UTRGV SITS ATOP WAC STANDINGS FOR FIRST TIME IN PROGRAM HISTORY
With a pair of victories last week combined with a pair of CSU Bakersfield losses, UT Rio Grande Valley now sits atop the WAC standings with a 6-1 mark midway through WAC play. In their fourth year in the league, the Vaqueros have never before held sole possession of first place. UTRGV has also won eight straight home matches and is 8-0 at home for the first time in its NCAA Division I history.
CSUB'S HAYNES SURPASSES 1,000-POINT PLATEAU
CSU Bakersfield senior middle blocker Sydney Haynes became the fifth active player in the WAC to surpass 1,000 career points on Oct. 14 at UT Rio Grande Valley. Haynes now has 1,005 career points.
UTRGV'S ZAYAS POSTS FIFTH-HIGHEST SINGLE-MATCH DIGS
UT Rio Grande Valley junior Gysell Zayas posted a career-high 38 digs in a five-set win over Grand Canyon on Oct. 12. It was the fifth-highest single-match total in UTRGV Division I program history and the highest total since Oct. 27, 2004, when Carol Marengo had 42 digs against UTSA.
VAQUEROS' MITROVIC RECORDS 1,000TH KILL AT UTRGV
In her team's loss at Seattle U on Oct. 7, UT Rio Grande Valley senior Bojana Mitrovic recorded her 1,000th kill in a UTRGV uniform to become the only active player in the WAC to surpass the 1,000-kill plateau. She now has 1,043 kills in her three seasons with the school to rank eighth all-time, 13 shy of seventh place. At her current pace, Mitrovic would finish her career ranked fifth all-time at UTRGV. She had 372 kills as a freshman at UT Brownsville.
NM STATE'S THOMAS POSTS 1,000TH CAREER POINT
In a win over Seattle U on Oct. 5, NM State senior middle blocker Sasha-Lee Thomas recorded her 1,000th career point. She now has 1,052 career points.
THREE UTRGV BLOCKERS IN PROGRAM CAREER TOP 10
UT Rio Grande Valley currently has three players that rank in the top 10 in the program career record books for total blocks. Alexandra Ecker ranks seventh (264), Bojana Mitrovic is ninth (203) and Barbara Silva is 10th (198).
UVU'S DENNISON RECORDS 500TH CAREER BLOCK
The nation's leader in blocks, Utah Valley senior middle blocker Madison Dennison became just the second player in Utah Valley history to join the 500-career block plateau with 10 blocks against UT Rio Grande Valley on Oct. 5. Dennison now has a total of 517 career blocks and sits 62 back of program leader Lauren Bakker's 579. Earlier this season she surpassed 1,000 career points and she is also approaching 1,000 kills, as she has 875 on her career.
CSUB'S LOPES POSTS SECOND-MOST PROGRAM DIGS IN MATCHES
CSU Bakersfield senior libero Emily Lopes finished with 25 digs in a sweep of Seattle U on Sept. 28. It was the second-most in CSUB history for a three-set match. On Sept. 30, she posted 35 digs in a five-set win over Utah Valley. That was the second-most in a five-set match in Roadrunner history.
NM STATE'S SIERRA MOVING UP DIGS CHART
NM State senior libero Ariadnne Sierra currently ranks sixth all-time in career digs at NM State with 1,225. The WAC's active career digs leader, she only needs 56 digs to move into fourth place.
CSUB'S HAYNES MOVING UP CAREER BLOCKS CHARTS
CSU Bakersfield senior middle blocker Sydney Haynes has 237 block assists on her career, good for sixth place all-time and 35 shy of fifth. She also has 259 total blocks on her career, good for seventh all-time at CSUB and three shy of sixth place.