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SEATTLE U'S HARRIS NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Seattle U junior setter Shae Harris has been named Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 16-22. This is her first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor.
The Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada native led the Redhawks to a thrilling five-set road win at Utah Valley last week, Seattle U's first-ever victory in Orem. Harris matched her personal and program Division I record with 62 assists for the second time this season, which also stands as the highest total this year in the WAC. She also added eight kills on 11 attempts with zero errors for a .727 attack percentage to go along with four digs and five blocks. The setter was instrumental in Seattle U's 6-0 fifth-set rally that clinched the win. Her kill to make it 8-6 began the run of points, and she served six straight times, while also dishing up a pair of assists. Harris set the assist to Katarina Marinkovic for the match-winning point as the Redhawks won in Utah for the first time in six tries.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Haylee Roberts averaged 2.50 kills on .500 hitting and 0.67 blocks per set as the Roadrunners went 2-0 on the week ... Claire Kovensky of Grand Canyon averaged 3.86 kills on .323 hitting, 2.29 digs and 0.71 blocks per set as the Lopes went 2-0 on the week ... Kansas City's Alicia Harrington averaged 3.17 kills and 2.50 digs per set on the week ... Ariadnne Sierra of NM State averaged 6.57 digs, 1.29 assists and 0.57 service aces per set as the Aggies went 2-0 on the week ... UT Rio Grande Valley's Bojana Mitrovic posted a double-double of 14 kills and 11 digs in a loss to NM State ... Madison Dennison of Utah Valley posted a rare 10-kill, 10-block double-double in a five-set loss to Seattle U.
WAC STAT LEADERS
NM State leads the WAC in opponent hitting percentage (.122), assists (13.00) and kills (13.71), while Utah Valley is tops in hitting percentage (.222) and blocks (2.84). Grand Canyon leads the WAC in service aces (1.39) and CSU Bakersfield is tops in digs (17.29).
Individually, Chicago State's Lauryn Dela Cruz leads the WAC in kills (4.31) and points (4.59), while teammates Lacee Adams and Carmen Carvajal are tops in assists (10.16) and service aces (0.37), respectively. Seattle U's Maja Stojanovic leads the league in hitting percentage (.333), while Utah Valley's Madison Dennison is tops in blocks (1.64) and CSU Bakersfield's Emily Lopes leads the WAC in digs (5.78).
In WAC matches only, NM State leads the league in hitting percentage (.232), opponent hitting percentage (.103) and assists (12.80), while CSU Bakersfield is tops in kills (13.61) and service aces (1.81). Utah Valley leads the league in blocks (3.09) and UT Rio Grande Valley is tops in digs (17.48).
Individually in WAC matches, NM State's Kassandra Tohm leads the league in kills (3.87) and points (4.12), while Utah Valley's Dennison is tops in hitting percentage (.348) and blocks (1.85). UT Rio Grande Valley's Dubravka Vukoja is tops in assists (10.35), while CSU Bakersfield's Aleksandra Djordjevic leads the league in service aces (0.47) and teammate Lopes is tops in digs (5.81).
NM STATE EXTENDS HOME WIN STREAK TO 11 MATCHES
With a four-set win over UT Rio Grande Valley on Oct. 21, NM State extended its home winning streak to 11. After starting the season 0-2 at the Pan American Center, the Aggies have won each match since falling to No. 11 UCLA and have only dropped three sets in the process.
CSUB'S LOPES MOVING UP SEASON DIGS CHART
CSU Bakersfield libero Emily Lopes currently leads the WAC with 497 digs this season, which ranks sixth in CSUB Division I history. With a minimum of five matches remaining, at her current pace Lopes would finish the season with 621 digs, good for fifth place all-time in WAC history.
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 Marcengo had 42 digs against UTSA.
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 1,017 career points.
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 1,057 kills in her three seasons with the school to rank seventh all-time, 19 shy of sixth 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.
CSUB'S ROBERTS MOVING UP SINGLE-SEASON BLOCKS CHART
With 78 total blocks this season, CSU Bakersfield senior middle blocker Haylee Roberts ranks fifth in CSUB's Division I single-season history. She is on pace to finish tied for fourth.
UVU'S DENNISON RECORDS 500TH CAREER BLOCK
The nation's leader in blocks, Utah Valley senior middle blocker Madison Dennison became just the second Wolverine to join the 500-career block plateau with 10 blocks against UT Rio Grande Valley on Oct. 5. Dennison now has a total of 527 career blocks and sits 52 shy of program leader Lauren Bakker's 579. Earlier this season Dennison surpassed 1,000 career points and she is also approaching 1,000 kills, as she has 885 on her career.
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 1,076 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 (270), Bojana Mitrovic is ninth (203) and Barbara Silva is 10th (202). Ecker also ranks third in blocks assists (248), while Mitrovic is ninth (187) and Silva is 10th (186).
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 1,271. The WAC's active career digs leader, she only needs 10 digs to move into fourth place.
CSUB'S HAYNES MOVING UP CAREER BLOCKS CHARTS
CSU Bakersfield senior middle blocker Sydney Haynes has 241 block assists on her career, good for sixth place all-time and 31 shy of fifth. She also has 263 total blocks on her career, also good for sixth all-time at CSUB.
CHICAGO STATE OPENS WAC PLAY 1-1 FOR FIRST TIME EVER
After dropping its WAC opener to CSU Bakersfield, Chicago State defeated Grand Canyon in four sets to open WAC play 1-1 for the first time as a member of the conference. In addition, the Cougars have produced their first 10-plus win season since 2004.
GCU'S TARDY RECORDS 1,000TH POINT
Grand Canyon senior Natalie Tardy recorded her 1,000th career point in the Lopes' loss to Chicago State on Saturday, Sept. 23. Tardy now has 1,071 career points.
UTRGV PICKS UP FIRST-EVER HOME WIN OVER NM STATE
In a clash of champions, reigning WAC Tournament champion UTRGV knocked off two-time defending WAC regular-season champion NM State in five sets on Sept. 23. It was the Vaqueros' first home win over NM State.
CSUB'S ROBERTS POSTS SIXTH-BEST HITTING PERCENTAGE
Senior middle blocker Haylee Roberts, a native of Bakersfield, led the ‘Runners with a match-high 16 kills on 24 swings with just two errors for a .583 hitting in a sweep of San Francisco on Sept. 15. It ranks as the sixth-best hitting percentage in CSUB single-match history.
CHICAGO STATE BREAKS SEVERAL PROGRAM RECORDS
When it won the EIU Panther Classic on Sept. 9, Chicago State set school Division I records for the longest winning streak (six) and the best start to a Division I season (7-3). CSU also won its first DI tournament since capturing the Youngstown State Invitational in 2004.
KANSAS CITY MARKS TWO MILESTONES DURING KANGAROO KLASSIC
Kansas City notched two milestones during the Kangaroo Klassic Sept. 8-9. The team picked up its first-ever win against Northern Iowa and also posted its first-ever win over a Big Ten school when it swept Rutgers.
UTRGV'S MITROVIC SURPASSES 1,000 CAREER POINTS
UT Rio Grande Valley right side hitter Bojana Mitrovic posted her 1,000th career point in the Vaqueros' four-set loss to Loyola Marymount on Sept 2. She now has 1,215 points. Mitrovic's career totals come from just three seasons at UTRGV, as the senior played her first season at UT Brownsville.
KANSAS CITY HEAD COACH POSEY EARNS 100TH CAREER VICTORY
Kansas City Head Coach Christi Posey recorded her 100th career victory with a sweep of Marshall on Aug. 26. In her seventh year at the helm, Posey has a 105-91 (.536) career record. She is 39-28 (.582) in WAC play.
UVU FACING TOUGH COMPETITION AT HOME
Utah Valley welcomed three nationally ranked programs to Orem this season. It opened its home slate against No. 9 Kansas, the highest ranked team it has ever hosted at the NCAA Division I level. The Wolverines also faced No. 16 Utah and No. 14 BYU. It is the second-most ranked opponents the Wolverines have ever hosted in a single season after welcoming four to town in 2009. Utah Valley holds a 1-11 all-time record over nationally ranked opponents in Orem, which includes a 3-1 upset victory over No. 17 Utah on Sept. 4, 2009.
UTRGV POSTS SECOND-MOST BLOCKS VS. SAINT LOUIS
In a four-set win over Saint Louis on Aug. 26, UTRGV recorded 38 block assists, the second-highest single-match total in NCAA Division I program history. The team also finished with 39 total blocks, also the second-highest total. Freshman Veronika Jandova came up with a match-high nine blocks, juniors Alexandra Ecker and Dubravka Vukoja posted eight blocks each, senior Bojana Mitrovic finished with seven blocks and junior Ragni Steen Knudsen had a career-high six blocks.
WAC TOURNAMENT
The 2017 WAC Volleyball Tournament will be held Nov. 16-18 at the UTRGV Field House in Edinburg, Texas, and will include the top six teams in the regular-season standings.
2017 WAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Thursday, Nov. 16 (First Round)
Match 1 - No. 6 seed vs. No. 3 seed, 4:30 p.m.
Match 2 - No. 5 seed vs. No. 4 seed, 7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 17 (Semifinals)
Match 3 - Winner Match 1 vs. No. 2 seed, 4:30 p.m.
Match 4 - Winner Match 2 vs. No. 1 seed, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 18 (Championship)
Match 5 - Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4, 7 p.m.