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CSU BAKERSFIELD TO FACE NO. 3 SEED STANFORD IN NCAA TOURNAMENT
CSU Bakersfield will travel to Palo Alto, Calif., to face No. 3 seed Stanford in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at 7 p.m. (PT) this Friday, Dec. 1. The Roadrunners (19-13), earned the WAC's automatic bid by winning the WAC Tournament as the No. 4 seed. CSUB has five players that average two or more kills, including second team All-WAC honorees Haylee Roberts and Sydney Haynes, who average 2.48 and 2.41 kills per set, respectively. WAC Tournament MVP Aleksandra Djordjevic adds 2.04 kills and 2.88 digs per set.
Stanford (26-3) earned the automatic bid out of the Pac-12 Conference and is the No. 3 overall seed. The reigning national champions, the Cardinal are led by Kathryn Plummer, who averages 4.70 kills per set. Audriana Fitzmorris and Tami Alade average 1.46 and 1.43 blocks per set, respectively.
In the other match, Colorado State (28-3) faces Michigan (21-11) at 4:30 p.m. (PT) Friday. The Rams earned the automatic bid out of the Mountain West Conference, while the Wolverines earned an at-large bid out of the Big Ten Conference.
CSU BAKERSFIELD WINS WAC TOURNAMENT TITLE
CSU Bakersfield defeated No. 5-seed Seattle U (25-21, 25-22, 25-17) in the first round before upsetting top-seeded NM State (25-22, 25-20, 20-25, 25-17) in the semifinals and handing UT Rio Grande Valley (25-27, 25-18, 30-28, 25-18) its only home loss of the season in the championship match to earn its second WAC Tournament title in the last four years. Aleksandra Djordjevic was named tournament MVP after posting double-doubles in all three matches and averaging 3.27 kills and 3.00 digs per set.
All-Tournament Team
Fabiana Andrade, CSU Bakersfield
Madison Dennison, Utah Valley
Aleksandra Djordjevic, CSU Bakersfield (MVP)
Sydney Haynes, CSU Bakersfield
Ragni Steen Knudsen, UT Rio Grande Valley
Bojana Mitrovic, UT Rio Grande Valley
WAC STAT LEADERS
NM State leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.233), opponent hitting percentage (.139), assists (13.18), kills (13.94) and digs (16.79), while Utah Valley is tops in and blocks (2.98) and CSU Bakersfield leads the WAC in service aces (1.49).
Individually, Chicago State's Lauryn Dela Cruz leads the WAC in kills (4.08) and points (4.35), while teammate Lacee Adams is tops in assists (10.38). Utah Valley's Madison Dennison leads the league in hitting percentage (.328) and blocks (1.65), while CSU Bakersfield's Fabiana Andrade is tops in service aces (0.38) and teammate Emily Lopes leads the WAC in digs (5.35).
In WAC matches only, NM State led the league in hitting percentage (.256), opponent hitting percentage (.132), assists (13.34), kills (14.12) and digs (16.34). Meanwhile, Utah Valley was tops in blocks (3.16) and CSU Bakersfield led the league in service aces (1.64).
Individually in WAC matches, NM State's Kassandra Tohm led the league in kills (3.98) and points (4.20), while Dennison was tops in hitting percentage (.329) and blocks (1.77). UT Rio Grande Valley's Dubravka Vukoja was tops in assists (10.45), while CSU Bakersfield's Aleksandra Djordjevic led the league in service aces (0.43) and teammate Lopes was tops in digs (5.18).
NM STATE'S NEAL NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
NM State's Kaylee Neal earned College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) first team Academic All-District VII honors. The senior libero boasts a perfect 4.00 grade-point average in accounting. The Gilbert, Ariz., native started nine matches this season and is averaging 1.56 digs per set. Neal has also tallied 10 service aces this season. As a first team selection, Neal advances to the national ballot where she is up for Academic All-America consideration.
CSUB'S ROBERTS BECOMES PROGRAM SINGLE-SEASON BLOCKS LEADER
During the championship match of the WAC Tournament, CSU Bakersfield senior middle blocker Haylee Roberts set the program single-season records for block assists (101) and total blocks (109). Teammate Sydney Haynes currently ranks fourth in total blocks with 98.
UVU'S DENNISON BECOMES PROGRAM BLOCK ASSISTS LEADER
The nation's leader in blocks, Utah Valley senior middle blocker Madison Dennison became Utah Valley's all-time leader in block assists on Nov. 11. She closed out her career with 531 career block assists. Dennison also had a total of 572 career blocks, seven shy of program leader Lauren Bakker's 579 and good for fifth all-time in WAC history. Earlier this season Dennison surpassed 1,000 career points and she finished her career with 976 kills, good for fifth place in UVU Division I history.
NM STATE'S SIERRA MOVING UP DIGS CHART
NM State senior libero Ariadnne Sierra closed out her career ranked fourth all-time in career digs at NM State with 1,388. The WAC's active career digs leader, she ranks tied for eighth all-time in the WAC record books with a 5.18 digs per set average on her career.
UTRGV'S ECKER BECOMES PROGRAM BLOCK ASSISTS LEADER
UT Rio Grande Valley junior middle blocker Alexandra Ecker became the program career block assists leader during the WAC Tournament when she recorded her 275th block assist to surpass Haley Durham (2012-15). Ecker now has 285 on her career. She also has 309 total blocks, good for fifth place all-time in program Division I history. Teammates Barbara Silva (217) and Bojana Mitrovic (199) rank ninth and 11th, respectively, in block assists, while Silva is 10th (230) and Mitrovic is 11th (217) in total blocks.
CSUB'S LOPES MOVING UP SEASON DIGS CHART
CSU Bakersfield libero Emily Lopes currently leads the WAC with 621 digs this season, which ranks fifth in both CSUB Division I history and WAC history. She is 34 digs shy of fourth place in WAC history.
GCU'S TARDY RECORDS 1,000TH CAREER KILL IN FINAL MATCH
Grand Canyon senior outside hitter Natalie Tardy recorded her 1,000th career kill in her final match on Saturday, Nov. 11, to become the sixth member of GCU's 1,000-kill club. Tardy closed out her career with exactly 1,000 career kills.
THOMPSON BECOMES SECOND CURRENT WOLVERINE WITH 1,000 POINTS
On Nov. 2 at NM State, Utah Valley senior outside hitter Lexi Thompson recorded her 1,000th career point, joining teammate Madison Dennison as a member of the 1,000-point club. Thompson is the seventh active player in the WAC to surpass 1,000 points and closed out her career with 1,078.
UTRGV FINISHES REGULAR SEASON WITH PERFECT HOME MARK
UT Rio Grande Valley finished the regular-season a perfect 10-0 at home. Against the Redhawks, it was the first time since Sept. 16, 2016 that the Vaqueros came back from an 0-2 deficit to pull off a 3-2 win. UTRGV won a program record nine WAC matches.
NMSU'S BATTLE BECOMES SECOND CURRENT AGGIE WITH 1,000 POINTS
In her team's three-set win over Chicago State on Oct. 28, NM State junior outside hitter Tatyana Battle recorded her 1,000th career point, joining teammate Sasha-Lee Thomas as a member of the 1,000-point club. Battle is the sixth active player in the WAC to surpass 1,000 points, but the sole junior on the list. She has 1,092 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 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 1,119 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 closed out her career with 1,159 kills in her three seasons with the school to rank fifth all-time, 16 shy of fourth place. She had 372 kills as a freshman at UT Brownsville.
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.
CSUB'S HAYNES MOVING UP CAREER BLOCKS CHARTS
CSU Bakersfield senior middle blocker Sydney Haynes has 264 block assists on her career, good for sixth place all-time in the Roadrunner record books, eight shy of fifth place. She also has 288 total blocks on her career, also good for sixth all-time at CSUB.