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NM STATE'S BATTLE NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
NM State junior outside hitter Tatyana Battle has been named Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 30-Nov. 5. This is her first WAC Player of the Week honor of the season and the second of her career.
The Albuquerque, N.M. native led the Aggies to 2-0 record last week, averaging 5.08 points, 4.17 digs, 4.00 kills, 0.83 blocks and 0.50 service aces per set. Battle posted back-to-back double-doubles to double her season total. She opened the week with 10 kills, 15 digs and two blocks in a sweep of Utah Valley. Battle then followed it up with a match-high 14 kills, 10 digs, three blocks and a match-high three service aces in a sweep of Seattle U to keep the Aggies in sole possession of first place in the WAC standings with one week left in the regular season. She currently ranks ninth in the WAC in kills (3.13) and 10th in points (3.54).
Other nominees included: Haylee Roberts of CSU Bakersfield had 18 kills on .421 hitting and four blocks in a four-set win over Grand Canyon ... Kansas City's Alicia Harrington had 13 kills on .367 hitting, three digs and two service aces in a sweep of Chicago State ... Barbara Silva of UT Rio Grande Valley averaged 4.38 kills, 0.88 digs and 0.62 blocks as the Vaqueros went 2-0 on the week ... Utah Valley's Lexi Thompson averaged 4.33 kills and 3.33 digs on the week.
WAC STAT LEADERS
NM State leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.225), opponent hitting percentage (.126), assists (13.16), kills (13.91) and digs (16.91), while Utah Valley is tops in and blocks (2.93) and CSU Bakersfield leads the WAC in service aces (1.38).
Individually, Chicago State's Lauryn Dela Cruz leads the WAC in kills (4.10) and points (4.37), while teammates Lacee Adams and Carmen Carvajal are tops in assists (10.21) and service aces (0.35), respectively. Utah Valley's Madison Dennison leads the league in hitting percentage (.309) and blocks (1.65) and CSU Bakersfield's Emily Lopes leads the WAC in digs (5.59).
In WAC matches only, NM State leads the league in hitting percentage (.251), opponent hitting percentage (.117), assists (13.21) and kills (13.98). Meanwhile, Utah Valley is tops in blocks (3.21), CSU Bakersfield leads the league in service aces (1.74) and UT Rio Grande Valley is tops in digs (16.39).
Individually in WAC matches, NM State's Kassandra Tohm leads the league in kills (3.98) and points (4.20), while teammate Sasha-Lee Thomas is tops in hitting percentage (.328). UT Rio Grande Valley's Dubravka Vukoja is tops in assists (10.35), while Utah Valley's Dennison leads the WAC in blocks (1.82). CSU Bakersfield's Aleksandra Djordjevic leads the league in service aces (0.53) and teammate Lopes is tops in digs (5.36).
WITH TWO MATCHES REMAINING IN REGULAR SEASON, NO SEEDS SET FOR WAC TOURNAMENT
With two regular-season matches remaining for each team, no seeds have been set yet for the upcoming WAC Tournament. One win separates the top four teams in the standings, while Kansas City and Seattle U are tied for fifth place. Grand Canyon could also still earn a spot in the tournament.
NM STATE EXTENDS HOME WIN STREAK TO 13 MATCHES
With a pair of sweeps last weekend, NM State extended its home winning streak to 13. 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.
UTAH VALLEY'S 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 now has 1,020.
CSUB'S LOPES MOVING UP SEASON DIGS CHART
CSU Bakersfield libero Emily Lopes currently leads the WAC with 542 digs this season, which ranks fifth in CSUB Division I history. With a minimum of three matches remaining, at her current pace Lopes would finish the season with 602 digs, which would rank eighth all-time in WAC history.
UTRGV FINISHES REGULAR SEASON WITH PERFECT HOME MARK
After defeating Seattle U and Utah Valley last weekend, 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 has now 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 now has 1,045 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 1,114 kills in her three seasons with the school to rank fifth all-time, 61 shy of fourth place. She had 372 kills as a freshman at UT Brownsville.
CSUB'S ROBERTS MOVING UP SINGLE-SEASON BLOCKS CHART
With 90 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 third in program history.
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 548 career blocks and sits 31 shy of program leader Lauren Bakker's 579. She also has 507 career block assists, five shy of Bakker's all-time record. Earlier this season Dennison surpassed 1,000 career points and she is also approaching 1,000 kills, as she has 915 on her career, good for fifth in UVU Division I history.
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 sixth (288), while Bojana Mitrovic and Barbara Silva are tied for 10th (210). Ecker also ranks second in blocks assists (264), while Mitrovic is ninth (194) and Silva is 10th (192).
NM STATE'S SIERRA MOVING UP DIGS CHART
NM State senior libero Ariadnne Sierra currently ranks fourth all-time in career digs at NM State with 1,330. The WAC's active career digs leader, she needs 86 digs to enter the all-time WAC Top 10.
CSUB'S HAYNES MOVING UP CAREER BLOCKS CHARTS
CSU Bakersfield senior middle blocker Sydney Haynes has 252 block assists on her career, good for sixth place all-time and 20 shy of fifth. She also has 275 total blocks on her career, also good for sixth all-time at CSUB.
NM STATE FAVORED IN WAC PRESEASON POLL
The WAC coaches selected NM State to win the WAC regular-season crown in 2017. The Aggies received six of the first-place votes and 48 total points to earn the top spot in the poll. Reigning WAC Tournament champion UT Rio Grande Valley finished in second place with 39 points, edging out Utah Valley, which earned the other two first-place votes and 37 total points. Kansas City was fourth with 31 points, while CSU Bakersfield and Seattle U tied for fifth place with 24 points. Grand Canyon and Chicago State rounded out the poll with 14 and seven points, respectively.
2017 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.
2017 NCAA TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
The NCAA Division I bracket (64-team field) will be announced at 9 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, Nov. 26, on ESPNU. First & Second Round competition will be held Nov. 30-Dec. 2 on 16 non-predetermined campus sites. At each campus site, four teams will compete in single-elimination competition. The two winning teams then compete against each other in second round competition at the same campus site. The winning team from each of the 16 second rounds advances to the Regionals, which will be held Dec. 8-9 at non-predetermined sites. At each site, four teams compete in Regional Semifinal competition. The two winning teams then compete against each other in Regional Final competition at the same site. The winning team from each of the Regionals advances to the championship final in Kansas City, Mo. The 2017 NCAA Division I Championship will be held at the Sprint Center. The National Semifinals will be held Dec. 14 and the National Championship will take place Dec. 16.