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CSU BAKERSFIELD FALLS TO NO. 3 SEED STANFORD IN NCAA TOURNAMENT
CSU Bakersfield saw its season come to an end with a sweep (25-11, 25-15, 25-17) at No. 3-seed Stanford in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Roadrunners finish the season 19-14.
CSUB was out-hit .417 to .011 on the match. The Cardinal also out-blocked the ‘Runners 15.5-1.
Aleksandra Djordjevic led the ‘Runners with seven kills and nine digs. Sidney Hicks dished out 13 assists, while Fabiana Andrade finished with 10.
Emily Lopes finished with eight digs on the night to finish the season with 629, good for third place all-time in the CSUB Division I record books and fifth in WAC history.
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
ALL-WAC TEAMS ANNOUNCED
The 2017 WAC volleyball award winners, as selected by the league's eight head coaches, were announced at the WAC Tournament banquet. NM State senior outside hitter Kassandra Tohm was named WAC Player of the Year, while Seattle U's Shae Harris was named Setter of the Year. Meanwhile, NM State's Ariadnne Sierra repeated as Libero of the Year, Grand Canyon's Claire Kovensky was named WAC Freshman of the Year and NM State's Mike Jordan was named WAC Coach of the Year.
Tohm earned WAC Player of the Year honors after leading the league in kills (3.98) and points (4.20) and ranking seventh in hitting percentage (.283) in WAC matches. She earned her first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor this season.
Sierra repeated as WAC Libero of the Year after averaging 5.08 digs and 0.86 assists per set in WAC play. She posted double-digit digs in all 14 WAC matches, with 20 or more digs six times.
Harris earned WAC Setter of the Year honors after averaging 9.30 assists per set in conference play. She posted three double-doubles in WAC matches and was named WAC Player of the Week once during the season.
Kovensky earned WAC Freshman of the Year honors after ranking eighth in the league in points (3.70) and ninth in kills (3.24) during WAC play. She had 11 double-doubles on the season, including five in WAC matches.
Jordan led his team to the WAC regular-season title for the third year in a row and the fourth time in the last five seasons. His team posted a 12-2 record in WAC play and led the league in five of seven statistical categories. He earned the award for the sixth time in his career.
NM STATE'S TOHM NAMED TO AVCA ALL-MIDWEST REGION TEAM
NM State senior outside hitter Kassandra Tohm was named to the 2017 All-Midwest Region honorable mention team, selected by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).
The WAC Player of the Year and a first team All-WAC honoree, Tohm led the league in kills (3.98) and points (4.20) and ranked seventh in hitting percentage (.283) in WAC matches. Tohm recorded a career-high 24 kills on .378 hitting at Utah Valley on Oct. 7 and earned her first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor this season. She was named to the Golden Dome Invitational All-Tournament Team after averaging 4.00 points, 3.64 kills and 0.73 blocks per set over the three matches.
NM STATE'S KAYLEE NEAL NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN®
NM State senior defensive specialist Kaylee Neal was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I volleyball team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
The Gilbert, Ariz., native was a third team selection. Neal started nine of 29 matches this season, tallying 11 service aces while registering 156 digs.
Neal posted a 4.00 grade-point average while majoring in accounting as both an undergraduate and a graduate student at NM State. Of the 21 members of the 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I volleyball team, 18 have at least a 3.90 GPA, with 14 student-athletes sporting a perfect 4.0 GPA.
TWO PLAYERS RANK IN TOP 10 IN WAC CAREER RECORDS
Two players made their way into the WAC career record books. Utah Valley's Madison Dennison finished her career with 572 total blocks to rank fifth all-time in WAC history. Meanwhile, CSU Bakersfield libero Emily Lopes averaged 4.45 digs per set over her career to rank fifth all-time in WAC history.
DENNISON RANKS IN WAC TOP 10 SINGLE-SEASON BLOCKING RECORDS
Utah Valley senior middle blocker Madison Dennison made her way into the WAC single-season record books this season in WAC matches only for blocks per set (seventh, 1.77) and total blocks (ninth, 92).
THREE PLAYERS RANK IN TOP 10 IN WAC SINGLE-SEASON RECORDS
Three players made their way into the WAC single-season record books this season. The following are the ranks and categories.
Category Player School Rank
Digs per set Emily Lopes CSU Bakersfield 6th/5.29
Digs per set Ariadnne Sierra NM State T-8th/5.18
Total digs Emily Lopes CSU Bakersfield 5th/629
WAC STAT LEADERS
NM State led the WAC in hitting percentage (.233), opponent hitting percentage (.139), assists (13.18), kills (13.94) and digs (16.79), while Utah Valley was tops in and blocks (2.98) and CSU Bakersfield led the WAC in service aces (1.48).
Individually, Chicago State's Lauryn Dela Cruz led the WAC in kills (4.08) and points (4.35), while teammates Lacee Adams and Carmen Carvajal were tops in assists (10.38) and service aces (0.37), respectively. Utah Valley's Madison Dennison led the league in hitting percentage (.328) and blocks (1.65), while CSU Bakersfield's Emily Lopes led the WAC in digs (5.29).
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).
CSUB'S LOPES FINISHES THIRD ON ‘RUNNERS DIGS CHART
CSU Bakersfield libero Emily Lopes led the WAC with 629 digs this season, which ranked third in CSUB Division I history and fifth all-time in the WAC record books.