United Athletic Conference

Complete release (PDF)

 

Sam Houston's Catherine Krieger, Grand Canyon's Ashley Lifgren and Klaire Mitchell, Utah Valley's Kendra Nock and Stephen F. Austin's Valeria Rosado were named WAC All-Tournament team at the end of the championships.

 

Along with them is Utah Valley's Kazna Tanuvasa who was named Tournament MVP after recording 10 kills, seven digs, two assists and a block in the championship match.

 

NM State leads the WAC in overall hitting percentage (.258), kills per set (13.68) and assists per set (12.55). Sam Houston leads in digs per set (17.63). Utah Valley leads in blocks per set (2.69). California Baptist and Grand Canyon leads in service aces per set (1.83).

 

Individually, NM State's Lia Mosher leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.407), while Chicago State's Yanlis Feliz is the leader in kills per set (5.2) and points per set (5.80). Tarleton's Lorin McNeil leads the league in blocks per set (1.27) and Grand Canyon's Teagan DeFalco paces the WAC in digs per set (5.21) and service aces per set (0.42). Grand Canyon's Klaire Mitchell is the top assister, posting 10.44 per set. 

 

In WAC matches only, NM State tops in hitting percentage (.273) and assists per set (13.31), while Utah Valley leads in blocks per set (2.83). Sam Houston leads in digs per set (18.50). Grand Canyon is the top squad in service aces per set (1.79).

 

Individually in WAC play, NM State's Lia Mosher leads in hit percentage (.407), while Tarleton's Lorin McNeil is the top blocker at 1.52 per set. Chicago State's Yanlis Feliz is the leader in kills (5.63) and points (6.20) per set. Grand Canyon's Klaire Mitchell leads the WAC in assists per set (10.60) and fellow Lope Teagan DeFalco is the front runner in digs per set (5.43). California Baptist's Hana Okuhara leads in service aces per set (0.46).

 

In the WAC Tournament, UT Rio Grande Valley leads in hitting percentage (.236) and kills per set (14.00), Grand Canyon is the leader in assists per set (12.80), Utah Valley tops in blocks per set (3.09), Stephen F. Austin in service aces per set (2.38) and Abilene Christian in digs per set (16.33).

 

Individually in the tournament, Chicago State's Berenice Almeyda is the leader in hit percentage (.438), NM State's Katie Birtcil tops the kills per set (4.80), Mitchell leads in assists per set (11.10), Stephen F. Austin's Ariana Pagan is the leader in service aces in per set (1.25), Abilene Christian's Breana Box leads in blocks per set (2.33), UT Rio Grande Valley's Evana Ramos leads the tournament in digs per set (5.25) and Feliz is the leader in points per set (5.30).

 

Utah Valley took home their second consecutive WAC Tournament Championship along with a ticket to the NCAA Tournament with a 3-0 win over grand Canyon, Saturday. 

 

The Wolverines now await their placing in the tournament bracket which will be announced on Sunday evening.

 

A trio of WAC programs are among the nation's best at defending home court. Grand Canyon, Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin each carry home winning streaks of 10 matches or longer. Grand Canyon currently sits at 8-0 inside GCU Arena this season and is riding a 14-match win streak. Last weekend, Sam Houston won its eighth and ninth matches at home this season to push the Bearkats streak to 10 matches. Meanwhile, Stephen F. Austin carries the longest home winning streak in the WAC at 22 matches, managing a 10-0 record inside Shelton Gym this season.

 

Chicago State earned their 13th win of the season two weekends ago to give the Cougars their most wins since 1987 and eclipse the program's mark for most wins in a season since it became Division I in 1988. In an incredible turnaround, CSU finds itself just one match back of a tie for first place in the West Division after a season in which they finished 0-8 in WAC play.

 

With twelve of the thirteen WAC schools first week of play coming at a pre-conference tournament, there was plenty of opportunities to shine against unfamiliar opponents. 11 athletes from five WAC schools earned honors for their play last weekend, including a trio of tournament MVP's. Abilene Christian's Lindsey Toney, Grand Canyon's Klaire Mitchell and Sam Houston's Morgan Janda each claimed MVP honors at their respective tournaments. Below is the complete list of athletes who garnered all-tournament team recognition:

 

Breanne Chausse, Sam Houston - Bearkat Invitational

Luanna Emiliano, UT Rio Grande Valley - New Orleans Invitational

Hannah Eskes, Grand Canyon - Idaho Volleyball Classic

Christine Graf, California Baptist - Georgia State Invitational

Morgan Janda, Sam Houston - Bearkat Invitational (MVP)

Ashley Lewis, Sam Houston - Bearkat Invitational

Klaire Mitchell, Grand Canyon - Idaho Volleyball Classic (MVP)

Madison Rohre, Abilene Christian - ACU Invitational

Luisa Silva Dos Santos, UT Rio Grande Valley - New Orleans Invitational

Lindsey Toney, Abilene Christian - ACU Invitational (MVP)

McKenzie Wise, Grand Canyon - Idhao Volleyball Classic

 

In week two of non-conference play, eight WAC athletes earned all-tournament honors, including Grand Canyon freshman McKenzie Wise who was named MVP of the GCU Invitational.

 

Berenice Almeyda, Chicago State - Windy City Classic

Jada Birkel, Abilene Christian - Wildcat Classic

Andrea Calderon, Chicago State - Windy City Classic

Teagan DeFalco, Grand Canyon - GCU Invitational (Outstanding Libero)

Hannah Eskes, Grand Canyon - GCU Invitational

Yanlis Feliz, Chicago State - Windy City Classic

Sydney Reed, Grand Canyon - GCU Invitational

McKenzie Wise, Grand Canyon - GCU Invitational (MVP)

 

WAC teams continued the trend in week three as eight athletes were named to all-tournament teams, highlighted by NM State's Shaney Lipscomb who earned MVP honors at the Colonel Challenge.

 

Katie Birtcil, NM State - Colonel Challenge

Teagan DeFalco, Grand Canyon - Portland State Tournament

Annabelle Kubinski, Grand Canyon - Portland State Tournament

Shaney Lipscomb, NM State - Colonel Challenge (MVP)

Darian Markham, NM State - Colonel Challenge

Makayla Pollard, Utah Valley - Lumberjack Classic

Kazna Tanuvasa, Utah Valley - Lumberjack Classic

Hannah Waters, Lamar - Lamar Invitational

 

The final week of non-conference tournament action resulted in seven more all-tournament honors, including Ariana Pagan who was named MVP of the SFA Tournament.

 

Katie Birtcil, NM State - Stetson Invitational

Kayla Brannon, Tarleton - Islander Classic

Payton Cerny, Stephen F. Austin - SFA Tournament

Carmen Kinsey, Tarleton - Islander Classic

Shaney Lipscomb, NM State - Stetson Invitational

Ariana Pagan, Stephen F. Austin - SFA Tournament (MVP)

Leah Powell, Stephen F. Austin - SFA Tournament

 

With the addition of several new programs to volleyball in the Western Athletic Conference, Stephen F. Austin is the coaches' pick to take home the regular season trophy in the Southwest Division while Utah Valley earned the nod in the West Division.

 

Southwest Division preseason favorite Stephen F. Austin heads to the WAC following a 13-1 overall record and a regular season title in the Southland Conference just last year. The Lumberjacks landed four of six possible first-place votes and 24 total points to finish atop the poll. Sam Houston was closely behind as they earned the remaining two first-place votes and 21 points. Tarleton saw its name in the third spot with 15 points followed by Abilene Christian who came in fourth with 13 points. UT Rio Grande Valley and Lamar rounded out the poll, finishing with 11 points and six points, respectively.

Coming off their first WAC Tournament Championship in school history, Utah Valley received four of the seven first-place votes and 34 total points to earn the top spot in the West Division. NM State earned the remaining three first-place votes to finish in second place with 33 points, followed by Grand Canyon which was slotted in third with 26 points. California Baptist picked up 20 points as they were selected fourth while Dixie State finished with 16 points to claim fifth. Chicago State collected 10 points for the sixth spot and Seattle U completed the West Division poll with six points of its own.

 

Utah Valley senior outside hitter Kazna Tanuvasa was selected as the WAC Preseason Player of the Year. NM State had the most players named to the preseason All-WAC team as the Aggies garnered four spots. Carly Aigner-Swesey, Victoria Barrett, Shaney Lipscomb and Lia Mosher each represent NM State on the Preseason All-WAC team. Joining them are Grand Canyon's Hannah Eskes and Klaire Mitchell, Sam Houston's Morgan Janda and Ashley Lewis and Stephen F. Austin's Taya Mitchell and Leah Powell. Along with the Wolverines, Chicago State, Dixie State and Tarleton each landed one player on the Preseason All-WAC Team. The Cougars' Yanlis Feliz, the Trailblazers' Megan Treanor and the Texans' Lauren Kersey each earned honors.

 

The Western Athletic Conference is a little bit bigger this season as Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin have all joined the party. Due to the increase from eight teams to 12 teams, the league will play in a divisional format this season.

 

The Fall 2021 WAC Volleyball Tournament will be held Nov. 18-20 at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, N.M. and will include the top eight eligible squads.

 

November 18, 2021 (Quarterfinals)

Match 1 - No. 1 Seed vs. No. 8 Seed, 10 a.m. MT

Match 2 - No. 4 Seed vs. No. 5 Seed, 1 p.m. MT

Match 3 - No. 2 Seed vs. No. 7 Seed, 4 p.m. MT

Match 4 - No. 3 Seed vs. No. 6 Seed, 7 p.m. MT

 

November 19, 2021 (Semifinals)

Match 5 - Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2, 4 p.m. MT

Match 6 - Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4, 7 p.m. MT

 

November 20, 2021 (Finals)

Match 7 - Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6, 7 p.m. MT

 

The NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship return to its normal 64-team format following a 48-team bracket in Spring 2021. The bracket will consist of 32 automatic qualifiers and 32 at-large teams. The final site of the 2021 NCAA Championship will be Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The semifinals will be held on December 16 while the championship will be held on December 18.