United Athletic Conference

 

The Fall 2021 season gets underway this week as all 13 WAC teams are slated to open their season on Friday, Aug. 27. Tarleton kicks off the non-conference season with a trip to Miami to take on Miami and Florida International at the FIU Invitational. Stephen F. Austin will also see an ACC foe this weekend as they travel to Dallas to compete against North Carolina, SMU and Pacific at the SMU Tournament. UT Rio Grande Valley's 2021 campaign starts with a Friday morning contest against Tennessee State before battling New Orleans and Alcorn State at the New Orleans Invitational. California Baptist will take the long flight to Atlanta to face off with Memphis, Georgia State and UT Chattanooga in a tournament hosted by Georgia State. 

 

Sam Houston, Abilene Christian and Lamar are the lone WAC members who will be in their home gyms. Sam Houston will host the Bearkat Invitational where they will see Houston Baptist, San Diego State and Central Arkansas. Abilene Christian will take on UT Arlington and Incarnate Word in the ACU Invitational while Lamar plays host to Prairie View, Oral Roberts and UL Monroe in the Katrinka Crawford Invitational.

 

Dixie State will let its first serve fly at the Boise State Classic as they look for wins against Boise State, Montana State and Long Beach State. Chicago State will stay in Illinois as Bellarmine, IUPUI and Eastern Illinois will be across from them during their appearance in the EIU Panther Invitational. The Grand Canyon Lopes will be back in action as they head to Moscow, Idaho for the Idaho Volleyball Classic. GCU will face Eastern Washington, Nevada and Idaho. NM State heads west to compete in the Cactus Classic where they will see the likes of UC San Diego, Arizona and Marist. Reigning WAC Tournament Champion Utah Valley starts its year with a two-match series against Utah beginning Friday. Lastly, Seattle U joins GCU in the Gem State as they face Idaho State, UC Irvine and UTEP in the Idaho State 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 is 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.

 

Of the seven players named First Team All-WAC in March, five return for the season – WAC Preseason Player of the Year Kazna Tanuvasa of Utah Valley along with Tarleton's Lauren Kersey, Grand Canyon's Klaire Mitchell, NM State's Lia Mosher and Dixie State's Megan Treanor. 2020 Southland Conference Player of the Year Ashley Lewis of Sam Houston and First Team All-Southland player Taya Mitchell of Stephen F. Austin also return for the Fall 2021 season as the Bearkats and Lumberjacks make the move to the WAC.

 

Three of the seven second team honorees return as NM State teammates Victoria Barrett and Shaney Lipscomb are back while GCU's Hannah Eskes is set to come back for her junior season.

 

Meanwhile, all six of the All-Freshman Team honorees from a season ago make their way back – Dixie State's Kate Hardy, Grand Canyon's Ashley Lifgren, NM State teammates Barrett and Darian Markham, UT Rio Grande Valley's Ada Bulgur and Kendra Nock of Utah Valley. 

 

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 teams eligible for postseason play.

 

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

 

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

 

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 the 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. Semifinals will be held December 16 while the championship will be held on Decemer 18.

 

In terms of efficiency, nine of the top 10 hitters from last season are back for the Fall 2021 season, including Chicago State's Berenice Almeyda who finished last season hitting .424. NM State's Lia Mosher also returns after posting a .420 hitting percentage to rank second in the spring. The other seven returning leaders are Dixie State's Kate Hardy (.329), Tarleton's Lauren Kersey (.323), NM State's Shaney Lipscomb (.320), Grand Canyon's Hannah Eskes (.318), Dixie State's Lauolive Tonga (.309), NM State's Katie Birtcil (.308) and Chicago State's Mesalina Severino (.296).

 

Six of the top 10 kill leaders return, led by Chicago State's Yanlis Feliz who finished second in the WAC with 3.73 kills per set in the spring. Kazna Tanuvasa finished third last season with 3.55 kills per set. Tarleton's Amber Strange (3.20) and Lauren Kersey (3.18) will be back for the Texans. NM State's Victoria Barrett (3.17) and Dixie State's Megan Treanor (3.05) will also return.

 

Six of the top assist leaders from last season return including Grand Canyon's Klaire Mitchell who finished third in the nation in the spring, recording 11.77 assists per set. Seattle U's Ezgi Ozkan, who finished third in the WAC a season ago with 8.50 assists per set will be back for the Redhawks. Also, on the list of returners is Dixie State's Jordyn Nelson (8.30), Tarleton's Kayla Brannon (8.08), NM State's Carly Aigner-Swesey (5.79) and California Baptist's Leah Pease (5.39).

 

Seven of the leading servers from the spring season, led by Dixie State's Megan Treanor who paced the WAC with 0.45 service aces per set. Utah Valley's Bryton Bishop, who ranked third with 0.43 aces per set, is back. CBU's Paige Johnstone and NM State's Victoria Barrett return after averaging 0.34 service aces per set. UVU's Abbie Miller (0.32) and Grand Canyon's Klaire Mitchell (0.30) are also back.

 

At the net, nine of the top blockers return, inclduing WAC-leading blocker Hannah Eskes of Grand Canyon. Utah Valley's duo of Kendra Nock and Sadie Hamson also return after averaging 1.35 and 1.29 blocks per set, respectively. Tarleton's Lorin McNeil returns as she averaged 1.23 blocks to rank fourth in the WAC last season. The other returners are NM State's Lia Mosher (1.21), Utah Valley's Natalia Andrus (1.13), NM State's Lindsay Blakey (1.05), UVU's Tori Dorius (0.93) and Dixie State's Kate Hardy (0.93).

 

Six of the top 10 dig leaders return for the 2021 season, including last year's leader Ana Costas of Tarleton (4.87), followed by Dixie State's Mykenna Nelson who ranked fourth in the WAC last year with 4.74 digs per set. The remaining leaders are Chicago State's Andrea Calderon, California Baptist's Paige Johnstone, NM State's Darian Markham and CSU's Yanlis Feliz.

 

Lastly, six of the top point leaders from last season return, led by Chicago State's Feliz who ranked second in the WAC with 4.0 points per set. Preseason Player of the Year Tanuvasa ranked fourth in the league last season, posting 3.9 points per set. Dixie State's Megan Treanor (3.8), NM State's Victoria Barrett (3.7) and Tarletons' Amber Strange (3.5) and Lauren Kersey (3.5) are all also set to return.

 

 

The Utah Valley volleyball team fell in four sets (21-25, 16-25, 25-20, 22-25) to Texas State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines concluded their season with a 14-6 record.

 

The Bobcats controlled the match as they posted better numbers in kills (59-45), assists (52-40) and digs (62-47) in the opening round matchup. Texas State also finished the match with a .238 hitting percentage, including hitting .387 in the second set. Utah Valley did prove to be tough at the net, out-blocking Texas State 13-9.

 

Sophomore Tori Dorius led the way for the Wolverines as she finished the match with 14 kills on .321 hitting. WAC Player of the Year Kazna Tanuvasa pitched in as well, recording 11 kills and three digs. Senior Seren Jardine posted 14 digs while Bryton Bishop added four service aces.

 

Utah Valley fell behind 18-11 in set one before it went on a 5-1 run to close the gap to just three points late in the set. The Bobcats eventually closed out the first set, winning by a score of 25-21.

 

Texas State came out with a purpose in set No. 2 as they dominated to take the set 25-16. The Bobcats held UVU to just .148 hitting in the second set.

 

The third set was all Utah Valley as they jumped out to a quick 6-2 advantage led by a pair of kills from Dorius. The Bobcats never got closer than three points from the Wolverines as a Tanuvasa kill closed out a 25-20 set win.

 

In what would be Utah Valley's final set of the season, the Wolverines absorbed a 5-0 run from Texas State to start the match as they battled back to make the Bobcats earn it at the end. Texas State eventually closed out the set and the match, taking the final set 25-22.

 

The Utah Valley Wolverines claimed the title of 202-21 WAC Tournament Champions as they opened the tournament with a win over second-seeded Grand Canyon in the semifinals, winning 3-1(19-25, 25-23, 25-23, 27-25). On Saturday, they took down defending champion NM State in straight sets (25-21, 25-22, 25-23) in the championship match.

 

The Wolverines were led by WAC Tournament MVP Seren Jardine who finished the tournament averaging 7.43 digs per set. Junior outside hitter Kazna Tanuvasa also earned WAC All-Tournament team honors as she added 4.14 kills per set to propel UVU to its first ever WAC Tournament Championship. 

 

Joining Jardine and Tanuvasa on the All-Tournament team was Chicago State's Berenice Almeyda, Grand Canyon's Kaira Moss and NM State's Lia Mosher and Victoria Barrett.

 

Following the tournament, NM State finished leading the WAC in hitting percentage (.295), opponent hitting percentage (.130) and kills per set (15.05). The Aggies also lead the conference in assists (13.93). Meanwhile, Utah Valley concluded the season atop the league in blocks (2.84) while California Baptist paced the WAC in service aces (1.60). Grand Canyon ended the year leading the conference in digs (18.96).

 

Individually, Grand Canyon's Yeny Murillo leads the WAC in kills (4.28) and points per set (4.6). Fellow Lope Klaire Mitchell also had an impressive year as she recorded the most assists per set at 11.77. GCU also had the league's top blocker in Hannah Eskes (1.38) while Chicago State's Berenice Almeyda holds the top hitting percentage (.424). Tarleton's Ana Costas finished the year averaging 4.87 digs per set to lead the WAC. Lastly, Dixie State's Megan Treanor notches the most service aces per set at 0.45.

 

A pair of WAC hitters posted all-time numbers in hitting percentage this season. Both Chicago State's Berenice Almeyda and NM State's Lia Mosher finished season among the top-10 in WAC hitting percentage for a single season. Almeyda finished the season leading the WAC with a .424 hitting percentage, placing her fourth all-time. Meanwhile, Mosher's .420 hitting percentage is good to tie her for fifth-best all-time.

Additionally, Seattle U's Tijana Milojevic and Utah Valley's Seren Jardine each carry career marks that rank among the top-10 in WAC history. In four years as a Redhawk, Milojevic averaged 4.51 digs per set to rank eighth all-time in WAC history. Jardine's career numbers are also among the best to ever do it in the WAC as she is ranked fourth in total digs at 1864.

 

NM State ranked inside the top-10 among Division I schools in a trio of team categories. The Aggies were second in the nation in assists per set (13.93) and kills per set (15.05) while also ranking seventh in hitting percentage (.295).

 

Grand Canyon was among the best in the NCAA as they rank eighth in digs per set (18.96) and seventh in attacks per set (40.12). Meanwhile, WAC Tournament Champion Utah Valley finished ninth in blocks per set (2.84).

 

Individually, the Lopes' Klaire Mitchell lead the GCU offense as she ranked third among DI players in assists per set (11.78).

 

The Aggies' Shaney Lipscomb posted a perfect hitting percentage on March 3 against Seattle U, making her one of only two players last season to finish with a 1.000 hitting percentage for a single match (min. 10 attempts). Lipscomb's dominant performance also led the Aggies to the nation's best hitting percentage in a three-set match in the spring (.554).

 

For the second consecutive year, NM State was the WAC regular-season champion. The Aggies finished the year with a 15-1 record in WAC play. This marked the Aggies' fifth championship in the last six years and their sixth all-time.

 

Tuesday, Utah Valley's Seren Jardine became the Wolverines' all-time leader for digs in a career. Jardine moved into the top spot as she tallied her 1,748th dig in UVU's three-set sweep of UT Rio Grande Valley.

 

Grand Canyon's Kaira Moss became one of just two active WAC players to reach 250 career blocks last week. The junior posted six blocks (five solo) in both matches against Seattle U to reach the mark.

 

A pair of NM State teammates reached career benchmarks over the week. Lia Mosher, a junior middle blocker, tallied the 250th block of her career with NM State. She recorded number 250 in the Aggies 3-0 sweep of Utah Valley on Tuesday as she notched four total blocks against the Wolverines.

 

Fellow Aggie, Savannah Davison recorded 38 total points two weeks ago to lead her squad and put her over 1,000 points in her three years at NM State.

 

Tarleton's Lauren Kersey was named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I Women's Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 24 through March 2. Kersey became just the fourth player in Texan volleyball history to win the award, and the first Division I program. 

 

On the week, Kersey averaged 4.00 kills per set on .378 hitting as she led the Texans to a perfect 4-0 week. The junior posted double-digit kills in each of Tarleton's victories, highlighted by a season-high 17 kills on 30 swings in a three-set win over Chicago State on Monday.

 

In NM State's impressive win over Seattle U, the Aggies set the school record for hitting percentage in a three-set match (.554). Shaney Lipscomb led the way as she set the program record for individual hitting percentage in a three-set match (1.000). Only two players in NCAA history have recorded better hitting days as The Aggies finished the day with 46 kills and Lipscomb claimed 14 kills of her own.

 

Seattle U's Tijana Milojevic notched her 100th ace last night in the Redhawks' road match with NM State.

 

NM State Head Coach Mike Jordan earned his 500th career win as the Aggies took down California Baptist in three sets on Feb. 22. Jordan has been at the helm for NM State since 1998 and has led the Aggies to five WAC regular-season titles and seven NCAA tournaments during his tenure. 

 

NM State's Natalie Mikels recorded her 2,000th career assist in an Aggie uniform on Feb. 16 against GCU. The senior setter from Jenks, Okla., posted 20 assists against the Lopes to join the 2,000-assist club.

 

Utah Valley's Kazna Tanuvasa placed herself among elite company as she tallied her 1,000th kill as a Wolverine. The junior outside hitter eclipsed the mark after recording 18 kills against No. 16 BYU.