|
|
|
Weekly Volleyball Release: 10/28
CSU at SDSU highlights schedule.
Oct. 28, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo - Colorado State edged San Diego State in this week's standings after the Rams defeated Wyoming and the Aztecs split a pair of road matches. CSU travels to SDSU Saturday in a critical conference matchup. Utah kept its home win streak alive after wins over SDSU and UNLV last week. The Utes have won 28 straight home matches and are 11-0 at Crimson Court this season. TWO GRAND AGAIN Wyoming became the second MWC team to top 2,000 fans for a match this season as 2,215 were on hand for the Colorado State match Friday at Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyo. Colorado State topped 2,000 fans for an MWC match Oct. 19 with 2,015 for the Rams' 3-1 victory over then-No. 16 Utah. Five of eight MWC institutions have topped 1,000 for a single match attendance this season. ON THE HOME COURT Utah was the only home team that won last week in MWC play. The Utes, 23-3 at home in four years (losses to Colorado State (twice) and BYU), currently have a 13-match home conference win streak and a 28-match overall home win streak. 20 WINS = NCAA Tournament ? MWC teams that have reached 20 wins the past three seasons have advanced to the NCAA Tournament. This year, for the first time in league history, four teams could reach 20 wins. At 18-6, Wyoming needs just two victories in its final seven matches. San Diego State and Utah each have 16 wins this season and Colorado State is at 15 wins. The Aztecs and Rams each have a minimum of eight matches remaining, while Utah has nine. BYU, Colorado State and Utah notched 20 victories each of the first three years in the MWC and qualified for NCAA Tournament play. Last season, SDSU also made the NCAA field with a 16-12 record. WEEK FIVE QUICK HITS (Oct. 28) Air Force -- The Falcons fell to 2-6 in the MWC after dropping a match to New Mexico. Air Force started the conference season at 2-2 before losing the next four matches. In the two conference victories, Air Force averaged 2.67 blocks per game and hit .204. In six conference losses, the Falcons mustered a .173 hitting percentage and just 1.58 blocks per game. Despite a five-match losing streak, Air Force hit .194 in the last five matches and sophomore Tiffany Bishop continues strong play in the middle. Bishop has recorded at least 10 kills in 15 of her last 16 matches, including six straight, and has hit over .300 in seven of her last 10 matches. Bishop and junior Delavane Diaz rank among the league's statistical leaders. Bishop is third in hitting percentage (.322), while Diaz is second in kills per game (4.14) and third in aces (33) this season. Air Force hosts Utah and BYU this week. BYU -- BYU dropped a pair of matches last week and slipped to 4-5 in conference play. The Cougars are still battling inconsistency and injuries this season. BYU's offensive leader April Varner sprained her ankle in practice last week and is out for two to three weeks. Junior middle blocker Carrie Bowers has two stress fractures in her feet and is playing in matches despite not being able to practice. Sophomore outside hitter/middle blocker Lindsey Metcalf returned from a sprained against UNLV, but is not yet 100 percent. Laura Nielsen continues to be efficient coming off her broken foot as she hit .308 in both matches last week, while putting down 16 kills overall. In MWC play, Nielsen is hitting a team best .408. True freshman Kim Wilson was pressed into action due to an assortment of BYU injuries, and posted a career performance vs. UNLV, totaling 17 kills and a .387 attack percentage. The next night against SDSU, Wilson notched a team-high 15 kills. After hitting .260 in a pair of road conference wins Oct. 19-20, the Cougars hit just .166 in a pair of losses last week. BYU travels to New Mexico and Air Force this week. Colorado State -- Coming off a victory over Wyoming last week, the Rams face a tough test at San Dego State this week. CSU rallied for a 3-2 win over SDSU in Ft. Collins earlier this season after trailing 0-2 in the match. CSU faces four of its next six MWC opponents on the road, including a trip to BYU and Utah to close out regular season league play. However, the Rams have been steady, winning seven of eight conference matches, including three on the road. CSU leads the league in hitting percentage (.267 in MWC matches) and has the conference's leading hitter in sophomore Katie Jo Shirley (.376). Senior Michelle Knox is third in the MWC with a .343 hitting percentage. Tess Rogers led the team with 14 kills in the victory against Wyoming, marking the ninth straight match where the true freshman has had at least 10 kills in a match. Rogers doubled her career-high in service aces with four against the Cowgirls after previously recording two aces in a match on four different occasions. Freshman opposite side hitter Andreya Downs tied the MWC record for service aces by a freshman this weekend. Downs now has 38 aces on the year, tying Aspen McPartland of San Diego State from the 2000 season. Downs already holds the freshman aces record at CSU. New Mexico -- The Lobos snapped a six-match losing streak with a victory at Air Force last week as UNM completed a season sweep over the Falcons. Head coach Kelley Sliva garnered her 150th career win with the 3-0 victory at Air Force. The Lobos have posted a .265 hitting percentage in two league victories, but just a .168 percentage in six conference losses this season. Junior Anna Reines totaled nine kills vs. the Falcons and currently ranks seventh in the MWC with 3.62 kills per game. Senior Vanessa Shields and sophomore Monica Meihak have each totaled 28 aces in MWC matches this season and rank second and third in the MWC, respectively, for aces per game. Shields has also been productive in kills and digs for the Lobos, posting double-doubles in her last two matches. Senior Blaire Burns has recorded double figure digs in five of her last six matches, including 10 vs. Air Force. Burns is second in the MWC with 3.16 digs per game. With a team-high 81 block assists, freshman Chelsea Sondrup is five block assists shy of fifth place in UNM single season record books. The record is 110 held by former Lobo Robyn Wentwork. The Lobos host BYU and Utah this week. San Diego State -- The Aztecs posted their best first half finish in league play (6-1) since joining the league, and they started the second half with a 1-1 mark after falling to No. 22 Utah and defeating BYU last week. SDSU hosts Wyoming and Colorado State this week before traveling for the final three MWC matches of the year, which happen to be the bottom three teams in the league standings. A sweep this week could put the Aztecs in the driver's seat for a run at their first regular season conference title since 1995. SDSU has won five of its last six league matches and rank in the league's top three in every statistical category, including a league-best 14.33 digs per game. The Aztecs are second only to league-leading Colorado State in hitting percentage (.257) and aces per game (.164) in MWC matches. Junior Robyn Gregg has emerged as the conference leader for aces with 47 this season after setting a league season record with 76 aces a year ago, including 40 in conference play. UNLV -- The Rebels have won three of their last four matches and improved to 3-6 in the MWC. Last week on the road, UNLV defeated BYU and lost to Utah. Three Rebels topped 10 kills each in the win at BYU, led by Patricia Assuncao with 13. Assuncao is averaging 3.16 kills per game in MWC matches and has reached double figure kills in seven of nine conference matches this season. Sophomore Sheila Ocasio-Clemente is slowly returning to the Rebel lineup. Ocasio-Clemente has played in only four of the last eight UNLV matches, totaling 11 kills and nine blocks in that time. UNLV is also looking for consistency as only three Rebels (Nicki King, Patricia Assuncao, Shannon Chase) have played in every match this season. UNLV hosts Colorado State and Wyoming this week. In the last four meetings in Las Vegas, UNLV is 2-2 vs. CSU and 2-2 vs. Wyoming. Utah -- Utah stretched its home win streak to 28 matches and improved to a perfect 11-0 at home on the year after wins over San Diego State and Utah last week. Junior Kim Turner led the Utes with 23 kills and 13 total blocks in the weekend sweep. As a team, Utah hit .304 and averaged 4.17 blocks per game in the two matches, while holding the opponents to a combined .066 hitting percentage. On the year, Utah is allowing a conference-low .147 hitting percentage for opponents. The Utes also lead the league with 3.48 blocks per game and have two players, Turner (16th) and sophomore Lyndsey Phillips (25th), ranked in the national statistics for blocking. Turner is currently eighth on the Ute career kills list with 964 and fifth all-time at Utah with 424 total blocks. Utah battles instate rival Utah State Tuesday before traveling to Air Force and New Mexico for MWC play.
Wyoming -- The Cowgirls posted a 1-1 record last week, defeating Weber State in non-conference play and falling to Colorado State in MWC action. Junior Michele Rauter led the Cowgirls with 44 kills and 24 digs in the two matches last week, including a career high 28 kills vs. WSU. Rauter leads the MWC in kills for the fifth straight week with 4.47 per game. Rauter, who also ranks fourth in the MWC with 3.14 kills per game, has posted double-doubles in a league-high seven straight matches. As a team, Wyoming leads the MWC with a .261 hitting percentage, while allowing opponents to hit .201 this season. Sophomore setter Amy Doman recorded a career high 66 assists vs. Weber State and surpassed the 2,000 career assist last week as well. Only five other Cowgirls have reached that mark in school history, and she currently ranks sixth in school history with 2,033 career assists. Wyoming travels to San Diego State and UNLV this week.
|
|
