HAWAI‘I’S
Hawai‘i outside hitter
Jamie Houston has been named Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of
the Week for Sept. 22-28. This is the second WAC Player of the Week honor of
the season for
The Huntsville, Ala., (Huntsville
HS) native averaged 6.33 points, 6.17 kills and 2.33 digs per set while hitting
.308 as she led the Rainbow Wahine to a 2-0 record in their first two road
matches of the year. The senior posted 21 kills on .341 hitting with 11 digs in
just three sets at Louisiana Tech for her second double-double of the season.
She then had a match-high 16 kills in a sweep of
Other nominees included:
Elizabeth Griffin of Boise State had a team-high 10 kills against Idaho ...
Fresno State’s Kelly Leonardo had a season-high 12 kills in the Bulldogs’
five-set win at Utah State ... Haley Larsen of Idaho tallied 40 kills (5.00 per
set), including 31 at Boise State ... New Mexico State’s Lindsey Yon averaged
4.17 kills and 2.50 digs per set as the Aggies went 1-1 on the week ... Brittany
Collet of San Jose State led the Spartans to two WAC road wins, averaging 9.62
assists and 2.88 digs per set ... Utah State’s Christine Morrill averaged 4.60
digs per set and recorded a career-high 27 digs in a five-set win over Nevada.
AND THEN THERE WAS ONE
After two weeks of
conference play, only one team remains undefeated in WAC play. Hawai‘i swept
past
HAWAI‘I LEADS NATION IN
KILLS, ASSISTS
In the most recent NCAA
statistics (Sept. 29), the Rainbow Wahine are tops in the nation in kills and
assists per set, with averages of 15.27 and 14.18, respectively. Hawai‘i also
ranks ninth in hitting percentage (.292) and 24th in won-loss percentage
(.846).
WAC PLAYERS IN BLOCKING
TOP 50
Four WAC players are
currently ranked in the Top 50 nationally in blocks per set - Amber Simpson,
WAC STAT LEADERS
In overall team stats,
Hawai‘i leads the conference in hitting percentage (.292), assists (14.18),
kills (15.27) and service aces (1.40). Boise State is tops in blocks per set
(2.78), while New Mexico State boasts the lowest opponent hitting percentage
(.164) and Idaho leads the league in digs per set (15.19).
In conference only
statistics, Hawai‘i currently leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.301),
assists (15.31), kills (16.92) and service aces (1.77).
Individually,
In conference matches
only, Hawai‘i’s Jamie Houston leads the league in kills (5.50) and
points (5.67), while teammates Mafua and Aneli Cubi-Otineru are tops in
assists (12.08) and service aces (0.64), respectively. Katie Astle of
Utah State leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.479), while New Mexico State’s
Amber Simpson is tops in blocking (1.67). Meanwhile, Bolonhini leads
the conference in digs (4.83).
Boise State went 1-1 last week, defeating Idaho State
in four sets (14-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-23) in non-conference play before falling
to Idaho in five sets (13-25, 25-23, 25-22, 14-25, 9-15) in WAC play ...
Elizabeth Griffin had a team-high 10 kills against Idaho ... Three Broncos -
Jeanette Jenkins (19), Sadie Maughan (14) and Griffin (13) - notched
double-digit kills against Idaho State ... The five-set match vs. Idaho was
Boise State’s first of the season.
Fresno State went 1-1 last week, defeating Utah State
in five sets (25-22, 25-22, 17-25, 13-25, 15-13) before being swept by San Jose
State (19-25, 20-25, 22-25) ... Kelly Leonardo had a season-high 12 kills on
.455 hitting at Utah State ... The Bulldogs have now tied their win total from
last season ... Fresno State’s 2-1 start in the WAC is its best since 2003.
Hawai‘i Rainbow Wahine (11-2, 4-0 WAC)
UH went 2-0 last week, sweeping
Louisiana Tech (25-11, 25-20, 25-16) and New Mexico State (26-24, 25-20, 25-23)
... Jamie Houston posted 21
kills on .341 hitting with 11 digs for her second double-double of the season
vs. the Lady Techsters ... Houston also had a match-high 16 kills at New Mexico
State ... Hawai‘i earned its first sweep at New Mexico State since 1993, when
the two teams were in the Big West Conference ... The previous four matches in
Las Cruces (since NMSU joined the WAC in 2005) had all gone to five sets ... UH
won its 10th-straight match after starting the season 1-2 ... UH is now 173-3
all-time in conference play.
The Vandals went 1-1 last week,
falling in three sets to New Mexico State (19-25, 18-25, 15-25) before beating
Boise State in five sets (25-13, 23-25, 22-25, 25-14, 15-9) ... Haley Larsen
finished with 31 kills vs. the Broncos, which ties for seventh on Idaho’s match
records lists and marks the third time in her career she has eclipsed the
30-kill mark ... Larsen set Idaho’s career kills record during the match. Her
career total now stands at 1,538, besting the previous record of 1,524 by Kelly
Gibbons (1981-84) ... Larsen also added 14 digs for her fifth double-double of
the season.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (2-8, 0-3 WAC)
The Techsters went 1-1 last week, defeating
Northwestern State in four sets (23-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-17) before being swept
by Hawai‘i (11-25, 20-25, 16-25) ... Libero Debora Bolonhini finished with 18
digs vs. Northwestern State and 11 vs. Hawai‘i and currently leads the WAC in
digs per set.
The Pack went 0-3 last week, dropping two five-set
matches to San Jose State (24-26, 25-23, 25-22, 12-25, 7-15) and Utah State
(11-25, 25-17, 26-24, 22-25, 16-18) and falling in four sets at UNLV (26-24,
23-25, 13-25, 18-25) ... Lindsay Baldwin posted a career-high 21 kills vs. the
Spartans ... Nicole Link tied her career-high with 19 kills at UNLV ... Nevada
has lost four matches in a row.
The Aggies went 1-1 at home last
weekend, sweeping Idaho (25-19, 25-18, 25-15) and falling in three sets to No. 7 Hawai‘i (24-26, 20-25,
23-25) ... Lindsey Yon had a match-high 14 kills to go along with 15 digs at Idaho
for her fifth double-double of the season ... Yon also had a team-high 11 kills
vs. the Rainbow Wahine ... Amber Simpson leads the conference in blocks at 1.44
per set ... NMSU is holding its opponents to a .164 hitting percentage, which
is tops in the WAC.
The Spartans picked up two road WAC
wins last week, defeating Nevada in five sets (26-24, 23-25, 22-25, 25-12,
15-7) and sweeping Fresno State (25-19, 25-20, 25-22) ... Brittany Collet had
her first double-double of the season and the ninth of her career against
Nevada with 49 assists and 15 digs ... Kelly Crow led the team in kills in both
matches with 20 against Nevada and 11 at Fresno State, where she added 10 digs
for her third double-double of the season ... Brianna Amian had 18 kills and a
team-high nine blocks at Nevada ... The Spartans are edging their opponents
this season in kills (12.98-12.51), hitting percentage (.232-.221), assists
(11.95-11.67) and digs (12.60-12.15).
Utah State went 1-1 last week with a
five-set loss to Fresno State (22-25, 22-25, 25-17, 25-13, 13-15) and a
five-set win against Nevada (25-11, 17-25, 24-26, 25-22, 18-16) ... Against the
Bulldogs, Melissa Osterloh had a career-high 22 kills and hit .375, while Liz
McArthur added a career-high 15 kills ... Against the Wolf Pack, Christine
Morrill had a career-high 27 digs, while Katie Astle had a career-high 11 kills
on .562 hitting ... Jessalyn Payne posted a career-high 13 kills and hit .333
vs. the Wolf Pack ... Utah State has won four of its last six matches ...
During its first eight matches of the season, USU hit .154 and its opponents
hit .295. In its last six matches, USU is hitting .198 as compared to a .181
hitting percentage for its opponents.
HAWAI‘I RANKED FIRST IN
PRESEASON POLL
In a poll of the
league’s coaches, defending Western Athletic Conference champion Hawai‘i was
the unanimous favorite to defend its crown in 2008 and take home its
13th-straight regular-season title. The Rainbow Wahine received eight of the
nine first-place votes (coaches can’t vote for their own team) and 64 points,
with
2008 PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAM
The WAC Preseason all-WAC volleyball team, as
voted on by the nine coaches, was announced Aug. 8. Hawai‘i All-American Jamie
Houston was named WAC Preseason Player of the Year. The reigning WAC Player of
the Year, this is
Two other Hawai‘i players, juniors Aneli
Cubi-Otineru and Amber Kaufman, joined
Chelsea Fowles of
WAC VOLLEYBALL FORMAT
For the fourth-straight year the WAC will not
compete in divisions. This season’s format will be a double-round robin. Each
team will face the other eight at home and on the road. All nine teams will
compete in the WAC Volleyball Tournament.
2008 WAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Nov. 20 (Quarterfinals)
Match
Match
Match
Match
Match 5 - Winner Match 1 vs. No. 1, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 21 (Semifinals)
Match 6 - Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4, 5
p.m.
Match 7 - Winner Match 2 vs. Winner Match 5,
7:30 p.m.
Nov. 23 (Championship)
Match 8 - Winner Match 6 vs. Winner Match 7, 3
p.m.
HAWAI‘i TO HOST 2008
WAC VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
The 2008 WAC Volleyball Tournament will be
hosted by Hawai‘i, Nov. 20-23, at the
SONNICHSEN AND
NETHERBY-SEWELL JOIN THE WAC FAMILY
Louisiana Tech and
Sonnichsen was the head coach at
In her two years at Hofstra, Netherby-Sewell led
the Pride to their first-ever Colonial Athletic Association Championship in
2006 with a 17-1 conference record. That team was ranked No. 32 in the country,
the highest ever ranking in school history. They also won their schools’ first
NCAA Tournament game and advanced to the second round. Her overall record as a
head coach is 43-19. Before being named head coach at Hofstra, Netherby-Sewell
was an assistant for the Pride for two seasons, following two years as an
assistant at
RETURNING ALL-WAC
PLAYERS
Of the 12 first-team all-WAC players in 2007,
six returned for the 2008 season, including two from Hawai‘i, Jamie Houston and
Aneli Cubi-Otineru. There are three returning from
Six of the second-team all-WAC performers
returned this season, including
NCAA REGIONAL SITES
SELECTED
The following are the sites for regional
competition of the 2008 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championships.
Regionals (4) December 12-13, 2008
Host:
Moby Arena
Host:
Rec Hall
Host:
Gregory Gymnasium
Host:
Bank
of
