Simpson led the Aggies
to their first-ever win over a Top 10 team in program history with a sweep of
No. 6 Hawai‘i, snapping the Rainbow Wahine’s 11-match winning streak. She
posted a match-high 11 kills on .368 hitting to go along with a match-high six
total blocks. She had a critical service ace in set two that tied it up at 24
after NMSU had to fight back from an early 8-1 deficit. The Aggies’ career
leader in total blocks, Simpson now has 506 on her career.
Other nominees included:
Fresno State’s Baylee Platt had a career-high 22 kills and 15 digs to lead the
‘Dogs with a double-double vs. Nevada ... Haley Larsen of Idaho averaged 4.35
kills and 3.25 digs in two wins ... Nevada’s Kylie Harrington averaged 4.14
points, 3.71 kills and 2.57 digs per set ... Chelsea Fowles of Utah State led the
Aggies to a 1-1 record after averaging 8.57 assists, 2.43 digs, 1.57 kills and
0.57 blocks per set.
Boise State went 0-2 at home last
week, falling in three sets to San Jose State (11-25, 19-25, 19-25) and Utah
State (10-25, 20-25, 24-26) ... Sadie Maughan had a team-high seven kills vs.
the Spartans ... Against the Aggies, Mandy Klein was just short of a
double-double, finishing with 25 assists and nine digs ... Jeanette Jenkins led
the team with 10 kills vs. USU.
Fresno State dropped its only match last week vs.
Nevada, 3-1 (27-25, 29-31, 21-25, 19-25) ... Baylee Platt had a career-high 22
kills and added 15 digs for her third double-double of the season ... Allanah
Munson also posted a double-double of 52 assists and 12 digs for her seventh of
the season, good for second place in the WAC ... As a team, the Bulldogs are
hitting .154 on the season as compared to a .200 hitting percentage by their
opponents.
Hawai‘i Rainbow Wahine (13-3, 6-1 WAC)
UH went 1-1 last week, sweeping past
Louisiana Tech (25-15, 25-19, 25-9) before being swept by New Mexico State
(22-25, 24-26, 21-25), snapping an 11-match winning streak ... Against
Louisiana Tech, Jamie Houston tallied 10 kills to lead the Rainbow Wahine ...
The loss to the Aggies was Hawai‘i’s second WAC home defeat in the 12 years they
have been in the league ... NMSU held Hawai’i to a .023 hitting percentage, its
lowest for the program in the rally-scoring era (since 2001).
The Vandals went 2-0 last week,
defeating Utah State (22-25, 25-8, 26-24, 25-16) and San Jose State (25-16,
25-21, 21-25, 25-15) in four sets ... Haley Larsen finished with 21 kills on
.381 hitting to go along with nine digs vs. the Aggies ... Debbie Pederson
notched eight total blocks against USU ... Larsen posted her league-leading
eighth double-double of the season vs. SJSU, finishing with 14 kills and 17
digs ... Kelsey Taylor and Sarah Loney had seven blocks apiece vs. the
Spartans.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (2-12, 0-6 WAC)
The Techsters went 0-2 last week, falling at Stephen
F. Austin (13-25, 15-25, 13-25) and at Hawai‘i (15-25, 19-25, 9-25) ... Natasha
Kolunija paced the team with nine kills, while Debora Bolonhini had 20 digs vs.
SFA ... The Techsters hit just .015 as a team vs. Hawai‘i.
The Pack went 2-0 last week, sweeping Sacramento
State (28-26, 25-21, 25-18) and beating
(25-27, 31-29, 25-21, 25-19) ... Kylie Harrington posted her team-leading sixth
double-double with 18 kills and 12 digs at Fresno State ... Sonnie Sei also had
a double-double (39 assists, 14 digs) vs. the Bulldogs ... Nicole Link finished
with 27 digs at Fresno State ... After dropping a season-high five matches in a
row, the Pack have won their last three ... Sage Aune tied her career-high with
10 kills at Fresno State ... Head coach Devin Scruggs is three wins short of
200 for her career, all coming at Nevada.
The Aggies swept No. 6 Hawai‘i
(25-22, 26-24, 25-21) on the road in their only match last week ... It was
NMSU’s first-ever win over a Top 10 team ... Amber Simpson had a match-high 11 kills on .368 hitting
... The Aggies have been involved in
sweeps in nine of their last 10 matches, while losing only one ... NMSU is now
tied for the top spot in the WAC standings ... The Aggies are 8-4 on the season
in three-set matches.
The Spartans went 1-1 last week,
sweeping Boise State (25-11, 25-19, 25-19) and falling to Idaho in four sets
(16-25, 21-25, 25-21, 15-25) ... Brianna Amian finished with 16 kills and 11
digs vs. Boise State ... Kelly Crow posted double-doubles in both matches - 12
kills and 19 digs vs. the Broncos, 11 kills and 15 digs vs. the Vandals ...
Crow now has sixth double-doubles on the year, which ranks third in the WAC.
Utah State went 1-1 last week,
falling at Idaho (25-22, 8-25, 24-26, 16-25) before sweeping Boise State
(25-10, 25-20, 26-24) ... Against Idaho, Chelsea Fowles posted a double-double
of 33 assists and 11 digs ... Melissa Osterloh had a team-best 13 kills and
nine digs, while Christine Morrill had a match-high 15 digs ... The Vandals
out-hit USU .265 to .068. Against the Broncos, Kris Hymas had nine kills and a
career-best 11 digs, while Emily Kortsen had a career-high eight kills and hit
.353 (8-2-17) ... USU hit a season-high .281 and limited BSU to a .072 hitting
percentage ... As a team, Utah State is hitting .169 on the season as compared
to a .222 hitting percentage for its opponents.
UNDEFEATED NO MORE
New Mexico State handed
Hawai‘i just its second WAC home defeat in the 12 years it has been in the
league in front of a crowd of 6,619 Sunday. With the loss, both teams are tied
for first place in the league standings with 6-1 WAC records. The Aggies also
held Hawai’i, which came into the match ranked in the Top 10 nationally in
hitting percentage, to a .023 hitting percentage, its lowest for the program in
the rally-scoring era (since 2001).
HAWAI‘I RANKS FOURTH
NATIONALLY IN KILLS, ASSISTS
In the most recent NCAA
statistics (Oct. 13), the Rainbow Wahine rank fourth in the nation in kills and
assists per set, with averages of 14.81 and 13.81, respectively. Hawai‘i also
ranks 11h in hitting percentage (.280) and 30th in won-loss percentage (.813).
WAC PLAYERS IN BLOCKING
TOP 50
Three 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 (.280), assists (13.81),
kills (14.81) and service aces (1.41). Boise State is tops in blocks per set
(2.86), while New Mexico State boasts the lowest opponent hitting percentage
(.147) and Idaho leads the league in digs per set (15.04).
In conference only
statistics, Hawai‘i currently leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.260),
assists (13.95) and kills (15.14).
Individually,
In conference matches
only, Hawai‘i’s Jamie Houston leads the league in kills (4.57), while
teammates Kaufman, Mafua and Aneli Cubi-Otineru are tops in hitting
percentage (.389), assists (11.16) and service aces (0.50, respectively.
Simpson is tops in blocking (1.57), while Torres leads the league in digs
(4.71). Meanwhile, Lindsey Yon of
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
