Nov. 12, 2003
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AZTECS WRAP UP REGULAR SEASON AT HOME
* San Diego State wraps up its 2003 regular season as it hosts Utah and Brigham Young in a pair of Mountain West Conference matches this weekend.
* The Utes visit Peterson Gym on Friday, Nov. 14, for contest scheduled to get underway at 7:00 p.m. Brigham Young will face the Aztecs the next evening (Nov. 15), also at 7:00 p.m.
* This weekend's matches will have implications on the seeding for the upcoming conference tournament as they will determine if SDSU will be the third or fourth seed for that event.
SENIOR NIGHT
* Saturday's match vs. Brigham Young has been designated Senior Night, and the volleyball program will honor seven players making their final regular-season appearances in Peterson Gym.
* Five of those athletes have been at SDSU for their entire four-year collegiate career: Melissa Cansdale (actually a fifth-year senior), Aspen McPartland, Megan Schauermann, Zlatina Anguelova and Robyn Gregg.
* Two others came to the Aztecs from other four-year schools beginning with the 2002 season: Sara Engstrom and Natalie Sande.
SERIES RECORDS
* San Diego State has compiled a record of 16-12 against Utah since the teams first met in 1982. The Utes have won 10 of the last 13 meetings including a 3-0 victory over SDSU in Salt Lake City in mid-October. The Aztecs' last three wins in the series have all come in San Diego (each of the last three seasons) when the Utes were ranked among the nation's top 25. SDSU is 9-2 against the Utes' in Peterson Gym.
* The Aztecs are 15-26 in the series with Brigham Young after losing a five-game match to the Cougars in Provo last month. Last season, SDSU swept both matches from the Cougars, and in the process ended an 11-match losing streak at the hands of BYU. Brigham Young has dominated the series since 1990, winning 23 of the 28 matches between the teams. SDSU is just 8-9 on its home floor vs. the Cougars.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
* Utah enters the week with an overall record of 16-7 and 10-2 in the MWC. The Utes have won nine of their last 10 matches, losing only to league leader Colorado State, and they have clinched the number-two seed for the conference tournament next week. Utah is led by 2002 Mountain West Conference Co-Player of the Year Kim Turner who is averaging 4.02 kpg, 2.29 dpg and 1.51 bpg while hitting .336. Other top players include Shelly Sommerfeldt (3.67 kpg) and Lyndsey Henderson (2.69 kpg, 1.15 bpg).
* Brigham Young (18-7; 8-4 MWC) will play at UNLV on Friday before visiting Peterson Gym the next night. Depending on the weekend's results, the Cougars will be either the number three or four seed next week. BYU's top players include Kim Wilson (3.83 kpg, 1.90 dpg) and April Varner (3.48 kpg, 1.88 dpg). Lindsey Hartsock and Laura Nielsen are both averaging 1.26 blocks per game.
MOST RECENTLY
* San Diego State won all three of its matches last week to extend its current win streak to four.
* The week began with a come-from-behind win over 18th-ranked San Diego, 3-2 (23-30, 23-30, 30-24, 30-25, 15-9), on the Torero's home floor. Aspen McPartland had 13 kills for the Aztecs while Melissa Cansdale had 11 with a .348 hitting percentage. SDSU out-blocked USD 20-5 for the match.
* On Friday, the Aztecs defeated Air Force, 3-0 (30-18, 31-29, 30-28), in Colorado Springs. Kara Moriarty and Aspen McPartland had 11 kills apiece with McPartland completing a double double with 14 digs and contributing eight blocks.
* SDSU wrapped up the week with a 3-0 (30-26, 30-22, 30-23) victory over New Mexico in Albuquerque. The Aztecs hit .248 for the match compared to .100 for the home team. Megan Schauermann had 13 kills and five blocks while hitting .476 for the match.
HEAD COACH Mark Warner
* San Diego State head coach Mark Warner is in his ninth season at the helm of the Aztec women's program. His career record over that span stands at 156-119 (.567). He recorded his 150th career coaching victory in the win over New Mexico on Oct. 10.
* Over the past eight years, Warner has led SDSU to a pair of NCAA Tournament berths and a Western Athletic Conference championship. His has produced 13 all-conference players as well as a pair of league players of the year, a setter of the year, and a defensive player of the year.
* Warner was named the 2003 Mountain West Conference co-Coach of the Year.
TOURNEY TIME
* San Diego State will host the 2003 Mountain West Conference Volleyball Tournament, Nov. 20-22 in Peterson Gym. All eight league teams will participate with match-ups to be determined by the final MWC standings.
* Play begins on Thursday, Nov. 20, with matches scheduled for 11:00 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Although the parings will not be known until the week before the event begins, San Diego State will play the 7:00 p.m. match the first evening of tourney play.
* The championship match will be played on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 7:00 p.m.
* Single-session passes for each day of the tourney will cost $7 for adults and $5 for students. All-tournament passes will cost $15 and $12 respectively.
THE SEEDINGS
* San Diego state will be either the third or fourth seed at next week's MWC tournament, and they hold their fate in their own hands.
* To secure the third seed, the Aztecs must defeat both Utah and BYU this weekend. At worst, that would give SDSU and BYU identical records, and the Aztec would win the tiebreaker.
* Entering the final weekend of league-play, the only teams to have secured their seedings for the tourney are Colorado State (1), Utah (2) and New Mexico (8). The fifth through seventh seed will be decided among UNLV, Air Force and Wyoming.
MCPARTLAND LEADS OFFENSE
* Middle blocker Aspen McPartland recorded her eighth double double of the year with 11 kills and 14 digs at Air Force last Friday.
* She had been in double figures in kills in 19 matches prior to recording seven in the win at New Mexico last weekend.
* In last week's three matches, she averaged 2.82 kills, 2.27 digs and 1.91 blocks per game while hitting .297.
CANSDALE STEPS UP
* Senior Melissa Cansdale had the team's best hitting percentage over last week's three matches at .309.
* She hit .348 in the win over 18th-ranked USD, finishing with 11 kills and seven blocks.
* Her 11 kills in that match was a personal season best.
* She also averaged 1.55 blocks per game last week to improve her season mark to 1.28 bpg, second-best on the squad.
MORIARTY DOUBLES UP
* Kara Moriarty recorded 12 digs in the match at USD last week, the fifth time this season she has been in double figures in that category. She also hit over .300 in two SDSU's contests last week.
* Moriarty is the only Aztec other than Aspen McPartland to average more than three kills per game this season (3.05 kpg). She leads the team in digs at 2.24 per game.
SCHAUERMANN SHINES
* Megan Schauermann's 13 total blocks against University of San Diego last Tuesday established a new career high for the senior from Vancouver, Wash. Her 12 block assists in that match was also a personal career best.
* Her 21 blocks over three matches last week improved her season average to 1.60 blocks per game. Her blocking average ranks fifth in the NCAA Division I statistics this week.
* She has totaled 152 block assists this season and is approaching the Aztec record in that category. The current mark is 167 block assists in a season, set by Erin Grady during the 2000 campaign. With at least three matches left, Schauermann has that record well within range.
* Schauermann set a new SDSU hitting percentage mark in the match against Air Force on Oct 11th. Her .867 attack percentage (13 kills, 0 errors, 15 attacks) was the best-ever for an SDSU player in a three-game match.
* Her 13 kills at New Mexico tied her career high.
MCPARTLAND MILESTONES
* Middle blocker Aspen McPartland recorded the 1,000th dig of her SDSU career in the match vs. UNLV on Oct. 25.
* She picked up the 1,000th kill of her Aztec career in SDSU's match against Nicholls State on Sept. 12. Entering this week, she now has accumulated 1,271 kills during her four seasons at SDSU.
* The senior from San Diego (Grossmont HS) needs just eight more kills to break into the top 10 on the SDSU career kills list.
* McPartland is the sixth player in school history to record both 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs during her career.
* She continues to lead San Diego State in kill average (3.72 kpg) and hitting percentage (.338).
ON THE BLOCKS
* Three Aztecs are averaging over a block per game during the 2003 season: seniors Megan Schauermann (1.60 bpg), Melissa Cansdale (1.28 bpg) and Aspen McPartland (1.26 bpg).
* After 28 matches this season, SDSU is averaging 3.23 blocks per game.
* As a team, SDSU was ranked fourth in the nation in team blocking this week.
AMONG THE MWC LEADERS
* Several Aztecs rank among the Mountain West Conference leaders this week.
* Megan Schauermann ranks first in blocking (1.60 bpg) while Melissa Cansdale is third (1.28 bpg) and Aspen McPartland is sixth (1.26).
* McPartland's .338 hitting percentage is third-best in the league this week while Sara Engstrom's 11.52 assist per game average places her fifth.
* As a team, SDSU ranks first in blocks (3.23 bpg).
* Schauermann's .867 attack percentage vs. Air Force on Oct. 11 is the best individual effort in the league this season.
* McPartland's and Schauermann's 13 total blocks vs. Santa Clara and San Diego respectively are also the best in the MWC while Cansdale's 11 vs. Miami ranks second.
* The team's .473 attack percentage vs. Harvard is the second-highest in a match in the conference while its 22.5 blocks against Santa Clara is also a league match high.
ON THE CHARTS
* Four current Aztecs appear on SDSU's top 10 career lists.
* Aspen McPartland is fifth in career digs with 1,046. The number-four spot is held by Angela Martin (1987-90) with 1,134.
* Robyn Gregg has moved up to sixth on the service ace list with a career total of 168. Angela Rock (1981-84) is fifth with 174.
* With 386 career block assists, McPartland has moved into third on the all-time list. The second spot is held by Martina Vitkova-Engels (1994-1997) with 420.
* Megan Schauermann has now moved into the top 10 in block assists. Her career total of 372 to begin the week ranks fifth. Carrie Mapes' (1994-97) 381 career block assists occupies the number-four spot on the list.
* With her 20 blocks assists last week, Schauermann has vaulted into the SDSU top 10 in that single-season category. She has 152 this year and has moved into the number-three spot on the Aztec list. The number-two spot is held by Kris Morton (1985) with 165.
* Senior Sara Engstrom is 10th on the SDSU single-season list for assists with 1,129 this year. With 1,187 assists in 1987, Stacy Bollinger occupies the number-nine position in that category. Engstrom's two-year total of 1,145 also ranks 10th on the Aztec career list.
TEAM NOTES
* The USD match marked the first time that SDSU had come back from a 2-0 deficit to win a match since defeating Northern Arizona on Oct., 25, 1999, by scores of 12-15, 9-15, 15-7, 15-9, 15-12.
* San Diego State is the only Mountain West Conference member to record wins over two top-20 teams this season. The Aztecs defeated 10th-ranked Arizona on Sept. 4 and 18th-ranked University of San Diego on Nov. 4. Both of those victories came on the opponent's home court.
* The Aztecs have reached double figures in team blocks in four of their last five matches.
* SDSU has a chance to record back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since the 1995 and 1996 campaigns.
* The team's current four-match win streak equals its longest of the season and its best since a five-match streak to begin the 2001 season.
PLAYER NOTES
* With six service aces over three matches last week, setter Sara Engstrom now leads the team in that category this season with 33.
* Engstrom's six blocks vs. USD was her second-best total of the season.
* Megan Schauermann leads the team in hitting in its 12 MWC matches at .346, ranking fifth in the conference in league matches only.
* Four Aztecs have appeared in every game this season for SDSU: McPartland, Schauermann, Engstrom and Gregg.
UP NEXT
* San Diego State will host the 2003 Mountain West Conference beginning Thursday, Nov. 20, in Peterson Gym.
* No matter where they are seeded, the Aztecs will play the 7:00 p.m. match that evening.