Nov. 19, 2003
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TOURNEY TIME
* The Aztecs will host the fifth annual Mountain West Conference Volleyball Championship tournament beginning on Thursday with all eight league teams participating.
* San Diego State earned the tourney's number-four seed by finishing fourth in the final league standings. As such, it will face fifth-seeded UNLV on Thursday, Nov. 20, at 7:00 p.m. (PST) in the first round in Peterson Gym.
* Should they defeat UNLV, the Aztecs would advance to the semifinals against the winner of the Colorado State-New Mexico match. That semifinal match would be played on Friday (Nov. 21) 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.
TOURNAMENT BRACKET
* The MWC Volleyball Championship gets underway on Thursday when Utah and Wyoming square off at 11:00 a.m. The compete tournament schedule is as follows:
Nov. 21 G1 #2 Utah vs. #7 Wyoming...............11:00 a.m. G2 #3 Brigham Young vs. # 6Air Force.....1:30 p.m. G3 #1 Colorado State vs. #8New Mexico....4:00 p.m. G4 #4 San Diego State vs. #5 UNLV........7:00 p.m.Nov. 22 G5 Winner G1 vs. Winner G2...............4:00 p.m. G6 Winner G3 vs. Winner G4...............7:00 p.m.Nov. 23 G7 Winner G5 vs. Winner G6...............7:00 p.m.
TOURNAMENT TELEVISION
* The 2003 MWC Tournament will be shown locally on Channel 4 San Diego.
* The opening three matches on Thursday will be televised live at 11:00 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 4:00 p.m. The 7:00 p.m. match (SDSU vs. UNLV) will be shown on a tape-delayed basis at 10:30 pm. that same night.
* Friday's first semifinal match (scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. start) will be shown at 10:30 p.m. that evening after the Aztec basketball telecasts. The tournament championship match will be aired at 11:30 p.m. Saturday evening.
* The television satellite feed for the each day's action is as follows: Galaxy 11C TR20 Downlink 4100V
TOURNAMENTS PAST
* The Mountain West Conference has crowned three different champions in the first four years of its postseason tournament. In 1999, Colorado State defeated Brigham Young in Provo.
* The following year, Brigham Young returned the favor, upending the Rams in Fort Collins. In 2001, it was Utah defeating Colorado State, and the Utes repeated as champions last year when they beat Brigham Young in the final.
* In the first three years of the event, it was the tourney's number-two seed defeating the top seed in the final. Last season, Utah was the number-three seed and the Cougars were number four. The top seed going into the MWC tournament has never won it.
TOURNAMENT RECORD AND RESULTS
* The Aztecs overall record at the MWC Volleyball Championship is 2-4.
* SDSU lost in the first round in both 1999 (to Utah) and 2001 (to UNLV). In 2000, it defeated New Mexico in the first round before falling to Colorado State in the semifinals.
* In 2002, the Aztec defeated New Mexico to open tourney play, then fell to Utah in the semifinals.
SERIES RECORDS
* San Diego State is 13-3 in the series against UNLV including a 3-0 victory over the Rebels in Las Vegas in late September and a similar result in Peterson Gym in late October. The teams first met in 1985 when both were members of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA). They did not meet again until 11 years later (1996) when both were in the Western Athletic Conference.
* The Aztecs' last loss to UNLV came in November 2002 and was their first regular-season loss at the hands of the Rebels in MWC play. SDSU's record against UNLV in San Diego stands at 7-0.
TOURNEY OPPOSITION
* SDSU's record against the each of the seven Mountain West Conference teams is as follows:
MWC MWCTeam Overall Matches TourneyAir Force........13-1......7-1......0-0Brigham Young....15-27.....2-8......0-0Colorado State...14-13.....1-9.....0-1New Mexico.......23-9......8-2......2-0UNLV.............13-3......9-1......0-1Utah.............16-14.....3-7......0-2Wyoming........,.26-3......8-2......0-0
SCOUTING THE REBELS
* UNLV ended the regular season with a record of 11-16 overall and 4-10 in Mountain West Conference play. The Rebels finished in a three-way tie for fifth in the final league standings, but earned the number-five seed by winning the tiebreaker over Air Force and Wyoming.
* In 2001, SDSU and UNLV entered the tourney as the fourth and fifth seed respectively, and the Rebels defeated the Aztecs in a five-game match.
* UNLV is led by a pair of seniors in outside hitter Leiana Oswald (4.07 kills/game, 2.11 digs/game) and middle blocker Sheila Ocasio-Clemente (2.58 kpg, 1.10 bpg).
* The Rebel are one of only two MWC teams who have either improved their final league standing or remained in the same position in each year of conference play. In 1999, they finished seventh, followed by a sixth-place finish in 2000. They have place fifth each of the past three seasons.
MOST RECENTLY
* San Diego State dropped a pair of MWC matches at home last week to conclude its regular season.
* On Friday (nov. 14), the Aztecs fell to Utah, 3-0, as Aspen McPartland led SDSU with 10 kills.
* In the 3-0 loss to BYU on Saturday (Nov. 15), Megan Schauermann had a team-high 11 kills and five blocks.
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 156-121 (.563). 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.
ON THE BLOCKS
* Three Aztecs are averaging over a block per game during the 2003 season: seniors Megan Schauermann (1.60 bpg), Aspen McPartland (1.25 bpg) and Melissa Cansdale (1.24 bpg).
* After 30 matches this season, SDSU is averaging 3.20 blocks per game.
* As a team, the Aztecs are ranked seventh in the nation in team blocking this week with an average of 3.23 bpg, a mark that also leads the Mountain West Conference.
DEFEATING RANKED OPPONENTS
* 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 (3-1) on Sept. 4 and 18th-ranked University of San Diego (3-2) on Nov. 4. Both of those victories came on the opponent's home court.
* The University of San Diego 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.
SENIOR CLASS
* The Aztecs have seven seniors on this year's squad, the most in recent history. That group includes Aspen McPartland, Megan Schauermann, Robyn Gregg, Zlatina Anguelova, Melissa Cansdale, Sara Engstrom and Natalie Sande.
* Five members of that group have been starters throughout the season while the other two play regularly on the back line coming off the bench.
* The only non-senior who has seen significant playing time this season is junior Kara Moriarty.
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 Aspen McPartland is fifth (1.25 bpg) and Melissa Cansdale is sixth (1.24 bpg).
* McPartland's .332 hitting percentage is sixth-best in the league this week while Sara Engstrom's 11.47 assists per game average places her fifth.
* As a team, SDSU ranks first in blocks (3.20 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. McPartland also has 1,289 career kills to rank 10th.
* Robyn Gregg has moved up to sixth on the service ace list with a career total of 172. Angela Rock (1981-84) is fifth with 174.
* With 392 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 379 to begin the week ranks fifth. Carrie Mapes' (1994-97) 381 career block assists occupies the number-four spot on the list.
* Schauermann has vaulted into the SDSU top 10 in the single-season block assist category. She has 159 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 ninth on the SDSU season list for assists with 1,193 this year. With 1,211 assists in 1996, Andrea Clark occupies the number-eight position in that category.
* Engstrom's two-year SDSU total of 1,209 also ranks 10th on the Aztec career list.
MCPARTLAND LEADS OFFENSE
* Middle blocker Aspen McPartland recorded her eighth double double of the year with 11 kills and 14 digs at Air Force on Nov. 7.
* She has been in double figures in kills in 20 of San Diego State's last 22 matches.
* In last week's two matches, she averaged 3.00 kills, 2.00 digs and 1.17 blocks per game.
SCHAUERMANN SHINES
* Megan Schauermann's 13 total blocks against University of San Diego on Nov. 4 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 efforts last week allowed her to maintain her season average at 1.60 blocks per game. That blocking average ranks fifth in the NCAA Division I statistics this week.
* She has totaled 159 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.
* 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.
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 1,289 kills during her four seasons at SDSU.
* 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 (3.68 kpg) and hitting percentage (.332).
ANGUELOVA JOINS 1,000 KILL CLUB
* Zlatina Anguelova, a senior outside hitter from Sofia, Bulgaria, reached a milestone earlier this season when she recorded her 1,000th career kill in the match against New Mexico on Oct. 10.
* She was the second Aztec to accomplish that feat this season, joining teammate Aspen McPartland.
TEAM NOTES
* Setter Sara Engstrom is now tied for the team lead in service aces with Robyn Gregg with 34.
* Engstrom's six blocks vs. USD was her second-best total of the season.
* Megan Schauermann finished as the team's leading hitter in its 14 conference outings at .341, ranking fifth in the conference in league matches only.
* Four Aztecs have appeared in every game this season: McPartland, Schauermann, Engstrom and Gregg. Junior Kara Moriarty has played in 103 of SDSU's 104 games.
* San Diego State has been in double figures in team blocks in 16 matches this year with a high of 22.5 vs. Santa Clara. The Aztecs 41 block assists in that match established a new school record.
* SDSU's longest win streak this season has been four matches (on two occasions). The Aztecs have lost two in a row five times, but did not have a three-match losing streak this year. Entering the conference tourney, San Diego State has lost two in a row.