Sept. 9, 2004
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TOURNEY TIME IN TEXAS
* San Diego State is set for its first road trip of the season as it travels to San Marcos, Texas, to participate in the Century Tel/Honda Classic Premiere Tournament hosted by Texas State.
* The Aztecs open tourney play on Friday, Sept. 10, against the host Bobcats at 12:30 p.m. (CDT). SDSU will have a second match on Friday as they are slated to face Ole Miss at 5:30 p.m. (CDT) that evening.
* San Diego State concludes its schedule in the round robin event when it takes on James Madison on Saturday, Sept, 11, at 12:30 p.m. (CDT).
SERIES RECORDS
* The Aztecs hold a 3-0 series lead over Texas State with those three matches being contested when the school was known as Southwest Texas State. The teams first met in 1986 at the Fullerton Classic with SDSU winning in two games. They met in a tournament at CSU Fullerton again in 1989 with the Aztecs prevailing 3-0, then squared off on the Bobcats' home floor later that same season with San Diego State claiming another 3-0 win.
* This will mark the first-ever meeting on the volleyball court between San diego State and James Madison.
* The Aztecs were victorious (3-1) in their only previous meeting with Mississippi, which came in the 1994 season opener at a tourney hosted by Texas-Arlington.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
* Texas State (formerly Southwest Texas State) has posted a 2-2 record in the early going. After opening with wins over Delaware and Iona, theBbobcats dropped matches to Cal State Fullerton and Texas A&M. Texas State is paced by middle blocker Kacee Rogers, who leads the team with averages of 2.89 kills/game and 1.11 blocks/game along with a .426 hitting percentage. Outside hitters Elizabeth Nwoke and Kelly Fletcher are averaging 2.65 and 2.56 kpg respectively. Libero Amy Ramirez has recorded 4.06 digs per game. Senior outside hitter Stephanie Torregrosa is a San Diego native who played at University City High School.
* James Madison enters the week with a record of 3-1 after finishing second at the UNC Charlotte tournament with wins over Charleston Southern and Bucknell. A loss to the host team was followed by a home win over Norfolk State. The Dukes are a young team with eight of their 13 played being either freshmen or sophomores. JMU is led by outside hitter Emilee Hussack (3.83 kpg, 1.83 dpg) and middle blocker Ashley Copenhaver (3.58 kpg, .407 hitting percentage). Both Hussack and Copenhaver were named to the all-tourney team at UNC Charlotte last week. The Dukes will face Mississippi Friday morning before taking on SDSU that evening.
* Mississippi enters the tourney with a perfect 4-0 record after compiling wins over Alabama-Birmingham, Eastern Michigan, Baylor and Morehead State to start the season. Leading the Rebel offense thus far are middle blocker Kristen Carroll (3.31 kpg) and outside hitter Tricia Eble (3.00 kpg). Eble is also averaging 1.08 digs and 1.15 blocks per game. MB Jill Ohrman provides additional strength at the net with an average of 1.31 blocks per game. Last year's leader in kills and digs, Elena Garcia, is averaging 4.31 digs per game. Ole Miss is hitting .277 as a team while holding opponents to a .119 attack percentage,
HEAD COACH MARK WARNER
* San Diego State head coach Mark Warner is in his 10th season at the helm of the Aztec women's program. His career record over that span stands at 157-126 (.555).
* Over the past nine years, Warner has led his teams to a pair of NCAA Tournament berths and a Western Athletic Conference championship. His tutelage has produced 15 all-conference players and he was named the Mountain West Conference co-coach of the year in 2002.
LAST WEEK
* San Diego State opened its 2004 campaign with four consecutive losses at home, beginning with a defeat at the hands of 17th-ranked Arizona on Sept. 1. The young Aztecs played tough, losing in three games by a total of 10 points (26-30, 26-30, 30-32). Melissa Stapley, Angela Verdenacci and Lindsey Mahan led the Aztecs with eight kills apiece while Ashley Bowker contributed five blocks.
* Two days later, SDSU hosted the 2004 SDSU Invitational starting with a match against Texas Tech. Despite a career-high 17 kills by Stapley, the Aztecs fell in four games (24-30, 33-31, 22-30, 16-30). Verdenacci and Mahan each had eight kills again for the Aztecs along with Audra Dent. SDSU recorded more kills, assists, digs and blocks than the Red Raiders, but came up short on the score line.
* That same evening, San Diego State dropped a 3-0 decision (27-30, 20-30, 18-30) to 18th-ranked UC Santa Barbara. Sophomore transfer Melanie Greene had a team-high seven kills in her first start of the season, but the team recorded just 28 total kills over the three games.
* On Saturday, the Aztecs concluded tourney action with a 3-1 loss (17-30, 30-25, 23-30, 24-30) to Wichita State. Three SDSU players finished the match in double figures in kills: Verdenacci (12), Stapley (10) and Bowker (10). Audra Dent contributed a career-best eight blocks while Bowker chipped in with seven.
YOUTH WILL BE SERVED
* The Aztecs are a young team in 2004 with one senior, six juniors, four sophomore and six freshmen.
* Although SDSU has a total of nine players returning, only two (Kara Moriarty and Kari Dykema) have seen significant collegiate action. Entering the season, the other seven returnees had played in a total of 26 games during their collegiate careers.
* San Diego State had five new starters when the season opened against Arizona on Sept. 1. Two of those starters (setter Kristen Castillo and outside hitter Lindsey Mahan) were true freshmen while the starting libero (Aime Cordeiro) was a freshman as well.
EARLY INJURIES
* Injuries to a pair of starters will affect the Aztecs at this weekend's tournament.
* Outside hitter Kara Moriarty, the lone senior and returning starter in 2004, suffered a pulled abdominal muscle in the season opener vs. Arizona and is expected to be out of action two to three weeks. Moriarty led the Aztecs in digs and was second in kill average last season.
* Freshman starting libero Aime Cordeiro suffered a sprained knee in the match against Wichita State last Saturday and is doubtful for this weekend. She is expected to return next week.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
* Although SDSU lost its top three blockers from a year ago, that area appears to continue to be one of the team's strengths in 2004.
* Junior Ashley Bowker, who had appeared in just four games prior to this season, is averaging 1.91 blocks per game after four matches to rank second in the Mountain West Conference in that category.
* Sophomore Audra Dent ranks seventh in the league with an average of 1.31 bpg.
* The duo of Bowker and Dent combined for 15 blocks in the Aztecs' most recent match (vs. Wichita State).
LOCAL CONNECTIONS
* Three members of the 2003 Aztec squad hail from the San Diego area.
* That trio includes Ashley Bowker (Grossmont HS), Aime Cordeiro (West Hills HS) and Vanessa Curtis (University of San Diego HS).
* Bowker is a junior who redshirted in her first year as an Aztec (2001). Both Curtis and Cordeiro are true freshmen.
* A fourth Aztec, junior Barbara Louie, is from Northern California, but spent two years at San Diego Mesa College before arriving at SDSU last season.
IT'S ALL RELATIVE
* Sophomore transfer Melanie Greene (Washington State) is the daughter of Ken Greene, a former All-American defensive back at Washington State who played for the San Diego Chargers and St. Louis Cardinals. He is currently a member of the football coaching staff at WSU.
* Freshman middle blocker is the sister of former Aztec Nicole Curtis, who played at SDSU from 1996 to 1999.
PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS
* For the fifth year in a row, the Mountain West Conference coaches and media poll has predicted the Aztecs to finish fourth in the league. SDSU has finished fourth in the league standings in three of the previous four years with the exception coming in 2002 when they were second.
* Colorado State is picked to win the league title this year, followed by Brigham Young and Utah. The results of the preseason poll are as follows:
Team (1st-placevotes) Pts.1. Colorado State (14)...1182. BYU...................1003. Utah (1)...............974. San Diego State........655. Wyoming................596. UNLV...................407. New Mexico.............338. Air Force..............28
TEAM NOTES
* San Diego State has opened its season with four losses on three other occasions (1998, 1999, 2000), but has never lost five in a row to begin a campaign. Its current four-match losing streak is the team's longest since the start of the 2000 season.
* SDSU's best hitting percentage this season (.235) came in the season opener vs. 17th-ranked Arizona.
* The Aztecs have enjoyed a good deal of success on their home floor, Peterson Gym. Since 1990, the Aztecs have compiled a 125-61 (.668) overall home record and a 68-28 (.708) conference record in the facility. Last season, SDSU went 8-6 overall at home and was 4-3 in conference action in Peterson Gym.
* SDSU's 2004 schedule includes Five teams ranked in the USA Today/CSTV preseason Top 25: Colorado State (11), UC Santa Barbara (16), Arizona (17), Loyola Marymount (18) and Utah (24). In addition, three of this season's foes earned berths at the 2003 NCAA Tournament (San Francisco, San Diego, Brigham Young) while four others on the schedule had 20-win seasons in 2003: Oral Roberts, Fresno State, Wichita State, and Texas State. * Ninth-year coach John Ross was promoted to the position of Associate Head Volleyball Coach this past July. Ross is a former SDSU pkayer (1989-93) who joined the women's program as an assistant coach in 1996.
PLAYER NOTES
* Freshman libero Aime Cordeiro leads the Aztecs with an average of 2.46 digs per game. She had 16 digs in the match vs. Texas Tech last Friday. Cordeiro is the first Aztec to play the libero position on a regular basis since it came into effect in the women's collegiate game two years ago.
* Redshirt sophomore Nina Metzger made her Aztecs debut this past weekend as a defensive specialist and recorded five service aces over four games (1.25 sa/g).
* In her second season at SDSU, Melissa Stapley has already recorded new SDSU career-bests after just four matches in kills (17), assists (3), aces (3), digs (6), and blocks (4).
* Freshman Lindsey Mahan was coached by former San Diego State men's player Digger Graybill at Walla Walla (Wash.) High School.
UP NEXT
* San Diego State stays on the road next week as it travels to Fresno, Calif., to participate in the Fresno State Invitational.
* SDSU opens play against the University of San Francisco on Friday (Sept. 17), followed by a match against Fresno State that evening. Tourney action continues for the Aztecs on Saturday (Sept. 18) when they will face Oral Roberts.
* The Aztecs return to Peterson Gym on Wednesday, Sept. 21, when they will face the 22nd-ranked Loyola Marymount Lions at 6:00 p.m.