Sept. 15, 2004
Complete Release and Season Statistics in PDF Format
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AZTEC CONTINUE ROAD ACTION AT FRESNO INVITATIONAL
* San Diego State makes its second straight tournament road trip of the season as it travels to Fresno, Calif., to participate in the Fresno State Invitational.
* The Aztecs open tourney play on Friday, Sept. 17, against San Francisco at 12:30 p.m. SDSU will have a second match on Friday it is slated to face the host school at 7:30 p.m.
* San Diego State concludes its schedule in the round robin event when it takes on Oral Roberts on Saturday, Sept, 18, at 12:30 p.m.
SERIES RECORDS
* The Aztecs hold a 4-0 series lead over San Francisco. The teams first met in 1986 in San Diego and played home-and-home matches during the 1991 and 1992 campaigns. Their most recent match came in 2002 at the University of Hawaii's Wahine Challenge tournament.
* The SDSU-Fresno State series dates back to 1980 with the Aztecs holding a 20-8 advantage. The first five meetings between the teams were played at neutral sites with SDSU claiming victories on each occasion. The Aztecs and Bulldogs met regularly from the mid-1980s on as members of the Big West Conference and the Western Athletic Conference. They have not faced each other since 1999, and FSU has won the last four matches in the series.
* San Diego State and Oral Roberts first played each other back in 1979 at the Women's Collegiate Tournament at SDSU. Their only other match-up came last season when the Aztec defeated the Golden Eagles at the Wichita State tournament.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
* After winning three of its first five matches, San Francisco has dropped four straight to see its record fall to 3-6. Two of those recent four losses have come to nationally-ranked squads (#7 Penn State and #12 Stanford). The Dons will face Fresno State Thursday evening (Sept. 16) prior to playing SDSU on Friday. USF is led by Stephanie Voelckers (4.19 kpg, 3.16 dpg) and Theresa Hart (3.48 kpg, 2.52 dpg).
* Fresno State enters the week with a record of 4-3, but has lost three of its last four matches. Most recently, the Bulldogs fell to Sacramento State at last weekend's Cal Poly SLO tourney. This weekend will mark FSU's first home appearances of the season after opening with seven road matches. Senior outside hitter Kristen Fenton was an AVCA honorable mention All-America selection last season. She leads the team at 4.85 kpg and 4.54 dpg. Junior MB Lauren Howell is averaging 1.54 blocks per game.
* Oral Roberts is 2-6 and has dropped its last five consecutive matches. Of the 11players appearing on the Golden Eagles' roster, seven are from foreign countries (Croatia-3, Brazil-2, Canada-2). Among the top offensive players for ORU are outside hitter Ori Zuzic (4.63 kpg, 2.59 dpg) and middle blocker Maja Devic (2.07 kpg). Defensive specialist Becky Dreher is averaging 5.41 digs per game. Orals Roberts will face UNLV and San Francisco on Friday before meeting the Aztecs Saturday afternoon.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 stands at 157-129 (.549).
* 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
* SDSU dropped its three matches at last weekend's tournament in San Marcos, Texas. The Aztecs opened play with a 3-0 (23-30, 17-30, 18-30) loss to host Texas State. Melissa Stapley led San Diego State with eight kills while libero Aime Cordeiro had 10 digs.
* The Aztecs' second match saw them drop a 3-0 (26-30, 27-30, 25-30) decision to Mississippi. Stapley against paced SDSU with 16 kills and also had nine digs. Freshman Lindsey Mahan led the defense at the net with six blocks.
* The final match vs. James Madison saw SDSU take a 2-0 lead before losing in five games (30-27, 30-18, 26-30, 26-30, 8-15). Four Aztecs finished the match in double figures in kills: Melissa Stapley (14), Audra Dent (14), Lindsey Mahan (12) and Angela Verdenacci (10).
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.
CAREER HIGHS
* Several Aztecs recorded their SDSU career bests during last weekend's tournament.
* Melissa Stapley's nine digs in the matches vs. Mississippi and vs. James Madison were Aztec bests for her.
* Freshman Kristen Castillo's 46 assists in the match vs. James Madison was her highest total this season.
* Ashley Bowker's seven blocks vs. James Madison tied her career best as an Aztec.
* Junior Barbara Louie had 10 digs vs. Mississippi, her first double-digit effort.
* Freshman Lindsey Mahan's six blocks against Mississippi was her best effort of the season.
* Audra Dent's 14 kills vs. James Madison is her personal best as an Aztec.
MWC STAT RANKINGS
* SDSU ranks fourth in the Mountain West Conference as a team in both blocks (2.56 bpg) and service aces (1.76 sapg).
* The Aztecs are one of two teams with two individuals ranked among the top 10 in the league in blocking. That duo includes Ashley Bowker (fourth at 1.40 bpg) and Audra Dent (seventh at 1.21 bpg).
* Melissa Stapley's 3.17 kills per game average is 11th-best in the MWC this week. Her 16 kills against Mississippi last Friday is the third-highest single-match total in the conference this fall.
* Kristen Castillo is 10th in service aces and her six vs. James Madison last Saturday is tied for the most in a match by an MWC player this season.
MORIARTY STILL MISSING
* The outside hitter from Idaho Falls, Idaho, returned to practice this week, but in a restricted role. She will miss this week's tourney in Fresno and is expected to be back for the Mountain West Conference opener at UNLV on Sept. 25.
BAD STREAK
* San Diego State's seven-match losing streak is the longest in the history of the volleyball program since it began intercollegiate competition in 1976.
* The previous longest streak was six matches on two occasions (once each during the 1998 and 1999 seasons).
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 1.40 blocks per game after seven matches to rank fourth in the Mountain West Conference in that category.
* Sophomore Audra Dent ranks seventh in the league with an average of 1.21 bpg.
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 nine players averaging over a dig per game this 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 2.45 digs per game. She had 10 digs in the match vs. Texas State 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.
* Melissa Stapley just missed recording her first career double double in two matches last weekend. She came up one dig short with nine against both Mississippi (16 kills) and James Madison (14 kills).
* Stapley is averaging 3.54 kills per game over her last three matches.
* Kristen Castillo's six aces vs. James Madison last Saturday were the most by an Aztec since Robyn Gregg had nine vs. Air Force on Oct. 18, 2002.
* 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 returns home next week for a mid-week match-up with 20th-ranked Loyola Marymount on Tuesday, Sept. 21 at 6:00 p.m. in Peterson Gym.
* Then its back on the road as SDSU opens Mountain West conference play at UNLV on Friday, Sept. 24, at 7:00 p.m.