Oct. 19, 2004
AZTECS HOSTS UNLV IN LONE MATCH OF THE WEEK
* San Diego State volleyball concludes a three-match home stand with a Mountain West Conference match against UNLV this week.
* The Aztecs and Rebels will meet on Friday (Oct. 22) at 7:00 p.m. in Peterson Gym.
SERIES RECORDS
* San Diego State is 14-4 in the series against UNLV including a 3-0 (25-30, 19-30, 21-30) loss in Las Vegas on Sept. 24 in the conference opener for both teams.
* 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.
* Since both schools became members of the Mountain West Conference in 1999, SDSU has won 10 of 13 meetings covering 11 regular-season matches and two contests at the annual MWC Tournament.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
* UNLV enters the week with an overall record of 10-7. It is tied for third place in the league standings with a 4-3 mark at the midpoint of the conference season.
* The Rebels are led by freshman outside hitter Maria Aladjova (3.95 kills/game) and sophomore middle blocker Lauren Miramontes (3.19 kpg, 0.97 dpg, 0.97 bpg). Aladjova is one of two Bulgarians who joined the team this season, the other being junior middle blocker Mariana Penchova.
* Libero Jada Walker leads the conference in digs in both the overall stats (5.00 dpg) and MWC stats only (4.70 dpg).
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 time stands at 160-139 (.535).
* 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 won a pair of MWC matches at home last weekend.
* On Friday (Oct. 15), the Aztecs got 12 kills apiece from Kara Moriarty and Melissa Stapley plus 10 from Audra Dent as they recorded a 3-0 (34-32, 30-15, 30-26) victory over New Mexico. Ashley Bowker had seven blocks in the match while libero Aime Cordeiro finished with 14 digs.
* The next evening, SDSU defeated Air Force by the score of 3-0 (30-20, 30-23, 30-27). The Aztecs got a balanced offensive effort as Moriarty was the lone SDSU player in double figures in kills with 10. San Diego State hit .357 for the match and had 9.5 team blocks to three for the Falcons.
NUMBER 300
* Friday's contest against UNLV will be head coach Mark Warner's 300th match at the helm of the San Diego State women's volleyball program.
* The 1987 San Diego State graduate became the Aztecs' fourth head coach in 1995 and has been named coach of the year in two different conferences during his tenure at SDSU.
AT YOUR SERVICE
* Freshman setter Kristen Castillo has compiled 161 assists in SDSU's last four matches (12 games) for an average of 13.42 assists/game. Her season average entering the week is 10.30 apg.
* Her assist average in conference matches is 11.82 per game, and she has moved up to fourth in the league stats in that category.
* In last weekend's two matches, Castillo hit .428 (6-0-14) with no errors.
* Castillo also leads the team in service aces with a total of 18, an average of 0.27 per game. She ranks 10th in the MWC in that stat category.
* Her six aces vs. James Madison earlier this season were the most by an Aztec since Robyn Gregg had nine vs. Air Force on Oct. 18, 2002.
MAHAN COMING ON
* In last week's two matches, freshman outside hitter Lindsey Mahan has hit .571 with a total of 14 kills and just two hitting errors.
* Over the team's most recent six matches, she has an attack percentage of .375.
* Mahan had also recorded at least one block in 13 straight outings.
* Her hitting percentage of .313 in conference matches ranks eighth in the league while her overall percentage of .288 is ninth-best in the league this week.
CORDEIRO DIGGIN' IT
* First-year libero Aime Cordeiro recorded 26 digs in SDSU's last two last two matches (4.33 dpg).
* She has hit double figures digs in four straight outings as well as six of the last seven matches and 11-of-13.
* She currently sits second in the Mountain West Conference in digs (league games) with an average of 4.73 dpg.
* Her overall mark of 3.76 digs/game ranks fourth in the MWC this week.
* Over San Diego State's last four matches, she is averaging 4.58 digs per game.
* Cordeiro's 21 digs at Fresno State earlier this season is still the most in the conference in a three-game match this year.
BOWKER ON THE ATTACK
* In addition to being the Aztecs' top blocker this season, junior Ashley Bowker is also contributing to the Aztec attack. Over the last four matches, she is averaging 2.45 kills per game.
* In last Saturday's win over Air Force, she had an attack percentage of .714 with five kills and no hitting errors. She is hitting .441 in SDSU's last three matches.
* In her first season as a middle blocker, she is averaging 1.31 blocks/game, a mark that ranks fifth in the Mountain West Conference this week.
* She recorded seven total blocks vs. New Mexico last Friday, her second-highest single-match total of the season.
* Bowker has hit double figures in kills three times this season with a high of 11 last vs. Wyoming on Oct. 1.
* Her .467 hitting percentage in the match vs. Wichita State (10k-3e-15ta) is the highest for an SDSU player (with minimum 10 kills) in 2004.
MAKING A DENT
* Sophomore Audra Dent played some of her best volleyball of the season last weekend as she hit .364 in SDSU's two matches.
* In those two outings, she averaged 3.0 kills per game and 1.33 blocks/game, both above her season averages.
* Dent is the lone Aztecs to have recorded at least one block in every match this season.
* Her season average of 1.10 bpg places her 10th in the overall MWC stats.
MORIARTY SOLID UP FRONT
* Senior outside hitter Kara Moriarty has chalked up 36 kills in SDSU's last three matches (8 games), an average of 4.50 kpg. She finished in double figures in kills in all three of those matches.
* Her average of 3.54 kills a game in league play is fourth-best in the MWC this week.
* Moriarty hit a season-best .354 vs. AF (10-5-19) and also had a pair of service aces in two games during that match.
* Moriarty missed 10 matches with a pulled abdominal muscle suffered in the season opener vs. Arizona on Sept. 1, returning on Oct. 1 for the match at UNLV.
* In the nine matches since her return, she is averaging 3.71 kills per game and 2.15 digs per game.
* Moriarty is the lone senior and returning starter for SDSU this season.
STAPLEY LEADS OFFENSE
* After seven MWC matches, junior outside hitter Melissa Stapley's kill average of 3.45 kpg ranks fifth in conference game stats.
* She totaled 21 kills in two matches last weekend for an average of 3.5 kpg.
* Stapley has recorded nine double-figure kill games this season to lead the team. In four of those contests, she has had nine digs to come up one short of her first career double double at SDSU.
* Her .462 attack percentage (9-3-13) against Air Force was her best as an Aztec.
* Stapley's 3.24 k/g average is ninth-best in the MWC this week in all-game stats. Her 23 kills against San Francisco on Sept. 17 is the fifth-highest single-match total in the conference this fall and second-best total for a four-game match. In addition, her 16 kills vs. Mississippi on Sept. 10 ties for the third-best total in a three-game match in the MWC this fall.
BAD STREAK GOOD STREAK
* The win over New Mexico last Friday ended a four-match losing streak for the Aztecs.
* The victory against Air Force on Saturday gave SDSU its first two-match winning streak of the year.
* In early October, San Diego State ended a season-opening 13-match losing streak when it defeated Wyoming, 3-1.
* SDSU's 13-match losing streak to begin the season is the longest in the history of the program. The previous longest was six on two occasions (in 1998 and 1999).
YOUTH WILL BE SERVED
* The Aztecs are a young team in 2004 with one senior, six juniors, four sophomore and six freshmen in Fresno.
* 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.
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.
TEAM NOTES
* San Diego State's MWC record at this point in the season last year was an identical 3-4 as they finished 7-7 in league play.
* Freshman middle blocker Vanessa Curtis had three kills and a pair of block assists in the one game in which she appeared vs. Air Force last Saturday. She has hit .500 in her last two appearances.
* Setter Kristen Castillo is the only Aztec to have played in every game this season. Castillo and Melissa Stapley are the only players to have started every match for SDSU in 2004.
* The Aztecs have enjoyed a good deal of success on their home floor, Peterson Gym. Since 1990, the Aztecs have compiled a 128-65 (.663) overall home record and a 71-31 (.696) conference record in the facility. Last season, SDSU went 8-6 overall at home and was 4-3 in conference action in Peterson Gym.
* 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.
UP NEXT
* San Diego State hits the road next week for a pair of Mountain West Conference matches in the Rockies.
* On Friday, Oct. 29, the Aztecs will visit 9th-ranked Colorado State for a match slated to start at 7:00 p.m. (MDT).
* The next evening (Oct. 30), SDSU will be in Laramie to face Wyoming at 7:00 p.m. (CDT).