Oct. 26, 2004
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AZTECS SET TO VISIT COLORADO STATE AND WYOMING
* San Diego State returns to road action as it travels to the Rocky Mountain region to play a pair of Mountain West Conference matches.
* The trip begins with a stop in Fort Collins, Colo., where the Aztecs will face 9th-ranked Colorado State on Friday, Oct. 29, at 7:00 p.m. (MDT).
* Action continues the next evening (Saturday, Oct. 30) when SDSU visits Laramie to take on Wyoming at 7:00 p.m. (MDT).
SERIES RECORDS
* San Diego State is 14-15 in its series vs. Colorado State. The teams first met at the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) national championship tournament in Santa Barbara in 1980. Three years later they faced off in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Aztecs ended an eight-match losing streak at the hands of the Rams when they defeated CSU, 3-0, in Peterson Gym in November 2002. SDSU has dropped its last four matches (and 12 of 13) against the Rams, including a 3-0 decision at home in early October.
* SDSU has lost three times in its previous 27 meetings with the University of Wyoming to lead the series, 24-3. The teams first played each other during the 1984 season and have met annually (with the exception of 1998) on a home-and-home basis since 1990. The Aztecs have defeated the Cowgirls in eight of the most recent nine encounters between the teams including a 3-0 win in Peterson Gym earlier this month.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
* Colorado State (16-2 overall; 8-1 Mountain West Conference) begins the week ranked ninth in the nation in the USA Today/ CSTV national poll. The Rams will host Denver on Tuesday evening prior to facing San Diego State. CSU has three returning all-MWC players in Katie Joe Shirley-Cahoon (MB), Tess Rogers (OH) and Melissa Courtney (S). Courtney was the league co-player of the year in 2003. Rogers averages 3.79 kpg with Shirley-Cahoon right behind her at 3.17 kpg. The Rams are hitting a league-leading .292 (.312 in league play) while almost three blocks a game.
* Wyoming enters weekend action with an overall record of 12-9. The Cowgirls are 5-4 in MWC play and hold down fourth place. UW will host UNLV at home on Friday night. Leading the Cowgirls is senior Sara Maytorena (3.64 kpg, 2.21 dpg, .281 hitting percentage), an all-conference selection a year ago. Teammate Rachel Smith is averaging 3.16 kills per game and 2.23 digs per game while Lauren Scott leads the blockers at 1.19 bpg.
HEAD COACH Mark Warner
* San Diego State head coach Mark Warner is in his 10th season at the helm of the Aztec women's volleyball program. His career record over that time stands at 160-140 (.533).
* 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 played just one match last week, dropping a Mountain West Conference contest at home.
* On Friday (Oct. 22), the Aztecs fell to UNLV in three games (30-21, 30-26, 30-18). The Rebels hit .422 for the match compared to .196 for the home side.
* Kara Moriarty led San Diego State with 10 kills, followed by setter Kristen Castillo with eight. Audra Dent contributed seven blocks while teammate Ashley Bowker finished with six.
NUMBER 300
* Last Friday's contest against UNLV was 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.
MAHAN COMING ON
* In the past three matches, freshman outside hitter Lindsey Mahan has hit .485 with a total of 20 kills and just four attack errors on 33 attempts.
* Over the team's most recent seven matches, she has an attack percentage of .369 (43-12-84).
* Mahan has also recorded at least one block in 13 straight outings.
* Her hitting percentage of .316 in conference matches ranks seventh in the league while her overall percentage of .290 is ninth-best in the league this week.
MORIARTY SOLID UP FRONT
* Senior outside hitter Kara Moriarty has chalked up 46 kills in SDSU's last three matches (11 games), an average of 4.18 kpg. She finished in double figures in kills in all four of those matches.
* Her average of 3.50 kills a game in league play is fourth-best in the MWC this week.
* Moriarty hit a season-best .354 vs. Air Force (10-5-19) on Oct. 16 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 10 matches since her return, she is averaging 3.60 kills per game and 2.07 digs per game.
* Moriarty is the lone senior and returning starter for SDSU this season.
STAPLEY LEADS OFFENSE
* After eight Mountain West matches, junior outside hitter Melissa Stapley's kill average of 3.32 kpg ranks eighth in conference game stats.
* 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 on Oct. 16 was her best as an Aztec.
* Stapley's 3.20 kills per game overall average is 10th-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.
CASTILLO ASSISTING
* Freshman setter Kristen Castillo has compiled 187 assists in SDSU's last five matches (15 games) for an average of 12.46 assists per game.
* Her season assist average entering this week is 10.23 per game.
* Her assist average in conference matches is 11.44 per game, and she ranks fifth in the league stats in that category.
* Over her last four matches, Castillo is hitting .515 with 19 kills in 33 attempts and just two errors.
* Castillo also leads the team in service aces with a total of 18, an average of 0.26 per game. She ranks ninth 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.
BOWKER ON THE ATTACK
* In her first season as a middle blocker, junior Ashley Bowker is averaging 1.34 blocks/game, a mark that ranks fifth in the Mountain West Conference this week.
* She recorded six total blocks vs. UNLV last Friday, and over the last three matches has averaged 1.88 bpg.
* 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 recorded seven blocks in the match against UNLV last week, her second-highest total of the season.
* Dent is the lone Aztecs to have recorded at least one block in every match this season.
* Her season average of 1.15 bpg places her 10th in the overall MWC stats.
CORDEIRO MISSING IN ACTION
* Freshman libero Aime Cordeiro will miss this weekend's two matches after injuring her knee against UNLV last Friday. The duration of her absence will be known later this week.
* In SDSU's last five matches, she is averaging 4.00 digs per game.
* Her overall mark of 3.67 digs per game ranks fourth in the MWC this week.
* Cordeiro's 21 digs at Fresno State earlier this season is still the most in the conference in a three-game match this year.
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
* 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 on Oct. 16. 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 128-66 (.660) overall home record and a 71-32 (.689) 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 returns home next weekend for its final home matches of the 2004 season.
* On Friday, Nov. 5, the Aztecs will host 17th-ranked Utah in a match slated to start at 7:00 p.m. in Peterson Gym.
* The next evening (Nov. 6), SDSU face Brigham Young at 7:00 p.m. The BYU match will be Senior Night for the SDSU program.