Sept. 27, 2005
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AZTECS TRAVEL TO HIGH COUNTRY FOR PAIR OF MWC ROAD MATCHES
*San Diego State, winner of four of its last five and six of its last eight matches, hits the road this week for a pair of Mountain West Conference away matches. On Friday, Sept. 30, the Aztecs will be in Colorado Springs to take on Air Force at 7:00 p.m. (MDT).
*The next day (Saturday, Oct. 1), the Aztecs will continue league play when they visit Albuquerque to face New Mexico. That match is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. (MDT).
SERIES RECORDS
*San Diego State holds a 15-1 mark in its previous 16 meetings with Air Force. The teams first met in 1996 while both were members of the Western Athletic Conference. Prior to that season, the Falcons had competed in the Colorado Athletic Conference with 1996 being their first year as a member of Division I. Air Force's lone win over SDSU came in Colorado Springs in 1999. San Diego State has won the last 11 meetings between the teams including a pair of wins last season. The Aztecs are 7-1 against the Falcons in Colorado Springs.
*The Aztecs are 24-10 in the series against New Mexico, including wins in 11 of the last 12 meetings between the teams. UNM ended SDSU's series 11-match win streak with a 3-0 victory in Albuquerque last November. The series goes back to 1976 when the Lobos claimed a 3-1 victory in Peterson Gym. The schools have met annually since 1990 when both were members of the Western Athletic Conference. SDSU has a record of 7-6 against the Lobos in matches played on UNM's home floor.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
*Air Force enters Thursday's match with a record of 4-12 overall and 0-2 in the MWC. The Falcons took 20th-ranked Brigham Young to five games at home last Saturday before falling to the Cougars. Air Force is led by middle blockers Kristin Hamlett (4.14 kpg, 2.19 dpg, 1.09 bpg) and Brooke Akers (3.03 kpg, 0.82 bpg). Hamlett is a senior from San Pasqual High School in Escondido, Calif.
*New Mexico begins the week with a 9-3 mark (0-2 MWC) and will host UNLV for a match on Friday (Sept. 30) prior to facing the Aztecs the next evening. Senior outside hitter Nicole Ryan leads the Lobos with an average of 3.60 kpg. UNM features two of the top blockers in the conference in Chelsea Sondrup (1.42 bpg) and Kelly Therkelsen (1.21 bpg), who rank second and sixth in the MWC this week.
HEAD COACH Mark Warner
*San Diego State head coach Mark Warner is in his 11th season at the helm of the Aztec women's program. His career record over that span stands at 171-152 (.529).
*Over the past 10 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.
MOST RECENTLY
*San Diego State split a pair of league contests at home last week, dropping a 3-0 (30-19, 30-25, 30-20) decision to Colorado State before defeating Wyoming , 3-0 (30-16, 30-18, 30-19).
*Against the Rams, SDSU hit .130 as a team while the Rams had a hitting percentage of .330 for the match. The Aztecs were led by Lindsey Noll, who had a team-high eight kills and seven blocks. Audra Dent and Melanie Greene contributed seven kills each.
*In the win over Wyoming, San Diego State had a season-best .420 attack percentage as three players finished in double figures in kills: Greene (13), Lindsey Mahan (11) and Dent (10). Greene recorded her fifth double-double of the year by adding 11 digs while Mahan had six blocks.
WALLER SERVES IT UP
*Freshman outside hitter Alicia Waller recorded seven service aces in the win over Wyoming last Saturday with six of them coming on consecutive points in the second game.
*With SDSU holding a 20-18 lead in that game, Waller served out the final 10 points to give the Aztecs a 30-18 win.
*Her seven aces were the most in a match by an Aztec since Robyn Gregg had nine against Air Force on October 18, 2002.
*Waller leads the Mountain West Conference this week in all-game statistics with an average of 0.56 aces per game. After two MWC matches, her league-leading average in conference play stands at 1.40 per game.
*Her seven aces ties for the most in a match by an MWC player this season. She also had six in a match earlier this year (vs. Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 7).
GREENE GETS GOING
*Junior OH Melanie Greene has recorded five double-doubles (kills and digs) this season including three in SDSU's most recent four matches.
*She leads the Aztecs with an average of 3.61 kills per game, a mark that ranks seventh in the conference this week.
*Over San Diego state's last five matches, Greene is hitting .362 while averaging 4.20 kills and 3.60 digs per game.
*In 2005, she is accounting for an average of 4.13 points per game for SDSU.
*Her six service aces against Binghamton on Sept, 17 was a new career best while her 20 kills in the match vs. Cleveland State later that same day tied her career high.
*She was named to the all-tournament teams at both the Red Raider Round-up (at Texas Tech) and the Medical Mutual CSU Invitational (at Cleveland State), and was also named MVP of the latter event.
NOLL ADDS OFFENSE
*Middle blocker Lindsey Noll, a 6-5 transfer from Missouri, is hitting .319 in all matches to lead San Diego State and rank fifth in the conference in that category.
*She is hitting .500 after two league contests to rank second in MWC-match statistics. She also averaged 1.67 blocks per game in last weekend's opening league tilts.
*Over the Aztecs' last four outings, Noll is hitting .381 and averaging 2.5 kills and 1.5 blocks per game.
CORDEIRO KEEPS DIGGIN'
*Sophomore libero Aime Cordeiro continues to lead the MWC in digs with an average of 4.78 per game.
*Her 24 digs against Boise State on Sept. 9 was a career best for the sophomore from nearby Santee (West Hills HS).
*Cordeiro earned all-tournament honors at all three of the tourney in which the Aztecs played in 2005 (Aztec Invitational, Red Raider Round-Up and Medical Mutual CSU Invitational).
ON THE BLOCK
*After a slow start this fall, San Diego State's blocking has been coming on over the past several matches.
*The Aztecs have two regulars who average over a block a game entering the week: Lindsey Noll (1.07 bpg) and Lindsey Mahan (1.04 bpg). A third, Audra Dent, is just under one per game (0.91 bpg).
*SDSU is one of four MWC teams to have a pair of blockers among the top 10 in the league. Noll ranks ninth while Mahan is 10th in all-game stats.
*The team blocking average recently surpassed the final average of the 2004 campaign (2.49 bpg in 2005 compared to 2.47 bpg in 2004).
DUAL SETTERS
*San Diego State is using a two-setter rotation this season, alternating sophomore Kristen Castillo and freshman Leah Lathrop.
*Each setter has appeared in all 45 games, and between the two have averaged 12.47 assists, 0.49 service aces and 2.65 dpg.
*Individually, Castillo has a slightly higher assist average as she starts every game. She has had only six ball handling errors this season, with three of those coming in win over Cal State Fullerton.
SO FAR, SO GOOD
*Halfway through the 2005 season, statistical comparisons to last season indicate that the Aztecs are a much-improved team in 2005.
*Here are stat averages from the 2004 season and after the first 14 matches of the current campaign:
2005 2004KPG,....,15.58,,.12.84Pct........236.....152Asst/G...13.84...11.55Aces/G....1.78....1.12Digs.....14.67...11.83Blocks....2.49...2.47
AZTECS WIN TWO TOURNEYS
*San Diego State won a pair of tournament titles in 2005: the Red Raider Round-Up and the Medical Mutual CSU Invitational.
*The Aztecs captured the crown at the Medical Mutual CSU Invitational with a perfect 3-0 record. It was the second straight tournament title for the Aztecs, who had won the Red Raider Round-Up at Texas Tech the previous weekend with a 2-1 mark (tourney championship based on game W-L record).
*It marked the first time that SDSU won two in-season tournaments in the same year since it won tourneys at University of San Diego and New Mexico during the 1996 campaign.
ALL-TOURNEY AZTECS
*Four different Aztecs earned all-tournament honors during the three tournaments that SDSU competed in earlier this season.
*Sophomore libero Aime Cordeiro was a three-time all-tourney selection (Aztec Invitational, Red Raider round-UP, Medial Mutual CSU Invitational).
*Junior outside hitter Melanie Greene earned the honor at both the Red Raider Round-Up and the Medial Mutual CSU Invitational. She was also named the MVP of the latter event.
*Junior Audra Dent and freshman Alicia Waller were named all-tourney at the Aztec Invitational.
AZTEC NOTES
*Sophomore setter Kristen Castillo needs 63 assists to move into the top 10 on the Aztec career list.
*As a team, SDSU ranks among the top four in the conference in hitting percentage, kills, assists, digs and blocks.
*Lindsey Mahan averaged 1.33 blocks over last weekend's matches vs. Colorado State and Wyoming.
*Aime Cordeiro's 24 digs vs. Boise State are the most in the league this season in a three-game match.
*Brandie Molnar had a career-best four blocks vs. Colorado State last Thursday.
*Kristen Castillo is hitting .414 from her setter position. Last season she finished with a .263 attack percentage.
*Three Aztecs have recorded at least one block in every match this season: Audra Dent, Lindsey Mahan and Lindsey Noll.
*After recovering from a back injury, senior Ashley Bowker made her first appearance of the season during the Cleveland State tournament. She played in one game each in the matches vs. Niagara and Binghamton, averaging 1.50 kills and 1.00 blocks per game.
*The Aztecs have not played a five-game match this season and are the only MWC team not to do so. Their last one was against James Madison on Sept. 11 last year. The team's last victory in a five-game match was against University of San Diego on Nov. 4, 2003.
*Wyoming's 53 points in last Saturday's match was the fewest allowed (since rally scoring began) by the Aztecs since they gave up just 45 to Harvard on Sept. 18, 2003.
UP NEXT
*San Diego State continues road action in the Mountain West Conference next week as it travels to UNLV in its lone match of the week.
*That contest is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 7, at 7:00 p.m. at Cox Pavilion on the UNLV campus in Las Vegas.