Sept. 12, 2006
AZTECS OPEN MWC PLAY, TRAVEL TO CAL STATE FULLERTON TOURNEY
***San Diego State begins its 2006 Mountain West Conference season with a mid-week match at UNLV on Wednesday, Sept. 13, at 7:00 p.m. at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas.
***Upon returning from that match, the Aztecs will make their way north to compete in the Hawthorne Suites Fullerton Classic beginning Friday, Sept. 15 at Cal State Fullerton. They open play that afternoon against Penn at 2:30 p.m.
***SDSU continues action in Fullerton on Saturday, Sept. 16, with a match against Lipscomb at 1:00 p.m. They conclude tourney play against the host Titans at 7:00 p.m. that same evening.
SERIES RECORDS
***San Diego State is 14-8 in the series against UNLV including three losses to the Rebels during the 2005 season. 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 17 meetings. UNLV has won the last five matches with the Aztecs.
***This will be the first ever meeting on the volleyball court between SDSU and Penn.
***The Aztecs match against Lipscomb on Saturday will be also the first between the schools.
***San Diego State's record against Cal State Fullerton over the years stands at 40-2 in a series that began back in 1976. SDSU won the first 32 meetings before the Titans were victorious on their home floor during the 1989 season. CSF won its second match against the Aztecs in 2004, 3-0, also in Fullerton. SDSU won last year's encounter in San Diego by a 3-1 margin.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
***UNLV enters the week riding a five-match win streak with a mark of 7-2 heading into the 2006 MWC opener. MB Lauren Miramontes leads the Rebel offense with averages of 3.57 kpg and 1.29 bpg. Two of her teammates also average over three kills per game: OH Maria Aladjova (3.48 kpg) and OH Brittani Lumsden (3.38 kpg). UNLV leads the league in digs as a team and has five regulars averaging three or more per game.
***Penn is off to a 0-3 start after dropping three matches at last weekend's Comfort Suites Invitational in Charlotte, N.C. Eight of the 18 players on the Quakers' roster are from California. The offense is led by MB Kathryn Turner (3.00 kpg. .300, 0.80 bpg) and OH Anna Shlimak (2.40 kpg, 4.80 dpg, 0.5 aces/game). Libero Liz Hurst is averaging five digs per game.
***Lipscomb began its season with three victories, but has dropped its last seven in a row to fall to 3-7. The Lady Bisons will play CSU Fullerton Friday evening before meeting the Aztecs. Team offensive leaders include MB Alex Scruggs (2.86 kpg, 0.65 bpg) and OH Cara Wilbur (2.77 kpg, 2.51 dpg). Libero Ann Mullins is averaging 5.76 digs per game.
***Cal State Fullerton has a record of 8-1 after winning the Lobo Invitational at the University of New Mexico last weekend. Their lone loss in 2006 came at Loyola Marymount. The Titans top players include MB Brittany Moore (3.23 kpg, 1.19 bpg) and OH Breanna Trudeau (3.23 kpg, 0.77 bpg). CSF is averaging over three kills and one block per game more than its opponents.
HEAD COACH Mark Warner
***San Diego State head coach Mark Warner is in his 12th season at the helm of the Aztec women's program. His career record over that span stands at 181-165 (.523).
***Over the past 11 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 dropped both of its matches at the Oregon State Salbasgeon Invitational last weekend.
***SDSU began play by dropping a 3-1 decision (30-19, 24-30, 24-30, 32-34) to Oregon State in Corvallis. Melanie Greene had 19 kills and 20 digs for the double-double while Stephanie Darnall had 16 kills along with 18 digs. Audra Dent had seven blocks while Kelley Wahlin and Bailee Hellwig had six each.
***The Aztecs then moved over to Eugene, Ore., where they fell to the University of Oregon in five games (24-30, 30-25, 22-30, 30-20, 6-15). Greene again led SDSU with a 17-kill, 17-dig performance with Darnall chipping in 10 kills and 19 digs. Wahlin contributed 10 blocks while Dent had six.
ALL-TOURNEY AZTEC
***Senior Melanie Greene was named to the all-tournament team at last weekend's Salbasgeon Suites Invitational.
***Over SDSU's two matches, she averaged 4.00 kills and 4.1 digs per game.
GREENE CONTINUES SOLID PLAY
***Senior Melanie Greene recorded a pair of double-doubles last weekend, her third and fourth of the 2006 season. She has hit double figures in kills and digs in each of SDSU's last three matches.
***She is the lone Aztec who has been in double figures in kills in every match.
***She leads the Aztecs in kills (3.69 kpg) and is second in digs (2.69 dpg).
***Greene is also averaging of 0.51 blocks a game, well over her career average of 0.23 bpg.
***Her 20 digs at Oregon State last Friday was a career high, bettering the 17 she had vs. UCLA in 2003 as a freshman at Washington State.
WAHLIN ON THE BLOCK
***Middle blocker Kelley Wahlin has started each of SDSU's last six matches after entering the season with no previous career starts.
***After tying a career best with six total blocks at Oregon State, she set a new personal Aztec best with 10 blocks in the match at University of Oregon (including eight block assists).
***In her last five matches, she is averaging 1.58 blocks per game.
***Wahlin's season average of 1.36 blocks per game ranks third in the Mountain West Conference. SERVING IT UP
***SDSU had a team-high 11 service aces in the match at Oregon last Saturday.
***In that contest, junior Aime Cordeiro recorded a career-best seven aces. With an average of 0.49 aces per game this season, she stands fourth in the conference in that category this week.
***The team total matched the best effort by the 2005 squad, which it accomplished in four matches.
DARNALL DOUBLES UP
***Like Melanie Greene, freshman outside hitter Stephanie Darnall has recorded double-doubles (kills-digs) in each of the team's last three matches.
***She is second on the squad in kill average (3.41 kpg) and third in digs (2.62 dpg).
***Darnall had back-to-back career highs in digs last weekend with 18 at Oregon State followed by 19 at Oregon. She average 4.1 dpg over those two matches.
HELLWIG AT THE NET
***Freshman middle blocker Bailee Hellwig has appeared in every game in each of the Aztecs' most recent four matches.
***In last weekend's two contests in Oregon, she averaged 1.44 kills and 1.22 blocks per game.
***Hellwig is averaging 1.29 blocks per game this season to rank fourth in the MWC this week, just behind teammate Kelley Wahlin.
CORDEIRO SETS RECORD
***Junior libero Aime Cordeiro, the returning all-MWC libero, set a new Mountain West Conference and SDSU record with 39 digs in the match against College of Charleston.
***She broke the MWC record of 35 digs that she set last season against UNLV. The previous SDSU mark was 37 by Jackie Mendez against Fresno State in 1988.
***It was the fourth match of Cordeiro's Aztec career in which she has had 30 or more digs.
***She is only the second SDSU player to have that many 30-dig matches in her career. The other was Mendez (1985-88), who also had four.
***Cordeiro leads the MWC in digs with a 5.66 dpg average.
CASTILLO MOVIN' UP
***With 44 assists last week, Kristen Castillo now has a total of 1,731 assists in her two-plus seasons as an Aztec to move into the number-eight spot on the SDSU career list.
***She needs 99 more to take over the number-seven spot occupied by Stacy Bollinger (1,839 from 1991-93).
***Castillo is averaging 1.86 digs per game this season after averaging 1.50 dpg over her first two seasons as an Aztec.
FORMATION CHANGE
***The Aztecs reverted to a 6-2 offensive formation in last Saturday's match at Oregon, the same look they ran during the 2005 season with the setters splitting time equally.
***Sophomore setter Leah Lathrop continues to be SDSU's starting setter, having started eight of nine matches. Her average of 9.90 assists per game ranks seventh in the WMC this week.
***Junior Kristen Castillo got her first start at Oregon and responded with 27 assists, her highest output of 2006. In the process, she improved her season average to 8.00 assists per game.
LIVE VIDEO
***This season, a video broadcast of selected Aztec volleyball matches will be available at the SDSU web site (www.goaztecs.com) free of charge to fans desiring to watch those contests.
***The contests scheduled to be shown include home matches vs. Brigham Young (Sept. 21), Wyoming (Oct. 5), Colorado State (Nov. 10) and UNLV (Nov. 17).
AZTEC NOTES
***Audra Dent is the lone Aztec to average more than one kill, one dig and one block per game. Her averages entering the week stand at 3.00 kpg, 1.59 dpg and 1.06 bpg.
***Melanie Greene (3.69 kpg) and Stephanie Darnall (3.41 kpg) ranked sixth and 10th in kills in the MWC this week. Greene also ranks eighth in points with an average of 4.16 per game.
***San Diego State is one of only three MWC schools to have two individuals (Wahlin and Hellwig) ranked among the top 10 in blocking this week.
***The Aztecs have not been shut out (i.e. defeated 3-0) over their first nine matches of the season. That's the longest streak since the 2002 season when it went 16 contests without falling in three games.
***Vanessa Curtis had a career-high six blocks in the match vs. College of Charleston on Aug. 30.
***A total of 22 athletes appear on the 2006 SDSU roster, including seven true freshmen and three redshirt freshmen.
***Seniors Audra Dent and Melanie Greene have been named co-captains for 2006.
***The Aztecs have a pair of foreign national on their 2006 roster: Iva Gosnjak from Belgrade, Serbia, and Caitlin McMillan from Coquitlam, B.C., Canada.
UP NEXT
***San Diego State will begin the home portion of its Mountain West Conference slate when it hosts 19th-ranked Brigham Young on Thursday, Sept. 21, at 7:00 p.m. in Peterson Gym.
***Two days later, the Aztecs will face 21st-ranked Utah at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23, at SDSU.