Sept. 19, 2006
Complete Release and Season Statistics in PDF Format
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AZTECS HOST #16 BRIGHAM YOUNG, #18 UTAH IN MWC ACTION
***San Diego State opens the home portion of its 2006 Mountain West Conference volleyball schedule with a match against 16th-ranked Brigham Young on Thursday, Sept. 21, at 7:00 p.m. in Peterson Gym.
***The SDSU-BYU matched will be shown live on the Internet at www.goaztecs.com.
***On Saturday (Sept. 23), the Aztecs will continue play when they host 18th-ranked Utah at 1:00 p.m. in Peterson Gym. The rare Saturday afternoon contest is due to the Aztec football game that evening at 5:00 p.m.
SERIES RECORDS
***The Aztecs are 14-32 in the series with Brigham Young. The Cougars have dominated the series since 1990, winning 29 of the 34 matches between the teams. BYU has won 18 of the most recent 20 meetings with the Aztecs including a pair of 3-0 victories last year. Over the years, SDSU is 5-13 vs. Brigham Young in San Diego, 3-15 against the Cougars in Provo and 6-4 on neutral floors.
***San Diego State has compiled a record of 17-16 against Utah since the teams first met in 1982. The Utes have won 15 of the last 19 meetings between the teams. The Aztecs last four wins in the series have all come in San Diego (2000, 2001, 2002 and 2005). Last year's win in the regular-season finale ended the Utes' seven-match winning streak in the series. SDSU is 10-4 against the Utes in Petersen Gym, 7-11 on Utah's home floor, and 0-2 at neutral sites.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
***Brigham Young enters the week with a record of 10-1 and riding a four-match win streak. BYU's lone loss came at Kansas on Sept 7. The Cougars are led by Lindsy Hartsock (2.21 kpg, 1.76 bpg), who leads the MWC with a .449 hitting percentage. Erica Lott is the team kill leader at 4.57 kpg and she is also averaging over a block per game (1.14 bpg). Chelsea Goodman averages 3.64 kpg and a team-leading 3.61 dpg. BYU is hitting .308 as a team, a mark that leads the conference.
***Utah, which will be at UNLV Friday evening prior to facing the Aztecs, has won seven in a row and starts the week with a mark of 9-2. The Utes' two losses have come at fifth-ranked Florida and at 14th-ranked USC. The Utah offense is led by Arial Salvo (4.17 kpg, 4.09 dpg) and Kathryn Lovell (3.00 kpg, 1.41 dpg). The Utes rank second in the nation in blocks (4.01 per game) and are led in that category by Emilie Toone (2.23 bpg).
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 183-167 (.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 split four matches on the road last week.
***In the Mountain West Conference season opener at UNLV, the Aztecs fell to the Rebels in five games (30-25, 21-30, 30-22, 28-30, 15-10). Stephanie Darnall led all players with 19 kills and added 20 digs while Audra Dent and Melanie Greene had 16 and 15 kills respectively. Aime Cordeiro chipped in with 30 digs. ***SDSU then opened play at the Hawthorne Suites Fullerton Classic with a 3-0 (30-14, 30-23, 30-16) win over Penn. Greene led the Aztecs with 15 kills while Lindsey Mahan had 13 kills and hit .524 for the match. Dent added a dozen kills and seven blocks in the win.
***San Diego State next defeated Lipscomb, 3-0 (30-23, 30-16, 30-25), as four Aztecs finished in double figures in kills. That foursome included Greene (16), Dent (11), Mahan (11) and Darnall (10). All four players hit .300 or better as SDSU had a team attack percentage of .307.
***In the tourney title contest, SDSU fell to host CSU Fullerton by scores of 30-23, 27-30, 31-29, 30-26. Audra Dent had 18 kills and Stephanie Darnall recorded a double-double with 15 kills and 23 digs.
ALL-TOURNEY AZTECS
***Melanie Greene and Aime Cordeiro were named to the all-tournament team at last weekend's Hawthorne Suites Fullerton Invitational at Cal State Fullerton.
***Greene averaged 4.00 kills, 3.00 digs, 0.50 blocks and four points per game over SDSU's three matches.
***Cordeiro's stats included 5.90 digs per game and 0.50 service ace per contest.
GREENE CONTINUES SOLID PLAY
***Senior Melanie Greene has recorded double-doubles in five of San Diego State's last seven matches.
***Her streak of reaching double figures in kills in ended against Cal State Fullerton last Saturday when she finished with nine. She had been in double figures in SDSU's first 12 matches of the season. ***Greene leads the Aztecs in kills (3.68 kpg) and is third in digs (2.82 dpg).
***Her .538 hitting percentage in the match vs. Lipscomb is a team best in 2006.
***Greene is also averaging of 0.56 blocks a game, well over her career average of 0.23 bpg.
***Her 20 digs at Oregon State on Sept. 8 was a career high, bettering the 17 she had vs. UCLA in 2003 as a freshman at Washington State.
DARNALL DOUBLES UP
***Freshman outside hitter Stephanie Darnall has recorded double-doubles (kills-digs) in five of SDSU's last seven matches.
***She is second on the squad in kill average (3.31 kpg) and second in digs (2.90 dpg).
***Her 23 digs at Cal State Fullerton last Saturday was a career high. Prior to that, she had recorded back-to-back career highs in digs with 18 at Oregon State (Sept. 8) followed by 19 at Oregon (Sept. 9). She averaging 3.48 dpg over the last seven matches.
***Darnall has had a team-high 19 kills twice through the first 13 matches: vs. CSU Northridge and at UNLV. She shares that honor with Greene, who had 19 kills at Oregon State.
MAKING A DENT
***Senior Audra Dent recorded a personal season-best 18 kills in last Saturday's match at Fullerton.
***Her 22 points in that contest are the most for an SDSU player in 2006.
***She is the only Aztec to have recorded at least one block in every match during the 2006 season.
***Dent is second on the squad is service aces at 0.35 per contest, a mark that is just outside the top 10 in the MWC. Entering the season, she had only two career aces to her credit as she played primarily in the front row during her first three seasons at SDSU.
***Her 70 digs this fall almost equals her previous three-year total of 72. She is averaging 1.43 dpg after coming into the season with a 0.35 dpg SDSU career mark.
***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 3.24 kpg, 1.43 dpg and 1.04 bpg.
AROUND THE BLOCK
***Junior Kelley Wahlin and freshman Bailee Hellwig have come on in recent matches with their blocking abilities.
***Hellwig has recorded at least one block in each of the 11 matches in which she has appeared and leads the team with an average of 1.26 bpg.
***Wahlin has also seen action in 11 matches with an average of 1.25 blocks per game. Her 10 blocks at Oregon on Sept. 9 was a career high and is the best for an Aztec in 2006.
***Hellwig and Wahlin rank fourth and fifth respectively in the Mountain West Conference in blocking this week.
SERVING IT UP
***SDSU had a team-high 11 service aces in the match at Oregon on Sept. 9.
***In that contest, junior Aime Cordeiro recorded a career-best seven aces.
***The team total of 11 aces matched the best effort by the 2005 squad, which it accomplished in four matches.
***Cordeiro's average of 0.48 aces per game ranks fourth in the MWC stats this week.
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 had 30 or more digs.
***Last week at UNLV, she had 30 digs to become the first Aztec player to record five 30-dig matches in her career.
***Cordeiro leads the MWC in digs with a 5.74 dpg average and ranks 19th in the nation in that category.
***With 278 digs this season, her career total of 1,030 moves her into seventh on the SDSU career list. She needs just 13 to move into the number-six spot held by Kim Harsch (1,042 digs; 1983-86).
LATHROP ON THE DOUBLE
***Sophomore setter Leah Lathrop recorded the second and third double-doubles of her SDSU career in back-to-back matches last week.
***At UNLV, she had 13 digs along with 28 assists.
***Two days later against Penn at the Fullerton tourney, she had 42 assists and 10 digs.
***Lathrop has seven blocks (1 solo, six assists) this season after totaling just one in 2005.
CASTILLO MOVIN' UP
***With 60 assists last week, Kristen Castillo now has a total of 1,791 assists in her two-plus seasons as an Aztec to move into the number-eight spot on the SDSU career list.
***She needs 39 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.
LIVE VIDEO
***This season, a video broadcast of selected Aztec volleyball matches will be available at the San Diego State athletic 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
***Melanie Greene (3.68 kpg) and Stephanie Darnall (3.24 kpg) rank sixth and 10th in kills in the MWC this week. Greene also ranks sixth in points with an average of 4.22 per game.
***San Diego State is one of only three MWC schools (long with BYU and Utah) to have two individuals (Kelley Wahlin and Bailee 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 13 matches of the season. That's the longest streak since the 2002 season when it went 16 contests without falling in three games.
***As a team, the Aztecs rank third in the Mountain West Conference in blocks and digs. They are also fifth in service aces.
***SDSU is averaging two digs more per game this year than it did during the 2005 campaign.