Oct. 11, 2006
Complete Release and Season Statistics in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
AZTECS TRAVEL TO ROCKIES TO VISIT AIR FORCE & COLORADO STATE
***San Diego State begins a stretch of four straight Mountain West Conference road matches with a visit to Colorado Springs to take on Air Force in the Cadet Fieldhouse on Friday, Oct. 13, at 7:00 p.m. (MDT).
***The next night (Saturday, Oct. 14), the Aztecs will be in Fort Collins where they will face Colorado State at 7:00 p.m. (MDT) in Moby Arena.
SERIES RECORDS
***San Diego State holds a 17-1 mark in its previous 18 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 13 meetings between the teams including pair of wins last season. Air Force's lone win in the series came in 1999 in Colorado Springs. ***San Diego State is 14-18 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 seven matches (and 15 of the last 16) against the Rams.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
***Air Force enters the week with an overall record of 1-13 and a league mark of 0-6. The Falcons have lost 12 straight after defeating Norfolk State back on Sept. 1. Air Force is led offensively by outside hitters Kristina Stewart (2.51 kpg, 2.57 dpg) and Katie Batchelder (2.09 kpg, 2.05 dpg). Freshman libero Jaclyn Fleming is averaging a team-leading 3.58 digs per game.
***Colorado State enters the week on a five-match win streak with a record of 10-6 overall (4-3 MWC). The Rams will host UNLV on Friday prior to facing the Aztecs the next evening. CSU's top players include Jaime Strauss (3.42 kpg, 2.67 dpg) and Mekana Barnes (2.83 kpg, 0.98 bpg). Tessa Nelson averages 1.11 blocks per game.
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 184-172 (.517).
***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
***In its lone match last week, San Diego State defeated Wyoming in four games (30-26, 18-30, 30-27, 30-17) in Peterson Gym. The win ended a five-match losing streak for the Aztecs and was their first conference victory of the season.
***Four SDSU players finished in double figures in kills, led by the threesome of Kelley Wahlin, Audra Dent and Melanie Greene with 15 apiece. Freshman Stephanie Darnall also had 13 kills while teammate Aime Cordeiro had 20 digs over the four games.
WAHLIN BREAKS OUT
***Junior Kelley Wahlin had a personal-best 15 kills in last week's match against Wyoming. ***Her previous high was eight kills in a match, which she has done on three occasions this season.
***She also had five blocks vs. the Cowgirls to maintain her average of 1.31 bpg overall and 1.25 bpg in league play.
***Wahlin's 10 total blocks (2 solo, 8 assists) at Oregon on Sept. 9 was a career high and is also the best for an Aztec in 2006.
***She ranks third in the MWC overall stats in blocking this week.
***Wahlin's .311 hitting percentage overall is the sixth-best mark in the MWC while her .405 mark in league contests ranks second this week.
***Over SDSU's last three matches, she is averaging 1.80 digs per game.
CASTILLO MOVIN' UP
***Setter Kristin Castillo played the entire match against Wyoming last week, recording 51 assists for a new career high.
***With those 51 assists, she now has a total of 1,912 assists in her three seasons as an Aztec to move into the number-six spot on the SDSU career list.
***She needs 327 more to take over the number-five spot currently occupied by Melissa Stokes (2,239 from 1986-88).
***Castillo has matched her season high of three kills in each of SDSU's last two matches. She has a hitting percentage of .462 in the last three matches.
CORDEIRO DIGGIN' IT
***Aime Cordeiro had 20 digs vs. Wyoming last week to bring her career total to 1,089.
***That total moves her into fifth place on the SDSU career list in that category.
***She is only the seventh player in SDSU history to reach the 1,000-dig plateau in her career.
***She needs to record 45 more digs to reach the number-four spot currently occupied by Angela Martin (1,134 digs; 1987-90).
***Cordeiro's 2006 season total is 346 digs, putting her 24 away from moving into the SDSU top 10 single-season list. Former Aztec Amy Erben is 10th with 370 digs during the 1989 campaign.
***Cordeiro continues to lead the Mountain West Conference in digs in all matches (5.58 dpg) and is second in league-game only statistics (5.42 dpg).
***In this week's NCAA statistics, Cordeiro in ranked 23rd in the nation among Division I players in digs as well.
GREENE LEADS OFFENSE
***Senior Melanie Greene continues to lead SDSU in kills (3.76 kpg) and is third in digs (2.70 dpg).
***Greene has led San Diego State in kills in 11 matches this season including each of the last four.
***Her 3.76 kpg average overall ranks sixth in the Mountain West Conference this week, while her mark of 3.77 kpg in league play is fifth.
***She has seven double-doubles this season and has the most career double-doubles among active Mountain West Conference players with 21.
***Her .538 hitting percentage in the match vs. Lipscomb is a team best in 2006.
***She is sixth in the MWC in points with an average of 4.23 per game in all matches.
MAKING A DENT
***Senior Audra Dent's average of 3.96 points per game in all matches is the eighth-best mark in the league entering the week.
***Last week against Wyoming, in addition to 15 kills, she also had six blocks, eight digs, two assists and a service ace.
***She has recorded double-figure point totals in 14 of SDSU's 17 matches in 2006.
***Dent recorded a personal season-best 18 kills vs. CSU Fullerton on Sept. 16 and followed that with 15 vs. BYU on Sept. 21. She is averaging over three (3.17) kills per game in all matches.
***Her 83 digs this fall surpasses her previous three-year total of 72. She is averaging 1.21 dpg after coming into the season with a 0.35 dpg career mark.
DARNALL DOUBLES UP
***Freshman outside hitter Stephanie Darnall has recorded seven double-doubles (kills-digs) this season to tie senior Melanie Greene for the team lead.
***Darnall is second on the squad in kill average (3.35 kpg) and second in digs (2.92 dpg).
***Her overall kill average ranks 10th in the conference this week while her mark of 3.55 kpg in MWC matches ranks seventh.
SERVING IT UP
***Aime Cordeiro's average of 0.39 aces per game overall ranks fourth in the MWC stats this week.
***In league play, setter Leah Lathrop is averaging 0.56 aces per game to rank second in the conference and is 10th overall at 0.34 aces per game.
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 remaining contests scheduled to be shown include home matches vs. Colorado State (Nov. 10) and UNLV (Nov. 17).
AZTEC NOTES
***SDSU's .208 team hitting percentage in league matches ranks fourth in the conference this week. That same mark in all matches is the fifth-best in the MWC as well.
***The Aztecs have had four players reach double figures in kills in the same match on three occasions this season (vs. USD, Lipscomb and Wyoming).
***Junior middle blocker Vanessa Curtis had five kills and three block assists last week vs. Wyoming, hitting .500 in that match. She also recorded the first service ace of her SDSU career.
***Aime Cordeiro's three kills against Wyoming last week represented a career best for the SDSU libero.
***Sophomore defensive specialist Michelle Ferrer is averaging 2.00 digs per game over SDSU's last five matches. She has seen significant playing time on the back line and filled in at the libero position in two contests when Aime Cordeiro was out with an injury.
UP NEXT
***The Aztecs continue their current string of road matches next week as they travel to the state of Utah for a pair of away contests.
***The trip opens with a match at the University of Utah on Friday, Oct. 20, at 7:00 p.m. (MDT) in Salt Lake City.
***The next evening (Saturday, Oct. 21), they will be in Provo to take on Brigham young, also at 7:00 p.m. (MDT).