Aug. 29, 2007
Complete Release and Season Statistics in PDF Format
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AZTECS HEAD EAST FOR HOFSTRA TOURNAMENT
***San Diego State will make its first road trip of the 2007 volleyball season as it travels to Hempstead, N.Y., for this weekend's Hofstra/ASICS Invitational.
***The Aztecs' first match in that event will take place on Friday, Aug. 31, at 5:00 p.m. (EDT) when they face the Cardinals of Ball State University.
***On Saturday (Sept. 1), SDSU will face Siena at 9:30 a.m. and conclude tourney play at 5:30 p.m. that evening against host Hofstra.
SERIES RECORDS
***San Diego State will have its first-ever meetings on the volleyball court with both Ball State and Siena this weekend.
***The Aztecs are a perfect 6-0 against Hofstra since the teams first met during the 1990 season. Three of those previous encounters have come in San Diego including last year's 3-0 SDSU win. The only match between the two teams played at Hofstra came in 1992, a 3-1 victory for San Diego State.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
***Ball State went 1-2 in its Active Ankle Challenge in Muncie last weekend. After defeating Maine (3-2) in its season opener, the Cardinals dropped matches to Southeast Missouri State (2-3) and 16th-ranked Ohio State (3-0). Ball State is being led offensively by Brittany May (3.46 kpg) and Elaina Kakatolis (3.00 kpg, 0.85 bpg). Christine Kennedy, a graduate of University of San Diego HS, is averaging 2.23 kills, 3.08 digs and 1.08 blocks per game.
***Siena is also 1-2 this season after playing last weekend at the Super 8 Chippewa Classic at Central Michigan. The Saints opened with a 3-1 win over Wisconsin-Green Bay before dropping 3-0 decisions to Central Michigan and Robert Morris. Team stat leaders include freshman outside hitter Aubrey Bobo (3.10 kpg, 1.50 dpg) and sophomore middle hitter Burgundy McCurty (3.00 kpg, 0.80 bpg, .386 hitting percentage).
***Hofstra is a perfect 3-0 after winning the title at the Orange and Green Challenge in Miami, Fla., last weekend. The Pride opened with 3-2 wins over Miami and Butler before defeating Jacksonville by a 3-0 count. Lauren Engle (San Diego, CA, La Jolla HS) is accounting for 4.31 kills and 2.46 digs per game while teammate Harmonie Calinda is averaging 3.38 kpg and 2.46 dpg.
HEAD COACH Mark Warner
***San Diego State head coach Mark Warner is in his 13th season at the helm of the Aztec women's program. His career record over that span stands at 191-180 (.515).
***Over the past 12 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 WEEKEND
***SDSU opened its 2007 campaign on Friday, Aug. 24, with a 3-2 (35-33, 23-30, 13-30, 30-27, 15-9) come-from-behind win over UC Santa Barbara at the annual Aztec Invitational in Peterson Gym. Stephanie Darnall (16 kills, 19 digs) and Hannah Evans (12 kills, 17 digs) recorded double-doubles to lead the Aztec attack. Senior Kelley Wahlin contributed 10 blocks while Lindsey Mahan had 14 kills and seven blocks.
***The next morning, SDSU needed just three games to defeat Fairfield (30-23, 30-26, 30-28). Darnall had 18 kills while Mahan chipped in with 10.
***That evening, the Aztecs dropped a 3-2 (30-27, 26-30, 28-30, 30-28, 13-15) decision to Long Island despite 25 kills from Darnall and 15 apiece from Mahan and Evans. Aime Cordeiro led all players with 23 digs in the match.
ALL-TOURNEY AZTECS
***Middle blocker Lindsey Mahan and libero Aime Cordeiro were named to the all-tournament team at last weekend's Aztec Invitational.
***Mahan finished with an average of 3.00 kills and 1.08 blocks per game over the three matches while hitting .390 on the weekend.
***Cordeiro, meanwhile, had 5.27 digs per game and was 4-for-4 in kill attempts from the back row.
DARNALL GETTING IT DONE
***Sophomore Stephanie Darnall, who recorded 10 double-doubles in her first season at SDSU last year, added three more last weekend in SDSU's three matches in Peterson Gym. She had 16 kills-19digs vs. UCSB, 18 kills-15 digs vs. Fairfield and 25 kills-19 digs against Long Island.
***Her 25 kills vs. LIU was a new career best, surpassing her previous high of 19 set twice in 2006.
***Darnall also set a personal best with four solo blocks and five total blocks in the contest vs. Fairfield last Saturday. Her three assists vs. UCSB was also a career high.
MAHAN MAYHEM
***Senior Lindsey Mahan has gotten her final season off to a solid start as she tied her career kill mark in the season opener, then broke it two matches later.
***In her season debut vs. UC Santa Barbara, she totaled 14 kills to match her personal best set three times previously. In Saturday's contest against Long Island, she improved that mark with 15 kills.
***Her seven block assists and seven total blocks vs. UCSB also tied her career bests as an Aztec.
CORDEIRO CLOSES IN
***After posting 58 digs in last weekend's three matches, senior Aime Cordeiro has moved into second place on the SDSU career list in that category.
***Her total of 1,374 digs has surpassed the total of 1,369 set by Juliana Cezar (1993-96) and moved her into the number-two spot.
***The San Diego State career mark of 1,678 is held by Jackie Mendez (1985-88) with Cordeiro 304 digs to match that total.
DUAL SETTERS
***Through the first three matches of 2007, the Aztecs are rotating senior Kristen Castillo and junior Leah Lathrop at the setter position.
***Because they are splitting time, neither has accumulating spectacular numbers, but together they are averaging 11.61 assists and 2.85 digs per game.
***Castillo ranks sixth on the SDSU career assist list with 2,125. The number-five spot is held by Melissa Stokes (1986-88) with 2,239 assists.
***With 1,550 career assists, junior Leah Lathrop needs just 39 more to crack the SDSU top 10 and match Michelle Pistone (1993-96) with 1,589 assists.
***Lathrop recorded the fifth double-double of her SDSU career with a 16-assist, 12-dig performance vs. Fairfield last Saturday.
SALISBURY SHINES
***First-year Aztec Lauren Salisbury (Southlake, Texas, Carroll HS) started all three matches last weekend and was impressive.
***She opened her SDSU career with a 10-kill, seven-block effort vs. UC Santa Barbara.
***In the tourney finale against Long Island, she added 11 kills and seven more blocks while hitting at a .381 clip.
***She enters the week second on the squad in blocking at 1.38 blocks per game.
EVANS DEBUTS
***Another Texan, redshirt freshman Hannah Evans, also made her first appearance for the Red and Black last weekend.
***She recorded double-double efforts against both UCSB (12 kills, 17 digs) and Long Island (15 kills, 16 digs).
***Her four service aces leads the squad and she ranks third in kill average at 2.69 per game.
DE TURK MAKING A MARK
***Sydney De Turk made the most of her playing time during last weekend's Aztec Invitational.
***The senior transfer from Concordia University in Irvine, who appeared in just seven games a year ago in her first season as an Aztec, set her personal highs in digs (four), block assists (seven) and total blocks (seven) in the opener vs. UCSB.
***She also had career-bests seven kills and four assists in the win over Fairfield.
AMONG THE MWC LEADERS
***As a team, SDSU ranks among the top four in four categories in the early Mountain West Conference statistics:
Blocks...1st.....3.35/gKills....3rd....15.08/gDigs.....3rd....17.15/gAssists..4th.....13.62/g***Individually, several Aztecs ranks among the top 10 in the MWC. That number includes:Hitting..Mahan.......390 (3rd)Kills....Darnall.....4.54/g (3rd)Blocks...Wahlin......1.50/g (2nd) Salisbury...1.38/g (4th) Mahan....,,.1.08/g (10th)Digs.....Cordeiro..,.5.27/g (3rd) Darnall.....4.08/g (7th)SDSU VOLLEYBALL ON TV
***The Aztecs will appear on television twice during the 2007 season.
***The Aztecs' meeting with UNLV in Las Vegas on Friday, Oct. 19, will be shown live on The Mtn. at 7:00 p.m. (PDT).
***SDSU's contest at Brigham Young on Friday, Nov. 16, will be televised live on BYUTV and will be streamed over the Internet at www.byutv.org. The match may be seen on a tape-delayed basis on The Mtn. on Sunday, Nov. 18, at 4:00 p.m. (PST).
***The Mtn. will also carry the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship contest of the 2007 MWC championship tournament to be held in Las Vegas Nov. 21-24. All of those matches will be televised live with the exception of the second semifinal on Friday, Nov. 23, which will be tape-delayed one hour.
AZTEC NOTES
***Junior defensive specialist Michelle Ferrer made just her second career start in the season opener vs. UC Santa Barbara and responded with a career-high 10 digs over three games.
***The win over UCSB broke a string of 10 straight losses to the Gauchos and was the first victory by the Aztecs against them since the 1988 season.
***Senior Kelley Wahlin's 10 total blocks vs. UCSB is tied for the most by a Mountain West Conference player in 2007.
***Seniors Lindsey Mahan and Kristen Castillo have been named the 2007 team captains.
***The Aztec have a pair of foreign nationals on their 2007 roster: Caitlin McMillan from Coquitlam, B.C. Canada, and Iva Gosnjak from Belgrade Serbia.
***Freshman Tara Hovland is the daughter of USC All-American and legendary beach volleyball player Tim Hovland.
***Melanie Greene, who was a senior on the 2006 Aztec squad, will serve as a volunteer assistant coach this season.
UP NEXT
***SDSU will remain on the road next weekend as it travels to Texas for the Islander Holiday Inn-Emerald Beach Invitational hosted by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
***In addition to facing the host school on Friday, Sept. 7, the Aztecs will also play Texas-Pan American and Northern Illinois on Saturday, Sept. 8.