Sept. 11, 2007
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AZTECS RETURN TO PETERSON GYM FOR THREE-MATCH HOME STAND
*** After spending the past two weekends at tournaments on the road, San Diego State returns to Peterson Gym for a three-match home stand this week that gets underway with a contest against Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday, Sept. 11, at 6:00 p.m.
*** The Aztecs will then open their 2007 Mountain West Conference campaign with a match vs. Utah on Thursday, Sept. 13, at 7:00 p.m.
*** SDSU will conclude its home stand when it hosts Brigham Young on Saturday, Sept. 15, at 7:00 p.m. in Peterson Gym.
SERIES RECORDS
*** San Diego State holds a 40-3 edge in its series vs. Cal State Fullerton that dates back to the 1976 season. SDSU won the first 32 meetings between the teams with the Titans picking up their first victory over the Aztecs in 1989. CSF has won two of the most recent three encounters with San Diego State, winning at home in 2004 and 2006.
*** SDSU's all-time record against Utah stands at 17-18 since the teams first met in 1982. The Utes have won nine of the last 10 matches in the series with the Aztecs' last victory coming in Peterson Gym in 2005. San Diego State is 10-5 vs. Utah at home, 7-11 in Salt Lake City and 0-2 at neutral venues.
*** Brigham Young holds a 34-16 advantage over SDSU in the series that began in 1977. The Cougars had won nine in a row over San Diego State until they were upset by the Aztecs at last year's conference tournament. SDSU has a record of 6-14 at home, 3-16 away and 7-4 at neutral sites vs. Brigham Young.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
*** Cal State Fullerton enters the week with a record of 5-4, coming off back-to-back wins over Texas State and Houston last weekend. The Titans are led offensively by right side hitter Brittany Moore (4.30 kpg, 2.70 dpg) and middle blocker Alex Wolnisty (3.12 kpg, 0.81 bpg). Moore was named to the all-tourney team at last weekend's CentryTel Premier Tournament at Texas State. Junior outside hitter Jennifer Francisco (2.31 kpg, 2.55 dpg) attended University of San Diego HS.
*** Utah comes to San Diego with a mark of 2-5, but three of its five losses have come to teams ranked in the top 10 (#4 USC, #5 UCLA, and #6 Florida). The Utes defeated 17th-ranked Purdue on the road two weeks ago. Team leaders include outside hitters Kathryn Haynie (3.27 kpg, 1.27 dpg) and Whitney Webb (3.20 kpg, 2.40 dpg, 0.97 bpg). Webb was an all-conference selection in 2006.
*** Brigham Young (6-2) is ranked 12th in the nation this week and will play at UNLV on Thursday prior to facing SDSU on Saturday. The Cougars return a trio of athletes who were named to the all-MWC team a year ago including Chelsea Goodman (4.40 kpg, 3.77 dpg), Erica Lott (3.37 kpg, 2.80 dpg, 0.80 bpg) and Rachel Dyer (3.33 kpg, 1.10 bpg). BYU is hitting .274 as a team, second-highest in the conference.
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 196-181 (.520).
*** 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
*** San Diego State opened play at the Islander Holiday Inn Emerald Beach Invitational by defeating host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in three games (30-23, 35-33, 30-25). Three Aztecs had nine kills each including Stephanie Darnall, Lauren Salisbury and Sydney De Turk.
*** The next morning, SDSU took care of Texas-Pan American, defeating the Lady Broncs by scores of 30-16, 30-16, 30-25. Darnall had 10 kills and a dozen digs while Salisbury and Lindsey Mahan had nine each. Mahan also chipped in with seven blocks while Salisbury had five.
*** That afternoon, the Aztecs clinched the tourney title with a 30-25, 30-27, 28-30, 30-26 victory over Northern Illinois. Salisbury recorded 17 kills and nine blocks while Mahan had 10 kills and 10 blocks. Darnall notched her second double-double of the weekend with a 10-kill, 10-dig effort.
ALL-TOURNEY AZTECS
*** Middle blocker Lauren Salisbury and libero Aime Cordeiro were named to the all-tournament team at last weekend's Islander Holiday Inn Emerald Beach Invitational.
*** Salisbury finished with averages of 3.50 kills and 1.90 blocks per game while hitting .317 over the three matches.
*** Cordeiro, meanwhile, had 8.90 digs per game including 46 in the finale vs. Northern Illinois.
*** It was the third straight weekend in which Cordeiro earned all-tournament honors this season.
RECORD SETTER
*** With 46 digs in the match against Northern Illinois, Aime Cordeiro established a new Mountain West Conference and SDSU record in that category.
*** After setting the record early (39 digs) in 2006, she had seen it broken twice before reclaiming it last weekend.
*** The previous MWC mark was 42 set by BYU's Annie Pinegar in a five-game match vs. UC Santa Barbara at the end of last season.
*** Cordeiro's previous best was 39 digs in a four-game match vs. College of Charleston (Aug. 30, 2006).
*** Her 35 digs at UNLV (Oct. 7, 2005) is the MWC record for a conference match as well.
POSITIVE START
*** San Diego State's 7-2 mark is its best start to a season since 2001 when it began with the same record.
*** The Aztecs' current four-match winning streak is their longest since 2003 when they recorded four consecutive victories twice during the season.
*** SDSU's last five-match win streak came at the start of the 2001 campaign.
DEE-FENSE
*** Last weekend, SDSU held its three opponents to a .095 hitting percentage.
*** The Aztecs have held five of their nine opponents to an attack percentage of .185 or lower this season.
*** They rank third in the MWC with an opponent hitting percentage of .168.
*** San Diego State is averaging 18.37 digs, an improvement of over three digs a game over the 2006 campaign when they had 15.26 digs per contest.
ON THE BLOCK
*** In three matches last weekend, San Diego State averaged 4.80 blocks a game and now lead the MWC in that category at 3.53 bpg.
*** The Aztecs have four players who ranks among the top 10 in the league in blocking led by freshman Lauren Salisbury (1.49 bpg-2nd) and senior Lindsey Mahan (1.43 bpg-3rd).
*** Others in the top 10 include seniors Kelley Wahlin (1.18 bpg-7th) and Sydney De Turk (1.14 bpg-9th).
MAHAN IN THE MIDDLE
*** Senior Lindsey Mahan set a career high with 10 blocks in the match vs. Northern Illinois last Saturday.
*** Over the two-day tourney, she averaged 2.60 kills, 1.00 digs and 2.30 blocks per game while hitting .303.
*** In her 2007 season debut, she totaled 14 kills to match her personal best set three times previously. In the contest against Long Island the following day, she set a career high with 15 kills.
*** Here .327 hitting percentage leads the team and ranks sixth in the Mountain West Conference this week.
*** She is for second on the squad with an average of 1.43 blocks per game. Her pervious three-year average was 0.88 bpg.
DE TURK MAKING A MARK
*** Sydney De Turk made her first starts as an Aztec in each of last weekend's three matches in Texas.
*** In those contests, she averaged 2.10 kills, 0.80 digs and 1.30 blocks a game.
*** In the title game against Northern Illinois, she tied her career bests with nine kills and seven blocks.
*** 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. UC Santa Barbara on Aug. 24.
CORDEIRO CLOSES IN
*** After posting 89 digs in last weekend's three matches at the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi tournament, senior Aime Cordeiro is closing in on the SDSU career record place that category.
*** Her total of 1,540 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 needing only 138 digs to match that total.
*** Cordeiro's 46 digs vs. Northern Illinois was the seventh time in her career that she has posted at least 30 digs in a match, the most in SDSU history. Former Aztec Jackie Mendez ranks second with four 30-dig contests.
*** Cordeiro's average of 6.79 digs per game leads the MWC this week.
SALISBURY SHINES
*** First-year Aztec Lauren Salisbury (Southlake, Texas, Carroll HS) has started all six matches this season and continues to impress.
*** She set personal bests with 17 kills and nine blocks vs. Northern Illinois last Saturday.
*** Salisbury opened her SDSU career with a 10-kill, seven-block effort vs. UC Santa Barbara on Aug. 24.
*** She enters the week as the team leader in blocking at 1.49 per game.
DARNALL LEADS THE OFFENSE
*** Sophomore Stephanie Darnall, who recorded 10 double-doubles in her first season at SDSU last year, added two more last weekend and now has six in SDSU's opening nine matches of 2007.
*** She leads the Aztecs in kill average at 3.71 per game, ranking 8th in the MWC this week.
*** Her season mark of 3.26 digs per game is just outside this week's conference top 10.
*** Darnall's 25 kills vs. Long Island on Aug. 25 was a new career best, surpassing her previous high of 19 set twice in 2006.
AMONG THE MWC LEADERS
*** As a team, SDSU ranks among the top four in three categories in the early Mountain West Conference statistics:
Blocks.........1st....3.53/gDigs...........2nd....18.37/gOpp. Hit Pct...3rd....168*** Individually, several Aztecs ranks among the top 10 in the MWC. That number includes:Hitting...Mahan.......327 (6th) Salisbury...320 (8th)Kills.....Darnall.....3.71/g (8th)Assists...Lathrop.....6.49 (8th)Aces......Lathrop.....0.40 (5th) Evans.......0.35 (8th)Blocks....Salisbury...1.49/g (2nd) Mahan.......1.43/g (3rd) Wahlin......1.18 (7th) De Turk.....1.14 (9th)Digs......Cordeiro....6.79/g (1st)DUAL SETTERS
*** Through the first nine matches of 2007, the Aztecs are rotating Kristen Castillo and Leah Lathrop at the setter position.
*** Because they are splitting time, neither has accumulated spectacular numbers, but together they are averaging 11.89 assists and 2.83 digs per game.
*** Between the two, they are hitting .410 with 19 total kills and in 39 attempts.
*** Castillo has moved into fifth place on the career assist list with 2,245. She is 528 assists away from the number-four spot occupied by Liane Sato (1985-86) with 2,239 assists.
*** With 1,695 career assists, junior Leah has moved up to the number-eight spot the SDSU top 10. The seventh position is held by Stacy Bollinger (1991-93) with 1,839 assists.
*** Lathrop recorded the sixth double-double of her SDSU career with a 22-assist, 10-dig performance vs. Texas-Pan American last Saturday.
AZTEC NOTES
*** Senior Kelley Wahlin tied her career best with nine block assists against Northern Illinois last weekend.
*** Freshman Kelsey Manasco got her first start of the year against Texas-Pan American and responded with season highs of eight kills and three blocks.
*** Senior Kelley Wahlin's 10 total blocks vs. UC Santa Barbara on Aug. 24 and Lindsey Mahan's 10 vs. Northern Illinois on Sept. 8 are tied for the most by a Mountain West Conference player in 2007.
*** Libero Aime Cordeiro's three kills vs. Siena on Sept. 1 tied her career best as an Aztec.
*** Stephanie Darnall has been in double figures in kills seven times in nine outings this season and has also reached double figures in digs on seven occasions.
*** Five Aztecs (De Turk, Evans, Mahan, Salisbury and Wahlin) have had at least one block in every match this season.
*** Redshirt freshman Hannah Evans set a career mark with 18 digs in the win over Northern Illinois on Sept. 8.