Nov. 19, 2008
Complete Release and Season Statistics in PDF Format
AZTECS CONCLUDE 2008 HOME SEASON AGAINST AIR FORCE
San Diego State volleyball makes its final home appearance of the season as it hosts Air Force on Thursday, Nov. 20, in Peterson Gym. The contest will commence at 6:00 p.m. (PST), an hour earlier than originally scheduled. Fans can follow the action during the match on the Internet by going to Aztec web site and clicking on the GameTracker link under Aztecs Today. Live video of the contest is also available at the same site.
SENIOR NIGHT
Prior to Thursday's contest against Air Force, the Aztecs will honor a pair of seniors playing in their final home match in Peterson Gym. The duo includes senior setter Leah Lathrop and libero Michelle Ferrer. Lathrop is a four-year letterwinner while Ferrer is completing her third season as a member of the SDSU squad.
WARNER TO BE HONORED
San Diego State women's head volleyball coach Mark Warner will be honored during ceremonies at the conclusion of Thursday night's match against Air Force. The contest will be Warner's farewell coaching appearance as he is set to retire at the conclusion of the season. Warner, who has been involved with SDSU volleyball for the past 27 years, is completing his 14th season as the head coach of the women's program. During his tenure, he has led his teams to three NCAA Tournament berths and a Western Athletic Conference championship. His tutelage has produced 22 all-conference players and he was named the Mountain West Conference co-coach of the year in 2002.
Prior to 1995, Warner served four seasons (1991-94) as an assistant coach in the women's volleyball program. He helped coach the Aztecs to an 85-43 record during that time, including a second-round appearance in the NCAA tournament in 1994. He also coached along side Jack Henn as co-head coach of the SDSU men's team for six seasons (1989-94). Warner initially joined the Aztec staff as an assistant men's coach to Duncan McFarland in 1982, while simultaneously coaching the women's team at San Diego City College. He held both positions for three seasons (through 1984), when he was named SDSU's head men's coach for the 1985 campaign. During his three decades with SDSU volleyball coaching both the men's and women's programs, he has been a part of some 457 victories in his capacities as head or assistant coach.
SERIES RECORD
San Diego State holds a 23-1 mark in its previous 20 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 19 meetings between the teams including a win in Colorado Springs in mid-September of this season. The Aztecs are 11-0 vs. the Falcons in San Diego.
SCOUTING THE FALCONS
Air Force's record stands at 5-22 overall and 0-14 in the Mountain West Conference. The Falcons have lost nine in a row and 15 of their last 16 matches. Their lone victory over that span came at Chicago State on Oct. 10. The Falcon offense is led by middle blockers Jasamine Pettie (2.29 kps, 0.40 bps) and Nicole Stillwell (1.94 kps, 0.48 bps). Senior outside hitter Kristina Stewart is averaging 1.51 kills and 2.96 digs per set as well while Michelle Harrington is the team's top blocker at 0.84 per set.
MOST RECENTLY
San Diego State dropped a pair of conference contests on the road last week to Colorado State and Wyoming. The Aztecs fell to 16th-ranked Colorado State by scores of 25-18, 25-18, 25-17. Lauren Salisbury led all players with 10 kills followed by Kyley Sexton with seven. Salisbury hit .529 for the match, but the Aztecs turned in a team attack percentage of just -.022 over the three sets. In the loss at Wyoming (26-24, 25-21, 20-25, 25-19), Sexton was the lone Aztec in double figures in kills with 12. Salisbury recorded eight kills along with six blocks while Stephanie Darnall had eight kills, seven blocks and 18 digs on the night.
DARNALL ON THE ATTACK
Stephanie Darnall recorded a season high with 18 digs in the match at Wyoming last Saturday. Her previous best in 2008 was 13 digs on two occasions. Her seven blocks in Laramie (including six block assists) were a career best for both total blocks and block assists. With 13 kills vs. Utah on Nov. 6, she hit double figures for the fourth straight match. Her streak came to an end when she was held to five kills vs. BYU two days later. Her kill total in the Utah contest marked the 13th time she had reached double figures in that stat category in 2008. Darnall recorded her third double-double of the year with 14 kills and 10 digs against TCU on Oct. 23. She also hit .306 in that match, her third-best attack percentage of the season. Her 18 kills in the match vs. Wyoming (Oct. 16) represented a season high while her.378 attack percentage in that was her highest of the year as well. She remains second on the team in kill average at 2.62 kps. In MWC contests, she is also second on the squad with a mark of 2.72 kps.
SEXTON CONTINUES TO SHINE
Freshman Kyley Sexton's 12 kills at Wyoming marked the eighth time in the last 11 matches that she has reached double figures in that category. She had been in double figures only once through the team's first 13 contests. She now leads the team in kill average in conference matches at 2.83 per set. Her 17 kills and .500 hitting percentage against Brigham Young on Nov. 8 were her second-highest marks in a match in 2008. Coincidentally, her career highs in both of those categories also came against BYU on Oct. 9 when she had 17 kills and a .531 attack percentage. Over the Aztecs last eight matches, she is averaging 3.19 kills per set. Sexton set a career high with five total blocks against UNLV on Oct. 3.
SALISBURY PACES OFFENSE
Despite being held to 19 kills in SDSU's two matches last week, sophomore Lauren Salisbury's continues to be the team's offensive leader in 2008. Over SDSU's last nine outings, her hitting percentage is .371. She has recorded just 13 attack errors on 186 chances in those nine matches. In the Aztecs' last 12 contests, she has had three or fewer attack errors in each match. She leads the squad in kill average (2.92 kps), hitting percentage (.348) and points per set (3.70). She also ranks among the top 10 in the conference-match statistics in blocking at 1.15 per set. Her nine blocks at UNLV on Oct. 3 were a season high and one shy of her career best of 10 set vs. BYU in 2007. She has recorded at least one block in each of SDSU's last 24 matches. Salisbury's .800 attack percentage vs. UC Irvine in the season opener (Aug. 29) was a career best for the second-year Aztec. She has reached double figures in kills in 14 of the team's 25 matches this season and has turned in hitting percentages of .300 or higher on 16 occasions. She has cracked the .400 mark in hitting percentage in 10 matches.
HELLWIG AT THE NET
Redshirt sophomore Bailee Hellwig totaled eight total blocks in SDSU's two matches last week. She has averaged one block per set or better in 14 of SDSU's matches this fall. She was held without a block in the contest against TCU in San Diego on Sept. 27 in which she played in only one set. It was the first and only match this season in which she did not record at least one block. She set her new SDSU career bests with eight block assists and 10 total blocks in the match vs. Weber State on Sept. 12. Hellwig enters the week second on the team lead in blocking both overall at 1.02 per set in MWC play at 1.00 per set. Her four digs at Wyoming last weekend was a career high.
LAMPHIER DIGGIN' IT
Courtney Lamphier has set personal bests in digs in each of San Diego State's last two matches. She recorded seven last Colorado State last Thursday (Nov. 13), then notched 10 at Wyoming two days later. In her previous two seasons at SDSU, her best was three digs in a match.
MOVIN' UP THE CHARTS
With 34 assists in last week's match vs. UNLV, senior Leah Lathrop has increased her career total to 2,607 to move into sixth place on the SDSU career list. She needs 49 assists to climb into a fifth-place tie with Kristen Castillo (2,656), who finished her four-year Aztec career in 2007. Fourth place is occupied by Liane Sato (1985-86) with 2,773 career assists.
AMONG THE MWC STAT LEADERS
Lauren Salisbury ranks among the top 10 in the Mountain West Conference overall statistics in three categories. Her .348 attack percentage ranks fourth in the league while her mark of 3.70 points per set is also fourth-best in the MWC. She is also 10th in blocking at 1.03 bps. Michelle Ferrer is sixth in digs at 3.4 per set. Leah Lathrop, who shares setting duties with Lauren Van Orden, is ninth in assists at 5.51 per set. Van Orden ranks sixth in service aces at 0.26 per set.
MWC-MATCH STAT LEADERS
With one match remaining in their conference season, five Aztecs find themselves among the top 10 in league-match stats. Salisbury ranks seventh in blocking at 1.15 bps, sixth in points at 3.56 per set and fifth hitting percentage at .327. Lathrop is ninth in assists at 5.58 per set and Ferrer's average of 3.43 digs per set ranks seventh. Kyley Sexton is ninth in kills at 2.83 per set while Lauren Van Orden is eighth in service aces at 0.28 per set.
WORKING OVERTIME
Four of SDSU's 18 matches this season have gone to five sets, most recently the one against Wyoming on Oct. 16. San Diego State's record in those contests stands at 3-1 with the other wins over Texas-San Antonio and UTEP along with a loss to Weber State. The Aztecs' five-set win over UTEP on Sept. 13 marked the first time that SDSU had overcome a two-sets-to-none deficit to win a match since it turned the trick at the University of San Diego on Nov. 4, 2003. SDSU is 1-11 overall in three-game matches and 4-5 in four-game contests.
AZTEC NOTES
The Aztecs .374 attack percentage vs. Wyoming on Oct. 16 was its highest of the 2008 campaign. Its previous best was a .273 percentage in the season opener, a three-set loss to UC Irvine ... Lauren Salisbury is the only player to have started all 25 of San Diego State's matches. Stephanie Darnall, Bailee Hellwig and Lauren Van Orden have started 24 times each ... Stephanie Darnall is averaging 3.27 points per set in the Aztecs' last seven matches ... The Aztecs' win at Brigham Young on Oct. 16 was their first in Provo since the 2002 campaign ... The Aztecs have reached double figures in team blocks 11 times this season, most recently with 13 at Wyoming on Nov. 15 ... The team's 13 blocks at Wyoming was its best total since it had recorded 14 at UNLV on Oct. 3 ... SDSU's match at TCU on Oct. 23 marked just the sixth time that SDSU has won the first set in its 25 matches this season. The Aztecs are 4-2 in contests in which they have captured the opening set ... The team's seven service aces in the match against Wyoming on Oct. 16 was a team season high ... SDSU's -.022 hitting percentage at Colorado State last week was its lowest since it had a -.029 mark at Colorado State during the 2005 season.
UP NEXT
SDSU will conclude its 2008 home season with a non-conference match at Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday, Nov. 29, at noon (PST). That contest will take place in the Icardo Center on the CSU Bakersfield campus.