Sept. 15, 2008
Complete Release and Season Statistics in PDF Format
AZTECS VISIT FULLERTON, OPEN MWC SEASON AT AIR FORCE
San Diego State volleyball remains on the road this week as it travels north to face Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 6:00 p.m. (PDT). The contest against the Titans is SDSU's final non-league match before MWC play begins. The Aztecs will then prepare to begin their Mountain West Conference campaign on Saturday (Sept. 20) as they visit Air Force for a contest set for a 7:00 p.m. (MDT) start. Fans can follow the action during the Air Force match on the Internet by going to Aztec web site (www.goaztecs.com) and clicking on the GameTracker symbol (GT) next to the match on the calendar schedule that appears in the middle of the page.
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 meeting between the teams with the Titans picking up their first victory over the Aztecs in 1989. The teams have spilt their previous four meeting, however, with Cal State Fullerton winning at home in 2004 and 2006 and the Aztec winning in Peterson Gym in 2005 and 2007.
San Diego State holds a 22-1 mark in its previous 23 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 18 meetings between the teams including three victories last season. The Aztecs are 10-1 vs. the Falcons in Colorado Springs.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Cal State Fullerton comes into Tuesday's match against the Aztecs with a record of 4-6. The Titans ended a four-match losing streak with victories over Texas A&M and Southern Mississippi at last weekend's University of San Diego Tournament. Team leaders include middle blocker Erin Saddler (3.18 kps, .312 attack percentage) and outside hitter Brittany Moore (2.88 kps, 3.26 dps). Saddler is the Big West Player of the week after earning all-tourney honors at last weekend's USD Tournament. The Titans are a young side with 11 of their 15 players either freshmen or sophomores.
Air Force's record stands at 4-7 after it took three of four matches this past weekend at its own tournament. A win over Kent State on Friday stopped a five-match losing skid and was followed by wins over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and North Carolina Central. The Falcon offense is led by middle blockers Jasamine Pettie (2.47 kps, 0.56 bps) and Nicole Stillwell (2.07 kps, 0.56 bps). Senior outside hitter Kristina Stewart is averaging 2.20 kills and 2.65 digs per set as well.
HEAD COACH Mark Warner
San Diego State head coach Mark Warner is in his 14th season at the helm of the Aztec women's program. His career record over that span stands at 205-201 (.505). Over the past 13 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. Warner has announced his retirement effective at the end of the 2008 season after serving Aztec volleyball (men's and women's) for the past 27 years.
MOST RECENTLY
SDSU went 1-2 at the Gonzaga Invitational in Spokane, Wash., last weekend.
In the opener against Weber State, the Aztecs could not cash in on a two-sets-to-one lead and fell to the Wildcats in five (25-21, 19-25, 25-19, 21-25, 6-15). Lauren Salisbury had 15 kills while Stephanie Darnall and Lauren Van Orden recorded 12 and 11 respectively. Bailee Hellwig chipped in with 10 blocks.
Against Gonzaga, the Aztecs had five players reach double figures in kills, but fell in four sets (19-25, 25-23, 27-29, 18-25). Kelsey Manasco led SDSU with 13 kills with Darnall and Salisbury (12 each) along with Van Orden and Kyley Sexton (11 apiece) also hit double figures.
In its tournament finale, San Diego State defeated Texas-El Paso in five sets by scores of 24-26, 20-25, 25-19, 25-23, 15-10. Salisbury led all players with 28 kills and also contributed six blocks and five digs. Van Orden had 15 kills and nine digs with Michelle Ferrer and Hannah Evans notching 20 and 16 digs respectively.
VAN ORDEN SHINES
Setter Lauren Van Orden was the lone Aztec named to the all-tournament team at last weekend's Gonzaga Invitational. For the weekend, the freshman from Aurora, Colo., averaged 2.64 kills, 5.21 assists, 1.29 digs and 0.50 blocks per set while hitting .351 over three matches. Van Orden set her Aztecs bests with 15 kills against UTEP and was in double figures in that category in all three matches. She also had a personal season high four blocks vs. Weber State.
SALISBURY HITS AWAY
Lauren Salisbury has been SDSU's offensive leader in the early going. She leads the squad in kill average (3.36 kps) and hitting percentage (.368). This past weekend at the Gonzaga Invitational, she averaged 3.93 kps with a .351 attack percentage. She also had 0.64 digs and 0.71 blocks per set. Salisbury's .800 attack percentage vs. UC Irvine in the season opener was a career best for the second-year Aztec. She has reached double figures in kills in seven of the team's nine matches this season and has turned hit hitting percentages of .333 or high on six occasions.
HELLWIG ON THE BLOCK
Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Bailee Hellwig set her new SDSU career bests with eight block assists and 10 total blocks in the match vs. Weber State last Friday. In SDSU's three contests last weekend, she hit .500 (11k-1e-20ta) while averaging 1.29 blocks per set. She enters the week as SDSU's blocking leader at 1.06 per set and is hitting .316 overall.
WORKING OVERTIME
Three of San Diego State nine matches this season have gone to five sets. SDSU's record in those contests stands at 2-1 with wins over Texas-San Antonio and Texas-El Paso along with a loss to Weber State. The Aztecs' five-set win over UTEP last Saturday 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.
AMONG THE MWC LEADERS
Lauren Salisbury ranks among the top 10 in the Mountain West Conference in three categories. Her .368 attack percentage ranks fifth in the league while her 3.36 kills per set average is fifth-best as well. She is also fifth in scoring with a mark of 3.94 points per set. Libero Michelle Ferrer is tied for sixth in digs with a mark of 3.50 per set. Bailee Hellwig's average of 1.06 blocks per set places here ninth in the league. Leah Lathrop, who shares setting duties with Lauren Van Orden, is ninth in assists at 5.42 per set.
ALL-TOURNEY AZTECS
With Lauren Van Orden earning all-tournament honors last weekend, she joins two other Aztecs who have been similarly honored in 2008. Middle blocker Lauren Salisbury was named to the all-tournament team at the Baylor Classic (Sept. 5-6). Salisbury and right side hitter Kelsey Manasco, both sophomores, were named to the all-tournament team at the Aztec Invitational Aug. 29-30.
DARNALL CONSISTENT
Junior Stephanie Darnall reached double figures in kills twice last weekend with 12 in the matches against both Weber State and Gonzaga. Against Texas-El Paso, she had a season-high 10 digs despite playing in only two games during the set. During the Baylor Classic tournament the previous weekend, she averaged 2.67 kills, 1.50 digs and 0.42 blocks a set. Darnall enters the week second on the team in kill average at 2.47 kps and service aces with six.
VAN ORDEN DOUBLES UP
Setter Lauren Van Orden, who doubled as an outside hitter in high school, recorded a pair of double-doubles this past weekend at the Gonzaga Invitational. She had 11 kills and 23 assists vs. Gonzaga followed by 15 kills and 29 assists against Texas-El Paso. Her other double-double came vs. Texas-San Antonio (Sept. 5) when she had 23 assists and 11 digs. Against UTEP, she had nine digs to finish one shy of a triple-double. In the Texas-San Antonio match, she finished with nine kills, ending up one kill short of the triple-double. SDSU's last triple double was turned in by Aspen McPartland against Santa Clara on Sept, 5, 2003.
FERRER GETS DEFENSIVE
Senior Michelle Ferrer has moved into the position of starting libero for the Aztecs in 2008, taking over for four-year starter Aime Cordeiro, the MWC co-libero of the year last fall. Ferrer responded with a dozen digs in the season opener vs. UC Irvine and then set a career high with 25 against Albany. This past weekend she averaged 3.86 digs per set and had 20 vs. UTEP, her second-highest total of the year. Through nine matches, she is averaging 3.50 dps and has been in double figures in that category seven times in 2008.
DUAL SETTERS
With the Aztecs running a 6-2 offensive formation, the job of setter has been divided between senior Leah Lathrop and freshman Lauren Van Orden. After three matches, both players have appeared in all 36 sets and have almost identical setting stats. Lathrop has had 195 assists for an average of 5.42 per set while Van Orden has 175 for a mark of 4.86 per contest. Lathrop has been in double figures in assists in all nine matches in 2008 while Van Orden has done so in eight.
MOVIN' UP THE CHARTS
With 85 assists at the Gonzaga Invitational last weekend, senior Leah Lathrop has increased her career total to 2,295 to move into sixth place on the SDSU career list. She needs 361 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.
AZTEC NOTES
Kyley Sexton set personal bests with 11 kills, two assists and two blocks vs. Gonzaga on Sept. 13 ... Sophomore Kelsey Manasco totaled 24 kills and 10 blocks (averaged of 2.67 kps and 1.11 bps) during SDSU's two matches last Saturday vs. Gonzaga and UTEP ... Stephanie Darnall and Lauren Salisbury are the only players to have started all nine of SDSU's matches. Bailee Hellwig, Leah Lathrop and Lauren Van Orden have started eight times each ... Hellwig and Kelsey Manasco are the only Aztecs to have recorded at least one block in each of SDSU's six matches ... Hannah Evans' 16 digs in the win over UTEP was two shy of her career best of 18 set vs. North Illinois on Sept. 8, 2007 ... Eight players are averaging over a dig per set this season ... SDSU has won the first set in just two of its nine matches this season. The Aztecs defeated Albany (3-1) on Aug. 30 and lost to Weber State (2-3) on Sept. 12.