Sept. 9, 2009
Complete Release and Season Statistics in PDF Format
AZTECS MAKE FIRST HOME APPEARANCE OF 2009 VS. ST. MARY'S THIS WEEKEND
San Diego State open's its 2009 home season with a match against St. Mary's on Sunday, Sept. 13, at 4:00 p.m. in Peterson Gym. The contest will be a rematch of last Monday's meeting between the teams in Moraga, Calif., which the Gaels won in four sets. The Aztecs' seven road contests to start the 2009 campaign marked the longest stretch that SDSU has been on the road to open a season since 1983 when it played its first 11 contests away from home.
ALUMNI VISIT
Prior to the match against St. Mary's, San Diego State will host its annual Alumni Game on Friday, Sept. 11, at 6:00 p.m. in Peterson Gym. Approximately 24 former players are expected to play while a number of other former players are also expected to attend. Tentative plans call for the alums to play two sets among themselves and then take on the current Aztec team for two sets.
SERIES RECORD
San Diego State holds a 2-1 advantage over St. Mary's, but have never faced the Gaels in San Diego. The first meeting came in 1996 at the New Mexico Tournament as SDSU prevailed in three sets. In 2000, the teams squared off during Nike Conference Challenge in Portland, Ore., with the Aztecs taking a 3-1 victory. The third contest between the gales and Aztecs was played this past Monday in Moraga where St. Mary's claimed a 3-1 win.
SCOUTING THE GAELS
St. Mary's has begun their 2009 season with a 4-1 record with their only loss coming to 11th-ranked California. They have recorded a four-set win over Texas A&M, which is receiving votes in this week's AVCA poll. The Gaels will host matches against San Jose State and Eastern Washington on Wednesday and Thursday prior to visiting San Diego to face SDSU. St. Mary's is led by freshman outside hitter Lauren Corp (4.05 k/s, .332, 1.84 d/s, 1.11 b/s) and junior outside hitter Megan York (3.21 k/s, 3.21 d/s). In addition to Corp, middle blockers Shannon Lowell (1.37) and Megan Burton (1.28) both average over a block per set. As a team, the Gaels are hitting .291.
HEAD COACH Deitre Collins-Parker
San Diego State head coach Deitre Collins-Parker is in her first season with the Aztecs after being named the fourth head coach in program history earlier this year. She previously served as head coach at UNLV for eight seasons (1996-2003) and at Cornell the past five years (2004-2008). Her 13-year career record stands at 166-194 (.461). A three-time All-American as a player at Hawai'i, she led the Rainbow Wahine to consecutive national titles (1983-84) and was named the national player of the year twice. She was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team and competed at the Goodwill Games and Pan Am Games prior to playing professionally in Europe for four years She is one of six players named to the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball 25th Anniversary Team in October 2005 and was inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame in the fall of 2008.
ALL-TOUNAMENT AZTECS
Middle blockers Lauren Salisbury and Andrea Hannasch were named to the all-tournament team at last weekend's USF Asics/Coca-Cola Challenge in San Francisco. Salisbury averaged 2.26 kills and 1.38 blocks per set over SDSU's three matches while hitting .394. It marked the fourth time that Salisbury was named to an all-tourney team at an in-season event during her Aztec career. Hannasch, meanwhile, hit .379 with averages of 2.69 kills and 1.38 blocks per set. It was the first collegiate honor for the freshman from New Braunfels, Texas.
SALISBURY OPENS STRONG
Junior middle blocker Lauren Salisbury opened the 2009 season with back-to-back 10-kill matches (vs. Seattle and San Jose State) and has recorded double figures in that category in six of the first seven contests. She has notched 13 kills in each of the last two matches, her highs of the young season. She is hitting .348 and averaging 1.26 blocks per set after SDSU's first seven matches. She had a season-high eight blocks in the win at San Francisco last Friday (Sept. 4). Salisbury was named to the 2009 preseason all-Mountain West Conference team.
IMPRESSIVE DEBUT
Freshman middle blocker Andrea Hannasch began her collegiate career as a starter in the season opener against Seattle on Aug. 28. In that contest, she led the Aztecs with 12 kills with a .625 hitting percentage. She also recorded a service ace along with two digs and two blocks. Hannasch had a season-high 15 kills in the match against Rice on Sept. 4 and a personal best seven blocks in the win over Cal State Northridge on Sept. 5. She is the team leader in service aces with a total of nine for an average of 0.33 per set. Hannasch is a two-time all-state honoree from Texas who also won a state high school title as a discus thrower for her prep track team.
PEARSON OFF TO QUICK START
Sophomore Paije Pearson has moved into a starting role in her second season as an Aztec after playing in less than half of the team's matches a year ago with two starts. She has recorded her Aztecs career bests this season in kills (11 vs. Cal State Northridge), block assists (5 vs. both San Francisco and Rice) and total blocks (6 vs. Rice). Pearson his hitting .333 over the Aztecs' last two matches.
VAN ORDEN AT SETTER
Lauren Van Orden has resumed her role as the team's setter and set a then-personal best with 44 assists in the match vs. Seattle. She turned in a new career best with 54 assists at St. Mary's on Monday (Sept. 7). She has recorded at least 40 assists in six of the team's seven matches. She is averaging 10.96 assists per set. As one of two setters in a 6-2 formation last season, she averaged 4.73 assists. Van Orden has recorded 14 blocks through SDSU's first three matches and has at least one in each of the first seven contests.
JACKELS ON DEFENSE
Kristi Jackels, who redshirted as a true freshman in 2008, has taken over the role of starting libero from the graduated Michelle Ferrer. She recorded 13 digs in her first match for the Aztecs (vs. Seattle) and also contributed a pair of service aces in that contest. She then had 18 digs in the loss to fourth-ranked Washington and set her personal best with 27 against Rice. After three matches, she is averaging 4.07 digs per set, a mark that ranks third in the conference this week.
AMONG THE LEADERS
After the opening two weeks of play, San Diego State leads the Mountain West Conference team stats in assists (12.15/set), is second in kills (12.70/set) and is third in digs (14.00/set). The Aztecs are among in the top half of the conference stats in blocking, standing fourth at 2.52 b/s. Individually, Lauren Van Orden's 10.96 assists/set leads the MWC. Lauren Salisbury ranks fifth in hitting percentage (.348), fourth in blocking (1.26 per set), eighth in points (3.28 per game) and tenth in kills (2/63 per set). Andrea Hannasch is eighth in service aces (0.33/set) as well as tenth in both hitting percentage (.299) and blocking (1.00 per set). In addition, Kristi Jackels is third in digs at 4.07/set while Kyley Sexton stands ninth in kills (2.76 k/s.
AZTECS ON TV
San Diego State will make four television appearances during the 2009 season. The match against Brigham Young on Sept. 17 will be carried live on BYU Television and will be aired on The Mtn network on Sept. 19 at 11:00 a.m. PT. BYU Television may be viewed on line (at BYUTV.org). The contest vs. Utah on Sept. 19 will be carried by CBS College Sports on a tape-delayed basis on Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 4:00 p.m. PT. The SDSU vs. Utah match on Nov. 19 will be shown live on The Mtn at 6:30 p.m. PT. The match against Brigham Young on Nov. 21 will be aired on CBS College Sports on Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 8:00 p.m. PT.
AZTEC NOTES
Senior Caitlin McMillan, is averaging 2.90 per set, second-best on the team ... Courtney Lamphier set a personal best with 11 digs against St. Mary's on Monday (Sept. 7). She also had a career-high two service aces in the match against San Jose State on Aug. 29 ... Kyley Sexton's mark of 2.76 kills per set leads the squad ... Lauren Salisbury, Andrea Hannasch and Lauren Van Orden have recorded at least one block in every match ... Eleven of the 18 athletes on the team are freshmen or sophomores. The Aztecs have only two seniors: outside hitter Caitlin McMillan and libero/defensive specialist Courtney Lamphier ... Five members of the 2009 SDSU squad hail from Texas: Andrea Hannasch (New Braunfels), Lauren Salisbury (Southlake), Courtney Miller (San Antonio), Hannah Evans (Kingwood) and Kelsey Manasco (Arlington).