Nov. 23, 2009
AZTECS CONCLUDE 2009 SEASON WITH MATCH AT UC SANTA BARBARA
San Diego State finishes out its 2009 season with non-conference match on the road this week. On Tuesday, Nov. 24, the Aztecs will face UC Santa Barbara at The Thunderdome in Santa Barbara at 6:00 p.m. (PT).The Aztecs enter that contest with an overall record of 14-14 and they will finish the year with their most wins and highest winning percentage since the 2005 campaign.
SERIES RECORD
SDSU's all-time record against UC Santa Barbara stands at 21-17 since the teams first met back in 1978. The teams last faced each other in 2007 in the season opener as part of the Aztec Invitational in San Diego with SDSU winning that match in five sets. Prior to that, the Gauchos had won the previous 10 matches going back to 1989. The Aztecs have a record of 6-6 against the Gauchos in Santa Barbara, 8-9 in San Diego and 7-2 on neutral floors.
SCOUTING THE GAUCHOS
UC Santa Barbara's record stands at 21-7 overall and it is receiving votes in this week's AVCA national poll. The Gauchos finished Big West Conference play with a mark of 11-5 and tied for second place in the final league standings. They have lost only once in 11 matches at home in 2009. UCSB is led by senior outside hitter Rebecca Saraceno (4.50 kills/set, 2.68 digs /set) and sophomore middle blocker Stacey Schmidt (2.36 kills/set, .337, 0.63 blocks /set). The Gauchos are hitting .246 as a team and average 1.38 services aces and 1.86 blocks per set.
HANNASCH NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Outside hitter Andrea Hannasch has been named Mountain West Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the first time in her career after helping the Aztecs to a 1-1 record in the final week of Conference play, including a four-set win over Utah. Against the Utes, she set a career-high with 16 kills to go along with three blocks and three digs. Hannasch also tallied a hitting percentage of .500 vs. Utah, committing only two hitting errors for the match. In a four-set loss to BYU, Hannasch tied her career-best 16-kill total, while tallying two blocks, two digs and one assist. On the week, Hannasch averaged 4.00 kills, 0.62 digs, 0.62 blocks and 4.50 points per set, while hitting .436 (32-8-55). She becomes the second Aztec to win the conference honor this season after teammate Kyley Sexton picked up the honor on Oct. 19.
AZTEC TOP 10 LISTS
Three current Aztecs have entered the San Diego State single-season and career top 10 lists this season. With 444 digs this fall, freshman libero Kristi Jackels has moved into the number-five spot on the SDSU all-time single-season list. The fourth position is held by Jackie Mendez with 474 digs during eh 1986 season. With 1,230 assists in 2009, Lauren Van Orden appears on the Aztec single-season list in the seventh spot. Number-eight on the list is Sara Engstrom, who had 1,286 assists in 2003. Van Orden's career total of 1,684 assists moves her into the 10th spot on the SDSU career list. The ninth position is occupied by Stacy Bollinger who finished with 1,839 assists from 1991-93. In addition, junior middle blocker Lauren Salisbury currently ranks sixth on the SDSU career hitting percentage chart at .328.
AMONG THE STAT LEADERS
As a team, San Diego State is first in the Mountain West Conference overall team stats in assists (12.40/set) and second in kills (13.29/set). Individually, Lauren Van Orden's 11.18 assists/set is the best average the MWC. Libero Kristi Jackels is the third in the conference in digs with a mark of 4.04/set. Andrea Hannasch is fourth in blocking (1.14 per set), eighth in points (3.24 per set) and 10th in hitting percentage (.288). Lauren Salisbury ranks fourth in hitting percentage (.350). Kyley Sexton is eighth in kill average at 2.74 per set. In the final stats for MWC matches, Van Orden was second in assists (11.33/set), Salisbury was second in hitting percentage (.351) and Jackels was fourth in digs (4.19/set). Sexton was eighth in kills (2.88/set) and 10th in points (3.22/set) while Hannasch ranked fourth in blocking (1.14/set) and ninth in points (3.23/set).
GETTING BETTER
Over the past four matches, the Aztecs are hitting .280 as a team. Their season attack percentage stands at .215. SDSU's 14 wins is its highest total since the 2005 season. The Aztecs have shown statistical improvement in five of six areas from a year ago. Those stats are as follows:
Category 2009 2008Kills/Set....13.29...12.04Hitting Pct....215.....190Assists/Set..12.40...11.17Aces/Set......1.03....0.96Digs/Set.....13.24...12.45The only decrease is in blocking where SDSU averaged 2.34 per set a year ago compared to 2.22 this fall.
EVANS ON THE OFFENSIVE
Junior Hannah Evans matched her career best of 16 kills for the fourth time in 2009 when she did so in the win over Utah last Thursday. She also matched her personal Aztec best in that same contest with six block assists. In the last nine matches in which she has appeared, Evans has been in double figures in kills seven times and averaged 3.24 per set.
SEXTON COMING ON
Kyley Sexton matched her season high with 18 kills against Utah last Thursday. She previously had that many in matches vs. San Francisco and Air Force. Her 22 points in the contest against the Utes marked a career high for the sophomore outside hitter. Sexton has reached double figures in kills in each of the last matches, averaging 3.72 kills/per set over those contests. She also set a career high with 17 digs in the loss to Brigham Young on Saturday (Nov. 21). Her previous high was 11 against CSU Bakersfield earlier this season. The 18 kills and 17 digs vs. BYU allowed her to record her third double-double of the 2009 campaign.
HANNASCH MAKING AN IMPACT
Freshman middle blocker Andrea Hannasch has hit .448 over San Diego State last four matches. In those contests she is averaging 3.27 kills and 1.47 blocks per set as well. She set a career high with 16 kills against Utah on Thursday (Nov. 19) and matched that total two days later vs. Brigham Young. Her 19 points in the match vs. Utah last Thursday were a career best. She has surpassed the .300 hitting mark in 13 matches in 2009. She leads the team in blocking both overall and in MWC contests with identical 1.14/set averages.
VAN ORDEN ASSISTS
With 46 assists and 12 digs against Brigham Young last Saturday (Nov. 21), setter Lauren Van Orden notched her sixth double-double of the year and 17th of her SDSU career. The 12 digs tied her career high which she first set against San Diego on Sept. 23 and has matched three times since. Her 55 assists vs. Utah on Thursday was her third-highest total in a match this season. Van set her career high with 61 assists in the win over UNLV on Sept. 26.
PEARSON DIGS AND BLOCKS
Paije Pearson has started 27 of SDSU's 28 matches this season after having just a pair of starts as a freshman in 2008. She has appeared in all but one set this fall. Over SDSU's last four matches she is averaging 1.07 blocks per set. She notched seven block assists at Air Force on Nov. 13 to set her season and career high. Pearson has reached double figure in points in 16 of the team's 28 matches including four of the last five.
SALISBURY ATTACKS
Over the past three matches, junior middle blocker Lauren Salisbury is hitting .391 (30k, 5e, 64att). She has hit .300 or better in 18 of SDSU's 28 matches this fall and has not committed more than four hitting errors in a match. She tallied 15 kills and six blocks in the win over Utah on Nov. 19, her highest total in the past 12 matches. Salisbury enters the week with a .328 career hitting percentage, a mark that ranks fifth-best all-time for an Aztec player.
JACKELS SOLID AT LIBERO
Kristi Jackels, a walk-on who redshirted as a true freshman in 2008, has been solid in the role of starting libero this fall. She had 24 digs, her second-highest total of the year, in the match vs. Brigham Young last Saturday (Nov. 21). Jackels recorded a career-high 27 digs against Rice on Sept. 4. She tied that mark with 27 digs in the win over Wyoming on Oct. 10. She has recorded 20 or more digs in a match seven times in 2009. She ranks third in the Mountain West Conference in digs, both overall and in league contests.
AZTEC NOTES
True freshman defensive specialist Stacey Hallam recorded her season best with seven digs at Air Force last Friday (Nov. 13). She notched a pair service aces at Wyoming on Nov. 5 ... Among the attackers, Kyley Sexton has led or tied for the team high in kills in nine matches 2009. Freshman Andrea Hannasch has done so eight times followed by and juniors Hannah Evans at six ... The team's .466 attack percentage vs. Air Force on Oct. 16 was its highest since it hit .473 against Harvard on Sept. 18, 2003 ... The Aztecs have six players averaging over two kills per set (Sexton-2.74; Evans-2.63; Salisbury-2.54; Manasco-2.44; Hannasch-2.42; Pearson-2.12) ... Salisbury, Hannasch and Lauren Van Orden are the only players to have started every match this season. Those three, in addition to Kristi Jackels, have appeared in every set.