Nov. 9, 2011
Complete Release & Season Statistics
AZTECS TO CONCLUDE MOUNTAIN WEST SEASON AT BOISE STATE AND AIR FORCE
San Diego State will wrap up its 2011 Mountain West regular season with a pair of matches on the road this week. The first contest will come on Thursday, Nov. 10, when the Aztecs visit Boise State at 7:00 p.m. (MT) for a match in Bronco Gym. SDSU will then square off against Air Force on Saturday, Nov. 12, at 5:00 p.m. (MT) on Falcon Court in the Cadet Gym in Colorado Springs.
SERIES RECORDS
San Diego State holds a 28-2 mark in its previous 30 meetings with Air Force including a 3-0 win in Peterson Gym earlier this season. The teams first met in 1996 while both were members of the Western Athletic Conference. Air Force's wins over SDSU came in Colorado Springs in 1999. The Falcons ended a 22-match losing streak at the hands of the Aztecs last season when they won a four-set decision in Colorado Springs. The Aztecs are 15-0 vs. the Falcons in San Diego, 12-2 in Colorado Springs and 1-0 at neutral sites.
The Aztecs and Boise State have met just twice previously with SDSU winning on both occasions. Most recently it was the Aztecs claiming a three-set win over the Broncos in mid-October this season. The first meeting between the teams occurred at the Red Raider Classic in Lubbock, Texas, during the 2005 season with SDSU taking a three-set win.
TOURNAMENT SEEDING OUTLOOK
This week's results will determine seedings for the Mountain West tournament to be held hosted by New Mexico in Albuquerque Nov. 17-19. The Aztecs are currently tied for second place with TCU and hold the tiebreaker over the Horned Frogs after defeating them in both meetings this season. Wins at Boise State and Air Force would lock up the No. 2 seed for San Diego State. TCU finishes it league season at home against Colorado State and Wyoming. Wyoming is in fourth place, one game behind the Aztecs and TCU. SDSU also has the tiebreaker against the Cowgirls. The teams split their two matches, but the Aztecs hold the edge in sets won. A three-way tie for second between SDSU, TCU and Wyoming would see the Aztecs receive the tournament's No. 2 seed as well.
MW PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Outside hitter Paije Pearson was named the Mountain West Player of the Week for her efforts in the Aztecs' to two wins last week. It is the second weekly honor for Pearson in her SDSU career. She led the Aztecs with 13 kills in the 3-1 win over New Mexico on Thursday, Nov. 3. She also tied her career-high with four assists in the match to go along with seven digs and five blocks. In the 3-0 Senior Day win over TCU, Pearson was errorless in her attack with 10 kills on 20 attempts (.500). She also has three assists, a service ace, six digs and four blocks in the match. For the week, Pearson averaged 3.29 kills, 1.86 digs, 1.29 blocks and 1.00 assists per set, while hitting .354. She averaged 4.07 points per set over seven total sets.
HANNASCH LEADS THE OFFENSE
Junior middle blocker Andrea Hannasch turned in her fourth double-double of the season with 10 kills and 10 digs in the win over New Mexico on Nov. 3. The 10 digs marked her season high. It was her first double-double this season with kills and digs. The other three came with kills and blocks. She has finished in double figure in kills in 11 of the last 13 matches.
FOUCH ASSISTS
Setter Johnna Fouch averaged 15.3 kills per set in the win over TCU on Nov. 5. Fouch leads the conference in all games with an average of 11.19 assists per set while her league-match average of 11.87 is also the best in the Mountain West. Her overall assist average ranks 24th in NCAA Division I this week.
NASH CONTRIBUTES
Summer Nash had back-to-back double-figure kills effort in last week's wins over New Mexico (Nov. 3) and TCU (Nov. 5). In those two contests she average 3.43 kills per set. She had a career-highs of five block assists and six total blocks in the four-set victory vs. New Mexico.
HARRIS ON THE BLOCK
Middle blocker Emily Harris, a sophomore transfer from Western Michigan, has started each of the last 18 matches after not appearing in SDSU's first five contests of the year due to injury. She had a career-high 10 blocks in the match against New Mexico last Thursday (Nov. 3). She also had eight kills and a .333 hitting percentage in that contest. In SDSU's two matches last week, she recorded a total of 16 blocks for an average of 2.29 per set. Her overall average of 1.12 blocks per set ranks fifth in the Mountain West while her mark of 1.21 in league matches is third in the conference stats.
JACKELS DIGGING AWAY
Libero Kristi Jackels recorded a total of 56 digs in the matches vs. New Mexico and TCU for an average of 8.00 per set. Her 32 digs against New Mexico tied her career high which she set at Brigham Young on Nov. 6, 2010. She has finished in double figures in digs in 21 of SDSU's 23 matches this year.
THE RECORD BOOK
A trio of Aztecs will make their marks in the SDSU career record listings before the end of the 2011 season. Libero Kristi Jackels' 1,282 digs is fourth on the career Aztec top 10. Third place is currently held by Juliana Cezar (1993-96) with 1,369 career digs. Sophomore setter Johnna Fouch has moved into the number-nine spot in career assists with 2,235 and is only four assists away from moving up the chart. Former Aztec Melissa Stokes (1986-88) ranks eighth on the list with 2,239 assists. In addition, Andrea Hannasch is now 10th on the career blocks assists chart with 338. Ninth place is occupied by Angelica Jackson (1984-87) with 341.
AZTEC NOTES
The win over TCU on Nov. 5 by scores of 30-28, 28-26, 26-24 marked the first time that SDSU was involved in a match in which every set went to extra points since rally scoring was introduced in 2001. Prior to rally scoring, SDSU never played in a match in which every set went to extra points (including two-set tournament matches) ... San Diego State's losses at Colorado State and Wyoming (Oct. 27 and 29) marked the first time that the Aztec had lost two matches in a row this season ... The Aztecs longest winning streak of the season, four matches is also the team's longest streak since the 2007 campaign ... Kyla Oropeza's 13 digs at Wyoming on Oct. 29 tied her career high as an Aztec ... Defensive specialist Courtney Vaccarello tied her SDSU career high with nine digs vs. TCU on Nov. 5. She had just set that mark two matches earlier at Wyoming on Oct. 29 ... As a team, San Diego State stands first in kills and assists in league matches.