| GOAZTECS.COM | WEB |
|
|
Volleyball Travels To Las Vegas
Nov. 6, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format
AZTECS VISIT LAS VEGAS The match is the first of three consecutive road contests to conclude the Aztecs' 2002 conference season.
SERIES RECORD UNLV's last win over San Diego State came in November 2002 in the first round of the Mountain West Conference tournament at Colorado State. San Diego State has won all seven regular-season matches against UNLV in the MWC. UNLV last defeated San Diego State in league play during the 1999 season when both schools were members of the Western Athletic Conference. The Aztecs are 5-1 against the Rebels in Las Vegas.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION The Rebels offense is led by the outside hitters Tarin Keith (3.05 kpg) and Leiana Oswald (2.99 kpg). Oswald had 20 kills in the loss the NAU earlier this week. Sheila Ocasio-Clemente is the team's top blocker with an average of 1.10 bpg.
LAST WEEK On Thursday (Oct. 31), the Aztecs recovered from a one-game deficit to defeat Wyoming, 3-1 (27-30, 30-15, 30-27, 30-22). Aspen McPartland led the way for SDSU with a career-high 23 kills along with 10 digs and a .667 attack percentage. Rochelle Currier and Zlatina Anguelova chipped in 16 kills apiece in the winning effort. Last Saturday, San Diego State defeated Colorado State, 3-0 (30-20, 30-25, 30-27), on Senior Night in Peterson Gym. Rochelle Currier led all players with 14 kills while Nicole Akporiaye finished with nine kills and six blocks. Anguelova also reached double figures in kills for SDSU with a dozen.
OH, THE POSSIBILITIES If San Diego State, Colorado State and Utah all finish with 9-3 league records (assuming Utah beats Colorado State when they meet in two weeks), they would be declared MWC tri-champions. The number-one tourney seed would likely go Utah. Several other scenarios are possible, depending on results over the final two weeks of the season. Here is the remaining schedule for the top three title contenders: Date SDSU CSU Utah 11/8....----.......UNM........at BYU 11/9....at UNLV....AF.........---- 11/15...at UNM.....at Utah....CSU 11/16...at AF......at BYU.....WYO HEAD COACH MARK WARNER SDSU head coach Mark Warner is in his eighth season at the helm of the Aztec women's program. His career record over the past seven seasons at SDSU stands at 135-106 (.560). Over the past seven years, Warner has led his teams to a pair of NCAA Tournament berths and a Western Athletic Conference championship. His tutelage has produced nine all-conference players.
ANGUELOVA STEPS UP This past weekend she totaled 28 kills and 19 digs in two matches. She has been in double figures in kills in each of the six matches since her return. Over San Diego State's last six outings, Anguelova is averaging 4.70 kills and 2.84 digs per game while hitting .325. The junior from Sofia, Bulgaria has recorded 11 doubles-doubles this season, a figure which ranks third in the Mountain West Conference.
GREGG SETS SERVICE ACE MARK She leads the conference in total aces with 54 and is averaging a league-best 0.79 aces per game in MWC contests. Two weeks ago, she set a Mountain West Conference record (for all matches and MWC matches only) with nine service aces in the three-game win over Air Force. It was also a career-high for the junior from Santee, Calif., whose previous best was eight aces vs. Utah in a five-game match in San Diego last season. Gregg already owns the Mountain West marks for aces in a season with 79 (all matches) and 40 (conference only), records she set last year.
MCPARTLAND DOUBLES UP Her double double 23 kills/10 digs) in the Wyoming match was the 13th of the season. She still ranks second in the MWC in double-doubles this season and her 25 career double-doubles is second among active conference players. McPartland's 23 kills against Wyoming was a career best, surpassing her previous high of 19 set earlier this season at Wake Forest. She has also set a personal best in digs this year with 28 digs vs. Colorado State on Oct. 4. That total was also a Mountain West Conference record. McPartland is hitting .312 on the year overall (8th in the MWC) and her 3.12 digs per game average is second in the league this week.
AKPORIAYE GETTING OFFENSIVE She ranks first in the Mountain West this week in overall hitting percentage (.347) and is second in league contests only (.381). Her average of 1.48 blocks per game (for all contests) ranks 18th in the nation and is second in the Mountain West Conference. Her conference match average of 1.75 bpg tops the MWC stat list this week. She had a career-best 11 block assists in the three-game win over Brigham Young earlier this season. With 133 block assists this season, Akporiaye has moved into the number six spot on the SDSU single-season list. She needs just eight blocks to take over the five spot currently occupied by Jennifer Miller (140 assists in 1989). With 353 block assists in her four seasons at SDSU, she has moved into the number-six spot on the Aztec career top 10 list. Number five on the list is Shannon Mathew (358 BA, 1988-89) while the fourth position is held by Jennifer Hamilton (361 BA, 1992-95).
SCHAUERMANN ON THE ATTACK In last week's pair of matches, she had five blocks in each of SDSU's victories. She also had a total of five set assists in those two outings to account for almost a quarter of her season total of 21. Megan Schauermann's 12 kills against UNLV on Oct. 11 was a season high for the middle blocker from Vancouver, Wash. Her total was one kill short of her SDSU career best of 13 set last season at Wyoming.
THE WRIGHT STUFF She has moved up to third in the Mountain West Conference in assists this week with an average of 11.65 per game. Her season assist average has increased each of the past four weeks. Wright is also averaging 1.17 kills per game from her setter position and is hitting .379 with only 30 errors in 101 games. She recorded her first triple-double as an Aztec in the match at Colorado State on Oct. 4 when she had 11 kills, 51 assists and 12 digs. It is one of only three triple-doubles recorded by Mountain West Conference players this year. She has been named to a pair of all-tournament teams this season: the Ramada Inn Invitational at SDSU and the Black and Gold Challenge at Wake Forest.
CURRIER FINISHINGSTRONG On the year, she has the second-highest kill average on the squad at 3.20 kpg. Her 2.55 dig per game mark ranks third as does her 0.22 service aces per game.
GETTING IT DONE DEFENSIVELY The Aztecs are averaging a over half a block (0.78) more per game than opponents. Three players are averaging better than a block per game : Nicole Akporiaye (1.48 bpg), Aspen McPartland (1.17 bpg) and Megan Schauermann (1.12 bpg) SDSU'S team average of 3.00 blocks ranks 16th in the country last week among Division I teams.
MWC TEAM LEADERS In conference matches only, SDSU is among the top three in every category: digs (1st-14.25 dpg), hitting percentage (1st-.273), blocks (1st-3.44 bpg), kills (1st-15.385 kpg), service aces (3rd-1.62 sapg), assists (3rd-14.18 apg) and opponent hitting percentage (3rd-.202).
TEAM NOTES At 9-2, San Diego State is off to its best Mountain West Conference start since joining the league in 1999. The Aztecs' best final league record the previous four seasons as members of the MWC is 9-5 (in 2000 and 2001). SDSU's best start to a league season was 12-0 in 1995 when it was a member of the Western Athletic Conference. The team finished with an 13-1 league mark that year. Since starting the season with a 4-5 record, the Aztecs have gone 14-5. SDSU has won seven of its last 10 matches. San Diego State's current three-match win streak (it's second of the year) is its longest of the season. The team's longest losing streak is also three games (in early September).
PLAYER NOTES Sara Engstrom is averaging 1.80 digs per game over SDSU's last three outings. The junior transfer from University of Portland plays strictly in the back row and has become a regular off the bench over SDSU's last few matches. Nicole Akporiaye had no hitting errors in last weekend's' matches vs. Wyoming and Colorado State. She hit .621 over those two contests. Zlatina Anguelova has been in double figures in 16 of her 22 matches played this fall. She was hurt during two of those contests and did not complete the full match.
UP NEXT The Aztecs will be at New Mexico on Friday, Nov. 15 (7:00 pm MDT), and will follow that match with a contest at Air Force the following night at 7:00 pm MDT). SDSU has one remaining regular season match, at UC Riverside following the MWC Tournament on Nov. 26.
|
 |
