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Volleyball Set to Hit the Road
6/21/1999 12:00 AM | Volleyball
November 2, 1998
THIS WEEK:
Utah (14-7, 4-4 WAC) plays two matches on the road. The Utes face No. 9 Hawaii (19-2, 9-1 WAC) on Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu at 7:00 p.m. (HST) and San Diego State (5-18, 2-8 WAC) on Sunday at Peterson Gym in San Diego at 1:00 p.m (PST).
Utah at Hawaii (#9)
Nov. 6
Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu
7:00 p.m. (HST)
Utah at San Diego State
Nov. 8
Peterson Gym
San Diego
1:00 p.m. (PST)
Utah Probable Starters
No. Name Yr. Pos. 10 Stacie Greenwalt Jr. MB 16 Sara Shakula Sr. OH 12 Kalani Tonga So. OH 02 Graciela Torres Jr. S 14 Brooke Barton So. OH 03 McKelle Stilson Fr. MB 08 Lucie Turkov So. DS
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
The Utes are 14-7 overall and tied for fourth place in the Western Athletic Conference Pacific Division with a 4-4 record. Last Friday night, the Utes lost to No. 4 Brigham Young in Provo, Utah, 15-6, 15-5, 15-10.
Kalani Tonga leads the team in kills (4.17) and digs (3.00). Junior middle blocker Stacie Greenwalt is second in blocks (1.18), first in hitting efficiency (.302) and second in kills (3.11). Freshman middle blocker McKelle Stilson is first in blocking (1.25). Junior setter Graciela Torres is averaging 13.00 assists and has the second-most aces (0.33). Sophomore outside hitter Brooke Barton leads the team in aces (0.46).
SCOUTING HAWAII:
The Rainbow Wahine, ranked No. 4 in the USA Today/AVCA Poll released on Oct. 26, are 19-2 overall and in second place in the Western Athletic Conference Pacific Division with a 9-1 record. Last week, Hawaii defeated UTEP 15-5, 15-5, 15-10 and New Mexico 15-8, 16-14, 15-10 on the road.
Jennifer Roberts leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.437). Heather Brown is second in hitting percentage (.413), first in kills (4.68) and second in blocking (1.63). Nikki Hubbert leads the conference in assists (14.56). In the NCAA statistical rankings released on Oct. 27, Brown ranked fourth in the nation in hitting percentage (.428) and ninth in blocks (1.66). Roberts ranked ninth in the nation in hitting percentage (.412). Hubbert ranked seventh in assists (14.23). As a team, Hawaii ranked seventh in the NCAA in hitting percentage (.303), seventh in kills (17.68), seventh in assists (15.92) and 13th in blocks (3.23). Head coach Dave Shoji has a 668-134-1 career record in his 24th season at Hawaii.
SCOUTING SAN DIEGO STATE:
The Aztecs are 5-18 overall and in seventh place in the Western Athletic Conference Pacific Division with a 2-8 record. Last week, SDSU lost to New Mexico 15-7, 9-15, 15-9, 16-14 and defeated UTEP 15-13, 10-15, 15-6, 15-10 on the road.
Lauren Reeve ranks 20th in the WAC in hitting percentage (.283). Andrea Arroyo ranks 13th in the conference in kills (3.52). Lisa Bostian is seventh in the WAC in assists (12.10). Nicole Curtis is 18th in the league in blocking (1.07) and Michaela Paz is 11th in digs (2.94). Head coach Mark Warner is 72-45 in his fourth year with the Aztecs.
SERIES SHORTS:
Utah has lost all five if its previous meetings with Hawaii. The Rainbow Wahine took the first match of the season series 15-10, 15-11, 7-15, 15-4 on Oct. 9 in Salt Lake City. The two teams met last year in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament on Nov. 25, with UH winning 8-15, 15-10, 13-15, 15-12, 15-8.
The Utes trail San Diego State in the all-time series 13-3. Utah won the first meeting this season 15-3, 16-14, 15-5 on Oct. 10 in Salt Lake City. Before that match, the two teams had not met since the 1995 season, when the Aztecs swept the Utes on Oct. 6 in San Diego and won in five games on Nov. 11 in Salt Lake City.
NEXT WEEK:
Utah returns to Salt Lake City for its final home matches of the season. The Utes host San Jose State on Friday (Nov. 13) and Fresno State on Saturday (Nov. 14). Both matches begin at 7:00 p.m. at Crimson Court.
LAST WEEK:
Utah fell to fourth-ranked Brigham Young 15-6, 15-4, 15-9 on Friday at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah. Junior Stacie Greenwalt and sophomores Brooke Barton and Kalani Tonga paced Utah with six kills apiece. Tonga also had a team-leading 11 digs, while Barton contributed eight. McKelle Stilson had a team-best five blocks. BYU out hit Utah .274 to .076 and also edged the Utes at the net with 11 team blocks to eight for Utah.
BYU got off to an 11-2 start to build early momentum and take game one. The Utes slowed the Cougars at the beginning of the second game until BYU pulled even at 4-4 and then never looked back, rolling to a 15-4 win. In the third game, Utah held 7-4 and 9-6 advantages before BYU once again went on a scoring run that produced a 15-9 victory.
HEAD COACH BETH LAUNIERE:
In her ninth season, Beth Launiere is the winningest coach in Utah volleyball history. Launiere has a 151-125 (.547) overall record and a 50-66 mark in Western Athletic Conference play.
Launiere was named the Utes head coach in 1990, and has since overseen a significant transformation in the Ute volleyball program. The season prior to Launieres appointment, the Utes compiled a meager 1-32 record. Four years later, Launiere guided Utah to a 25-win season, its most successful campaign ever.
The Grand Rapids, Mich., native has led the Utes to three 20-win seasons and four upper-division finishes in the Western Athletic Conference during the last five years. Last year, Launieres Utes posted its all-time best overall winning percentage in school history (.710) by going 22-9, as well as the best winning percentage in WAC play (.643) with a 9-5 mark to place fourth in the WAC Mountain Division. It was Utahs second-consecutive 20-win season and third-consecutive upper division conference finish.
QUOTING LAUNIERE:
On the BYU match: "You're never happy to lose, but we know they're a good team and I was pleased with our performance. I think we held their middles in check pretty well. I also thought we served well after some early mistakes, and passed well and played good defense. I liked our game plan and we carried it out. BYU is just a very good team that blocks and plays defense well.
On this weeks matches - "I think were playing well right now. Were excited to have another chance at Hawaii. Weve had some exciting matches with them the last few years, and this might be our last chance to play them with Utah moving into the Mountain West Conference next year. I think that we match up well with them, and were going to go over there and go for it.
San Diego State will be a tough match. Well have to play Sunday afternoon after a full day of travel coming back from Hawaii on Saturday. The thing about the second round of the conference schedule is that you have to be careful. Its a lot easier to win and play well at home than on road. They have talent, so we will have to be careful. Anything can happen. Well just have to see what were made of."
SHAKULA MOVING UP THE CAREER CHARTS:
Senior outside hitter Sara Shakula has an excellent chance to finish high in several career statistical categories. The Draper, Utah, native already ranks third in career kills (1,197) and third in service aces (116) at the U. She needs 56 more kills to move ahead of Sharman Grant (1,252) and into second place. The top mark is owned by Brenda Barton-Whicker (1,565). Barton-Whicker also owns the top aces mark with 161. Shakula needs just 32 more aces to take over second place, currently held by Grants 147.
Shakula is also moving up the Western Athletic Conference statistical career charts. She needs just five more aces to take over 10th place from Alicia Bergmann (119), who played for New Mexico from 1990-93.
TORRES THIRD IN CAREER ASSISTS:
Setter Graciela Torres is in third place in career assists at Utah with 3,272. Torres moved ahead of Katie Gesto, who recorded 2,309 assists from 1984-86, on Sept. 1 with 67 assists against Idaho State. She now needs 84 assists to take over second place, currently held by Katie Tagges career total of 3,355, which is possibly within reach this week. In just her first season at the U., Torres recorded 1,206 assists to place her fifth on both the the single-season and career charts. She recorded 1,091 assists in 1997, the sixth-most in a single-season at Utah.
TONGA MAKES HER MARK:
Sophomore Kalani Tonga, the 1997 Western Athletic Conference Mountain Division Freshman of the Year and a member of the Volleyball Magazine/Asics All-Freshman Team, splashed onto the scene last season. Tonga ranked seventh in the WAC in blocks (1.22) and sixth in hitting percentage (.327) as a middle blocker. She also set the Utah single-season record for hitting percentage.
This season, Tonga is contending for all-WAC honors once again. Tonga ranks sixth in the WAC in kills (4.17) and eighth in digs (3.00). She has led the Utes in kills in 18 matches this season and has had the teams high mark in digs 11 times.
NATIONAL ATTENDANCE:
As of Oct. 27, Utah ranked 30th in the nation in attendance, averaging 666 fans in its first eight matches of the season. Four other WAC schools are ranked among the national leaders in attendance as well, including Hawaii at No. 1 (6,432), Brigham Young at 19th (1,073), Colorado State at 22nd (942) and New Mexico at 24th (821).
POWER RANKINGS:
This season, the American Volleyball Coaches Association has teamed up with sports rating guru Jeff Sagarin to produce a Women's Division I Volleyball Power Rating. As of Oct. 25, the WAC had six teams that were ranked among the top 50 in the nation in RPI ratings, which tied for second most by any conference. The Big Ten had nine teams rank among the top 50 while the Big 12 also had six teams. Brigham Young currently ranks fourth while Hawaii is 13th, followed by Colorado State (30th), Utah (37th), Wyoming (41st) and Fresno State (49th). As a conference, the WAC ranks seventh out of 32, behind the Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, Big West, Atlantic Coast and Southeastern.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE:
Once again, Utah faces challenging opposition in 1998. Five teams on its scheduletwo of which it will play twicewere invited to play in the 1997 NCAA Tournament. Washington State, which defeated Utah in four games on Sept. 4, made it to the regional semifinals. The Utes faced two more NCAA participants at the Michigan State Invitational, Sept. 18-19. The host Spartans, which defeated Utah in four games, advanced to the second round. Notre Dame, defeated by the Utes in three games, made it to the regional semifinals.
Utah faces two NCAA Tournament teams, twice each, during the Western Athletic Conference season. Hawaii received and NCAA bid in 97, but lost in the first round. Brigham Young made it to the regional finals before losing to eventual national runner-up Penn State. In their first meetings with Hawaii and BYU, the Utes lost in three games to the Cougars on Oct. 2 and in four games to the Rainbow Wahine on Oct. 9. Both matches took place at Crimson Court. Utah lost in three games to BYU in Provo, Utah, on Oct. 30
WAC STATISTICAL RANKINGS:
Team
Hitting Efficiency: 10th (.203)
Kills: 4th (16.49)
Assists: 7th (14.43)
Blocking: 4th (2.77)
Aces: 3rd (1.81)
Digs: 4th (16.16)
Individuals
Hitting Efficiency: Stacie Greenwalt 14th (.302)
Kills: Kalani Tonga 6th (4.17)
Assists: Graciela Torres 4th (13.00)
Blocking: McKelle Stilson 7th (1.25), Stacie Greenwalt 10th (1.18)
Aces: Brooke Barton 3rd (0.46), Graciela Torres 14th (0.33)
Digs: Kalani Tonga 8th (3.00)
UTAH AGAINST TOP 25 TEAMS:
Utah is 1-5 against ranked teams this season. The Utes lost to No. 22 Washington State in five games on Sept. 4 in WSUs Les Schwab Cougar Challenge. The U. lost to No. 18 Michigan State in three games on Sept. 18 in the Spartans MSU Invitational, then came back the next day in the tournament to defeat No. 23 Notre Dame in three games. Utah lost Brigham Young on Oct. 2, then ranked No. 5, in three games and on Oct. 30, when the Cougars were ranked No. 4, in three games. The Utes fell to No. 10 Hawaii in four games on Oct. 9 at Crimson Court. Louisville, which was not ranked when it lost to the Utes in four games on Sept. 5, has since moved into the USA Today/AVCA Poll Top 25.
WAC PRE-SEASON POLL:
In a survey of the Western Athletic Conference coaches before the season, Utah was picked to place third in the Pacific Division. Utah, competing in the WAC's Pacific Division for the first time in its final season as a league member, garnered 88 points. Brigham Young was picked first, tallying 118 points and 13 first-place votes. Hawai'i claimed the remaining three first-place votes and 105 points to finish second. The Utes were followed by Fresno State in fourth place with 73 points, San Diego State (72), New Mexico (49), San Jose State (37) and UTEP (26).
In the Mountain Division, Colorado State earned 13 first-place votes and totaled 117 points to lead the way. Brigham Young was picked to win the WAC championship over Hawai'i, 13 votes to three.
WAC TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO THE MGM GRAND:
For the third straight season, the MGM Grand Garden Arena will play host to the WAC Volleyball Tournament. The championship will be contested, Nov. 24-28, in Las Vegas, with the 5,000-room MGM Grand Hotel serving as the tournament host. Twelve of the 16 WAC teams will compete in the tournament with the top two teams in each division receiving a first-round bye.
The remaining eight teams will play first-round matches on Nov. 24. The four first-round matches will feature Pacific Division #3 vs. Mountain Division #6 at 1:00 p.m.; Mountain Division #4 vs. Pacific Division #5 at 3:00 p.m.; Pacific Division #4 vs. Mountain Division #5 at 6:30 p.m.; and Mountain Division #3 vs. Pacific Division #6 at 8:30 p.m. (All times Pacific.). The quarterfinals will take place, Nov. 25, with the same match times as the first round. The semifinals are slated for Nov. 27, with matches scheduled for 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. The championship match is slated for 3:00 p.m., on Nov. 28. FOX Sports Net will televise the second semi-final match and the championship match live.
All-tournament passes went on sale Sept. 10 for $30. Single-session tickets will be sold the week of the tournament for $8 per session. Tickets can be purchased by calling TicketMaster at (702) 474-4000.
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