WCC Weekly Volleyball Notes - West Coast Conference Official Athletics Site

Sept. 1, 2010


*WCC NON-CONFERENCE VOLLEYBALL SEASON IN FULL SWING*
The 2010 WCC women's volleyball season officially started last weekend. San Diego remained ranked in the AVCA Division I Coaches Preseason Top 25 Poll, coming in at No. 25, while Saint Mary's dropped out of the national poll. Together, all eight WCC teams compiled an 11-14 overall record with Saint Mary's, Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara going 2-1 in their respective tournaments.

SCHOOL	TEAM NOTES
Overall Record: 2-2 WCC Record: 0-0	Gonzaga finished third at the North Dakota Classic after going 2-2 on the weekend. The Zags beat San Jose State and Cal State Bakersfield and lost to Drake and North Dakota. The Bulldogs led the conference in digs over the weekend, tallying 291 digs over 16 sets. Senior libero Allyson Powell's efforts garnered all-tournament team accollades after collecting 81 total digs over the four matches. Her best defensive outing was a 31-dig performance against Cal State Bakersfield, tying a career-high. The Zags had its best offense night against Cal State Bakersfield, finishing with 66 total kills, with only 23 errors, on 191 attack attempts for a .225 hitting percentage. Gonzaga will have a week to prepare for the Northwest Challenge, hosted by Boise State. The Bulldogs will take on Boise State on Friday and then Portland State and Washington Saturday.
Overall Record: 2-1 WCC Record: 0-0	Loyola Marymount dropped its first match of the 2010 Luxe City Center Trojan Invitational to No. 10-ranked USC but came back to defeat Cal State Fullerton and Bucknell for a 2-1 opening record. Junior Jasmine Raskins and sophomore Felicia Arriola were both named to the all-tournament team. Both players landed in the WCC's Top 10 in kills over the weekend as Raskins put together 37 total over the weekend and Arriola had 39. Raskins also posted 23 digs over the weekend and notched a double-double against Cal State Fullerton with 18 kills and a match-best 16 digs. In the win over Bucknell,the Lions had three players with 10 kills. Sophomore Olivia Bailey notched 27 assists and three service aces, guiding LMU to the solid hitting percentage (.311). Loyola Marymount returns to action next weekend at the Varney's Kansas State Invitational. The Lions open play against host Kansas State on Friday at 10:30 AM.
Overall Record: 1-2 WCC Record: 0-0	Pepperdine had a tough weekend, competing against three teams that competed in last year's NCAA Tournament. The Waves dropped matches against New Mexico and No. 3-ranked Stanford at the MCM Elegante Lobo Classic but finished off the weekend with a convincing 3-0 victory over Tulane. Junior right side Kim Hill, who was named to the all-tournament team, reached double-digit kill totals in every match of the tournament and ended the weekend with a team-best total of 39. She averaged 3.90 kills per set (kps) on a dominant .366 attack percentage. Her double-digit kill performance extends her streak to 16 matches dating back to last season and brings her career attack percentage to .390 to top the Pepperdine record books. Pepperdine led the conference in hitting percentage (.260) with 126 kills on 311 total attempts. The Waves will open its Pepperdine Asics Classic against Rice on Friday at 7:00 PM.
Overall Record: 1-2 WCC Record: 0-0	Portland finished third at the Corvallis Invitational after defeating Oregon State and falling to Illinois State and Sacramento State. Sophomore Ariel Usher was named to the all-tournament team and tied for fifth in the conference over the weekend with 42 kills. Against Sacramento State, four Pilots notched a dozen or more kills but the Pilots' rally in the fifth and final set fell just short of a victory (15-13). Portland landed second in the WCC's Top 10 in assists (147) with sophomore setter Madison Smith putting together 120 assists of her own over the weekend. Smith also set a new career-high in assists against Sacramento State with 48. The Pilots will now head to the Spring Hill Suites Shocker Classic in Kansas where they will take on Stephen F. Austin for two matches, one on Friday and another on Saturday, before taking on host Wichita State on Saturday afternoon.
Overall Record: 2-1 WCC Record: 0-0	Saint Mary's won its first two matches against UNLV and Sacred Heart at the Long Beach State Invitational before dropping a 3-2 heartbreaker to host Long Beach State. Over the weekend, the Gaels led the conference in kills, assists and blocks, recording 169, 150, and 31 in each category. In particular, senior middle blocker Shannon Lowell claimed second on the conference charts with 19 total blocks. Lowell was also named to the all-tournament team after tallying 35 kills on 94 swings for a .287 hitting percentage. In the match against Long Beach State, Lowell led the Gaels with 16 kills and one block short of a double-double. The Gaels return to action on Wednesday against San Jose State in the first match of the San Jose State Tournament at 7:00 PM.
Overall Record: 1-2 WCC Record: 0-0	San Diego opened its season at the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational with two losses to ranked opponents--No. 4 Hawaii and No. 14 UCLA--and a victory over Kansas State. Senior outside hitter Amy DeGroot was selected to the all-tournament team after leading her team and the conference in kills with 49. DeGroot also racked up a team-best 37 digs, hit for a .339 clip, and posted a pair of double-doubles against Hawaii and Kansas State. In the Torero victory over Kansas State, DeGroot set a career-high with 27 kills (.533 hitting percentage), while senior setter Kelsi Myers had 48 assists in steering the Torero offense to a .336 team attack percentage. San Diego will compete next at the USD Invitational held at the Jenny Craig Pavilion this weekend. The Toreros will face Gardner-Webb and No. 11-ranked UCLA on Saturday.
Overall Record: 0-3 WCC Record: 0-0	San Francisco had a tough trip at the Bluejay Invitational, dropping matches to host Creighton, Kansas and Lipscomb. Two Dons posted double-doubles in the opening match against Creighton. Senior outside hitter Sarah Mandala led the Dons with 13 kills and a career-high 23 digs with five assists, while sophomore outside hitter Alycia Cox put together 11 digs and 10 kills. Freshman setter Joan Caloiaro was named to the all-tournament team for the Dons after tallying 63 assists and 40 digs. The Dons will be back in action when they host the Powerade/Asics Challenge, featuring Washington State, Tulsa and UC Santa Barbara.Tournament play begins Friday afternoon with Washington State and Tulsa facing off at 4:30 PM, followed by USF against UC Santa Barbara at 7:00 PM.
Overall Record: 2-1 WCC Record: 0-0	Santa Clara lost its first match of the Fresno State Classic against No. 18-ranked Oregon but came back to take home two straight victories against host Fresno State and UC Riverside. WCC Player of the Week sophomore Kaleigh Durket, a transfer from Colgate, was named to the Fresno State Classic All-Tournament team after posting back-to-back matches with 20+ kills in each. Durket posted a .482 hitting percentage after her first weekend as a Bronco. In Santa Clara's 3-2 victory over UC Riverside, junior Bridget O'Hara picked up 23 digs and one ace, while senior Emily Burke scored a season-high 55 assists with five aces, four digs and a kill. The Broncos compete next at Sacramento State on Wednesday at 7:00 PM before heading to University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA for the Bankers Classic that starts on Thursday..

AROUND THE WCC

2010 WCC PRESEASON COACHES POLL AND ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
After finishing in second place last season, the San Diego Toreros have been selected to regain the top spot in the 2010 West Coast Conference Coaches Preseason Poll and earn their fourth WCC title in six years. The Toreros received six first place votes and a total of 48 points from the conference coaches, as they return 2009 WCC Player of the Year and All-American Ali Troost, who was named to the preseason all-conference team along with 2008 WCC Player of the Year and All-American Amy DeGroot and 2009 all-conference honorable mention selection Kelsi Myers.

Reigning WCC Champion Saint Mary's took the second place spot with one first place vote and a total of 43 points. Rob Browning, the 2009 WCC Coach of the Year, returns four starters from a team that fell at fourth-seeded Stanford in five sets in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Gaels return 2009 All-WCC First Team member Shannon Lowell, 2009 All-Freshman Team member Lauren Corp, and all-conference honorable mention pick Kapua Kamana'o.

Pepperdine, which received the remaining first place vote, tallied 36 points to earn the third place spot. The Waves return five starters, three of which appeared on last year's all-conference team, including preseason all-conference selection Kim Hill, who garnered First Team honors last season after leading the WCC in hitting percentage. Rounding out the top half of the poll for the second year in a row was Santa Clara with 33 points. Bronco middle blocker Dana Knudsen was selected to this year's preseason all-conference team after earning all-WCC honorable mention honors last season.

San Francisco landed in the fifth spot with 23 points. The Dons return four starters, highlighted by preseason all-conference member Sarah Mandala, a 2009 All-WCC First Team member who led the conference in kills per set last season, while adding 10 newcomers to this year's roster. Gonzaga tallied 18 points for a sixth place finish and return five of its seven starters from last season in Kaprina Goodwin, Caitlin Cozad, Denise Van de Mortel, Laura Day and Allyson Powell.

Portland edged Loyola Marymount for the seventh place spot with 12 points. The team returns preseason all-conference member Ariel Usher, who led the team in points in 2009 and finished in the WCC's Top 10 in hitting percentage. Loyola Marymount rounded out the preseason poll with 11 points and is led this season by first year head coach Tom Black.

2010 WCC Preseason Coaches Poll
1. USD - 48 points (6)
2. SMC - 43 (1)
3. PEP - 36 (1)
4. SCU - 33
5. USF - 23
6. GON - 18
7. POR - 12
7. LMU - 11
(First place votes)

2010 Preseason All-Conference Team
Lauren Corp, SMC, SO, OH
Amy DeGroot, USD, RSR, OH
Kim Hill, PEP, JR, MB
Kapua Kamana'o, SMC, SR, S
Dana Knudsen, SCU, SO, MB
Shannon Lowell, SMC, SR, MB
Sarah Mandala, USF, SR, OH
Kelsi Myers, USD, SR, S
Ali Troost, USD, SR, RS
Ariel Usher, POR, SO, MB

WCC AMONG ELITE VOLLEYBALL CONFERENCES IN THE COUNTRY
Over the last eight seasons, the WCC has established itself as one of the premier women's volleyball conferences in the country. Over the past five seasons, the WCC has appeared in the top five RPI three times. In 2008, the WCC had one of its best seasons, tying for a conference high with the fourth best NCAA RPI ranking in the country. Since then, the WCC has remained in the top 10 in Division I RPI out of the 32 total conferences.

WCC RPI Rankings
2009 8th
2008 4th
2007 6th
2006 5th
2005 4th
2004 6th
2003 4th
2002 7th

SAINT MARY'S MAKES HISTORY IN 2009 SEASON
The Saint Mary's volleyball team clinched the 2009 WCC title by outdueling 2008 WCC Champion San Diego in a five set battle (25-18, 25-19, 20-25, 17-25, and 15-10) that featured 30 ties and 10 lead changes. The win was the Gaels' first ever WCC Championship in program history.

After taking home the championship title, Saint Mary's then finished off the regular season with a sweep over BYU to remain undefeated at home and record the team's third straight sweep. The Gaels' 13-1 record is the best conference finish in school history.

SMC Results in 2009 NCAA Tournament
FIRST ROUND
SAINT MARY'S def. UC Santa Barbara, 3-2
(24-26, 22-25, 25-20, 25-14, 15-13)

SECOND ROUND
No. 4 Stanford def. SAINT MARY'S, 3-2
(21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 24-26, 15-13)