Fresno State Athletics
Volleyball Concludes Regular-Season at No. 12 Hawai'i
11/5/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 5, 2001
FRESNO, Calif. -
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Bulldogs Conclude Regular-Season at Hawai'i
Closing out the 2001 regular-season with three consecutive road matches, Fresno State wraps up the year at three-time defending Western Athletic Conference champion and No. 12 Hawai'i on Friday, Nov. 9. With a 4-4 record in their last eight matches, the Bulldogs have won 13 of their last 18 matches after starting out with a 0-3 worksheet. Courtesy of Hawai'i, the match can be heard live on the web at http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu.
WAC Volleyball Championship Tournament
Outside of this week's contests against No. 12 Hawai'i, Fresno State will participate in the 2001 Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship Tournament, Nov. 15-18. The ten-team four-day tournament field will be showcased at The Event Center on the campus of San Jose State University. The winner of the WAC championship will earn the league's NCAA automatic bid. Currently, the Bulldogs are looking to enter the tournament as the fourth seed, just behind Hawai'i, Nevada and San Jose State.
Current Points Standing
The current points standing for seeding in the 2001 WAC Volleyball Championship Tournament is listed below. The top six teams will receive a first-round bye as the lower four will be involved in a play-in on the first day.
Hawai'i 16
Nevada 13
San Jose State 12
Fresno State 11
Rice 10
SMU 9
UTEP 5
Tulsa 3
Boise State 2
La Tech 0
WAC Tickets On Sale
After a two-year hiatus, the Western Athletic Conference is hosting a volleyball tournament championship, Nov. 15-18, at San Jose State's Event Center. All 10 teams qualify for the postseason tourney. Ticket prices are $30 for adults and $15 for children and students for an all-session pass (nine matches). Tickets can be purchased at the San Jose State Ticket Office or by calling (408) 924-SJTX. Fans can obtain a room rate at the San Jose Hilton & Towers by calling 1-408-287-2100 and request "WAC Volleyball Tournament" group rate.
Series History
Meeting for the 27th time overall, Fresno State is winless against Hawai'i since the two programs first started meeting each other in 1983.
Head Coach Lindy Vivas
In her 11th season as head coach of the Bulldog volleyball program, Lindy Vivas (UCLA, 1980) captured her 200th win at Fresno State on Oct. 8 with a sweep over SMU. Picking up her 250th career win in the season opener against Siena on Sept. 1 last season, Vivas has directed the 'Dogs to five postseason appearances in the last 10 years and has led the Bulldogs to six 20-win campaigns. The two-time WAC Coach of the Year honoree has led the Bulldogs to two NCAA Tournament showings (1991, 1998) and three NIVC appearances (1995-94-92) since her arrival in 1991. Averaging 19 wins a year with a 94-47 (.660) home court record, Vivas has coached three all-region and 16 All-WAC picks. Vivas, who led the Bulldogs to three straight WAC Volleyball Tournaments (1996-98), owns a 15-year career record of 275-198 (.580) and an 11-year school record of 203-138 (.590).
Volleyball Banquet Awards Dinner
The annual Fresno State volleyball awards banquet will be held on Sunday, Dec. 9, 12:00 p.m. at TorNino's. A social will begin at 12:00 p.m. with the dinner to start at 12:30 p.m. For tickets and information, call 278-6833.
Sweet Success at Home
Fresno State has set one school record this season. The Bulldogs shattered the school record for consecutive home wins with nine this fall - the old record was five in 1998. The Bulldogs went 10-2 at home this year -- marking the fourth time under Vivas and overall in school history that Fresno State has posted 10 or more wins (1994, 1995, 1997, 2001). With the school record being 11 for most home court victories (1995), the Bulldogs' original mark for most home wins was nine in 1984.
Bulldog Highlights
Head coach Lindy Vivas picked up her 275th career win after the Bulldogs picked up a sweep over Boise State on the road last week ... Fresno State is 4-4 in its last eight, 4-5 in its last nine and 5-5 in its last 10 ... The Bulldogs 44 points scored in game four versus San Jose State is the most points totaled in a single game this season ... For the second straight time, Fresno State dominated the statistical categories against SJSU but has a 0-2 record to show for it ... The 'Dogs had season-highs of 83 kills, 212 total attempts and 78 assists versus the Spartans ... Hitting .281 against Boise State, Fresno State has hit better than .260 seven times this season.
Hawai'i Notebook (20-4, 11-0 WAC)
Hawai'i, which is ranked No. 12 in the coaches' poll and No. 9 in Volleyball Magazine's latest polls, has reeled off 17 consecutive victories. Having finished in the Top 10 16 times under head coach Dave Shoji, Hawai'i continues its dominance in the WAC with a current 82-1 conference mark. UH is coming off a pair of road sweeps over Nevada and Boise State. The Rainbow Wahine continues to be spearheaded by sophomore left side hitter Kim Willoughby. The 2000 WAC co-Freshman of the Year is the nation's leader in kills per game (6.71 kpg) and is also tops for Hawai'i in hitting .356 (537-146-1098) and digs (278, 3.47 dpg). Sophomore middle blocker Maja Gustin, who shared co-Freshman of the Year honor with Willoughby, is next for UH in kills (305, 3.77 kpg).
WAC Player of the Week Nominee
For the second week in a row and for the last eight matches, junior outside hitter Christy Burnett (Fallbrook, Calif.) has spearheaded the Bulldogs offensively and defensively. Burnett, who has served up 13 aces in her last four matches (0.86 sapg, 15 games), hit .314 and averaged nearly five kills (4.57 kpg) and five digs (4.43 dpg) while adding eight service aces as the 'Dogs went 1-1 on the road this past weekend. In the sweep over Boise State, Burnett had four aces - one off her career-mark - and had a match-high 11 digs. In the loss to San Jose State, Burnett tallied a career- and team-high 28 kills and a team-best 20 digs. The 20/20 was the second of her career and the 20-kill performance was her fourth of her career. Recording 21 kills against SJSU a week earlier, she also had four more aces and hit .317 (28-9-60) versus SJSU. Having ranked among the WAC's top five in digs in overall matches and in league matches only, Burnett also appears in the WAC' top 10 in hitting and service aces. In her last eight matches with Fresno State going 4-4, Burnett is hitting .311 (107-32-241) and is the team's top kill (107, 3.69 kpg), dig (108, 3.72 dpg) and service ace (15, 0.52 sapg) leader while totaling 12 blocks (0.41 bpg). Posting 20 or more kills in two of her last three matches, Burnett has had 10 or more kills in five of her last eight and is averaging 13.37 kills a match in this stretch. In addition, Burnett has 10 or more digs in five of her last eight matches and is averaging 13.50 digs a match.
Impact Made
Senior middle blocker Shauna McQuaid (San Diego), who has led the WAC in hitting in six of the last nine weeks and in blocking throughout the season, continues to appear in the NCAA statistics for the seventh straight week. Currently ranked No. 23 in blocks per game (1.47), McQuaid has been ranked in the Top 30 in blocking for six consecutive weeks while making one appearance in hitting (No. 37, .385). McQuaid leads the Bulldogs in seven categories: kills (275), kills per game (3.87), hitting (.298), block solos (19), block assists (83), total blocks (102) and blocks per game (1.44). With 945 career kills, she is 55 shy of being the ninth Bulldog to post 1,000 career kills. McQuaid would be the second middle to accomplish that feat (Suzie Regul, 1989-92, 1,257). Having played in 82 matches and 283 games, McQuaid ranks in six all-time Top 10 school records.
Arena Shines
Not too many freshmen get the starting nod at setter, but rookie Whitney Arena (West Linn, Ore.) has quarterbacked the Bulldogs in 21 straight and is averaging nearly 12 assists per game (11.79). Ranked among the WAC's top 10 this season, Arena has dished out 861 assists out of the team's 1,089. Arena has been consistent in conference play as well with a 12.72 assist per game average in 12 WAC matches. She has dished out 496 assists out of the team's 607 in league play. In her last eight outings, Arena is averaging 13.00 assists per game (351 in 27 games). Named MVP of the Fresno State Invitational in which the Bulldogs went 4-0, the Oregonian had a career-high 69 assists against San Jose State last weekend after collecting 59 versus the Spartans the week before. With double-figure digs in three matches and having notched a block in every match but five (16 of 21), Arena has recorded 40 or more assists 11 times, 50 or more assists six times and 60 or more assists thrice.
Off the Bench
Sophomore middle blocker Carrie Hartt (Manteca, Calif.), whose aunt Carolyn Becker played for the U.S. National team for 10 years and played on the 1984 Olympic team, has bided her time as a freshman but has come up solid off the bench this season. The 6-2 Manteca, Calif., native had 18 kills and averaged 4.50 kills per game last weekend. Hitting .500 (18-3-30) in the two matches over the weekend, Hartt shared team-high honors in blocks with 10 (two solo and eight block assists) for a 2.50 block per game average. In her last nine outings, Hartt is hitting a team-best .390 (21-5-41) and is sixth in total blocks with 14 (1.40 bpg). In WAC action, Hartt owns a .315 hitting percentage (25-8-54) with 18 blocks (1.20 bpg).
