Nov. 28, 2001
LOGAN, Utah -
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Release #14 * 11/26/01
Nov. 29-30* NCAA Tournament * Salt Lake City, UtahNov. 29 * vs. No. 19 BYU (20-8) * 6 pmNov. 30 * vs. No. 13 Utah/Texas Tech * 7 pm
THIS WEEK - Utah State will participate in the 2001 NCAA Tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah on Thur., Nov. 29 and Fri., Nov. 30 on the campus of the University of Utah. USU and BYU will meet on Thur., at 6 p.m. at Crimson Court, while host Utah will face Texas Tech following the conclusion of the first match. The championship match of this region will take place on Fri., Nov. 30 at 7 p.m.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY - Utah State is making its second trip to the NCAA Tournament and its second trip in as many years as the Aggies advanced to the second round of the 2000 NCAA Tournament. USU defeated No. 25 Missouri in the first round of the tournament in Provo, Utah last year in five games (5-15, 15-6, 3-15, 16-14, 15-9) before losing to No. 12 BYU in the second round in three games (15-9, 15-10, 15-10).
SCOUTING THE COUGARS - Brigham Young is 20-8 on the season, ranked 19th in the country, and finished in third-place in the Mountain West Conference with a 10-4 record. BYU is making its 20th trip to the NCAA Tournament and has an overall record of 26-19. The Cougars are led by senior middle blocker Nina Puikkonen who leads the team with 419 kills and 158 blocks. Junior outside hitter Sunny Mahe leads the team with a .318 hitting percentage. As a team, BYU is hitting .254 overall, while its opponents are hitting .187. BYU returns five starters and nine letterwinners from last year's team that went 26-7 on the season and finished in second-place in the Mountain West Conference with a 12-2 record. The Cougars lost in the third-round of the 2000 NCAA Tournament to Arizona in three games. Head coach Elaine Michaelis is in her 40th year as head coach of BYU and has an overall record of 887-224-5. BYU is 2-1 on the season on neutral courts.
SERIES HISTORY- Utah State is 11-36 all-time versus Brigham Young which includes a three-game win over the Cougars on Oct. 16 in Provo by scores of 30-26, 30-23, 30-21 when BYU was ranked 13th in the country. The win by the Aggies marked the first home loss for BYU in 20 matches and the first team to sweep the Cougars at home since the 1999 season. The win also ended a 17-match losing streak to BYU in Provo. Utah State is 4-1 all-time against BYU on neutral courts with all five of those matches coming in the AIAW Regional Tournament from 1976-1979. USU is 0-1 versus BYU in the NCAA Tournament, losing to the Cougars in three games last season in Provo in the second round by final scores of 15-9, 15-10, 15-10. The Aggies have won two of the last three matches between the two schools.
VERSUS THE TOURNAMENT FIELD - Utah State faced 10 teams in the 64-school NCAA Tournament field this season and produced a 4-9 record against those opponent's. The Aggies split two matches with Pacific, while defeating Brigham Young, Cincinnati, and Arkansas and losing to Long Beach State (twice), UC Santa Barbara (twice), Hawai'i, Southern California, Utah and Colorado State.
VERSUS THE MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE - Utah State is 1-2 thus far this season versus the Mountain West Conference, defeating BYU in three games, and losing to Utah and Colorado State in four games. All-time, USU is 72-118-1 (.379) versus the MWC. USU is 22-34 versus Utah, 11-36 versus BYU, 14-17 versus Colorado State, 12-13 versus Wyoming, 9-11 versus New Mexico, 3-5-1 versus San Diego State, and 1-2 versus UNLV.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK - Thus far this season Utah State has had two player of the weeks from the Big West Conference. Senior Michelle Matheson won the award on Oct. 1 after leading the Aggies to a win over Cal Poly and five-game loss to UC Santa Barbara. Two weeks later, junior Shauni Fluckiger won the award after leading USU to a pair of home wins over then No. 12 Pacific and Cal State Northridge. Last season, USU received the award on three different occasions.
AGGIES CRACK TOP 25- Utah State was ranked 25th in the country on Oct. 22 after defeating No. 13 BYU and Idaho on the road the prior week. It is the second straight season that USU has been ranked in the top 25. During the 2000 season, USU climbed as high as 18th in the country and finished the year ranked 22nd.
HOME SWEET HOME - Utah State has had tremendous success at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum over the past three years recording a 25-6 (.806) record. Last season, USU was 9-2 (.818) at home which was the most home wins since the 1982 team went 11-2. In conference play, USU is 19-5 (.792) at home over the past three years. This season, USU also went 9-2 (.818) at home tying last year's team for the most home wins since the 1982 season.
QUALITY LOSSES- Of Utah State's 10 losses on the season, nine have come against ranked opponent's, with the other coming in a five-game loss at league foe Cal Poly. Of those nine losses to ranked teams, six have come on the road, one was on a neutral court, and the other two were at home.
RECAPPING LAST WEEKEND- Utah State's women's volleyball team concluded the regular season by going 2-1 during the week. USU began the week by defeating UC Irvine on the road in three games (30-23, 30-28, 30-21) behind 13 kills, six digs and four blocks from sophomore middle blocker Erin Cartwright. Junior outside hitter Shauni Fluckiger posted 10 kills and seven digs for the Aggies, while senior defensive specialist Heather Olmstead added 13 digs. USU hit .354 as a team during the match while UCI hit .248 overall. Utah State notched 46 digs and nine team blocks in the contest as compared to 45 digs and four team blocks for the Anteaters. The final Big West match of the season came at No. 1 Long Beach State and the Aggies fell to the 49ers in three games (30-20, 30-20, 30-27). Senior middle blocker Michelle Matheson paced USU with 11 kills, four digs and four blocks, while Fluckiger added eight kills and 12 digs. USU hit .133 in the match, while LBSU hit .336. The Aggies recorded seven team blocks and 35 digs in the match to 8.5 team blocks and 60 digs for the 49ers. The final match of the regular season for Utah State came at home against Boise State University, a former Big West opponent. USU dominated the match and recorded an easy three-game win (30-17, 30-20, 30-22) behind 14 kills and 11 digs from senior outside hitter Lisa Borom. Cartwright added 12 kills, five digs and three blocks for the Aggies, while Fluckiger had seven kills and 10 digs. USU hit a blistering .422 in the match and held the Broncos to a .165 hitting percentage. The Aggies recorded 43 digs and five team blocks in the match to 30 digs and four team blocks for BSU.
VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS - Utah State is 2-9 on the season versus ranked opponents after defeating No. 12 Pacific on Oct. 11 in five games and No. 13 BYU on the road on Oct. 16 in three games. USU began the season by losing a four-game match at then No. 14 Colorado State in the championship game of the University Park Holiday Inn Classic. The Aggies also lost three-game matches at No. 10 Hawai'i and No. 6 USC at the Aston Imua Wahine Volleyball Classic in Honolulu, Hawai'i. USU has also lost to No. 15 Utah on the road in four games in non-league action. In league play, USU lost a five-game match to then No. 19 UC Santa Barbara at home and a three-game match to the Gauchos on the road when they were ranked 23rd in the country, as well as a three-game match at No. 17 Pacific, and a pair of three-game matches to No. 1 Long Beach State. Last year, USU was 4-7 versus top-25 opponents.
FIVE AGGIES EARN BIG WEST HONORS - Utah State volleyball players Michelle Matheson and Chelsi Neves were named first-team all-Big West while teammates Lisa Borom, Heather Olmstead and Erin Cartwright all earned honorable mention all-league honors it was announced by the Big West Conference office on Monday. Matheson, a senior middle blocker from Moreno Valley, Calif. and Neves, a senior setter from Otto, Wyo., became the sixth and seventh USU players to earn first-team all-league honors since 1997. Previous first-team selections included Denae Mohlman (1997, 1999, 2000), Amy Crosbie (2000) and Melissa Schoepf (2000). Matheson is ranked eighth in the Big West in hitting percentage at .310 and is third on the team in kills per game with 2.86. She also leads Utah State in blocks with 1.35 per game. Neves is second in the conference in assists per game with 12.14 and is hitting .388, but does not have enough attempts to qualify for the league standings in that category. Borom, a senior outside hitter from Las Vegas, Nev. is 10th in the Big West in kills at 3.60 per game and is second on the team in digs at 2.76 per contest. Olmstead, a senior outside hitter from Carpinteria, Calif., is eighth in the Big West in digs at 3.06 per game. She is one of three players, joining Neves and Matheson, to have played in all 104 games for the Aggies this year. Cartwright, a sophomore outside hitter from Hyrum, Utah, is second on the team in kills per game at 3.34. She is also fifth on the squad in digs at 1.95 per game and her 95 blocks this season rank second on the team. The five Big West selections for Utah State is the most ever for one season. The 2000 team had four players earn league honors.
PRESEASON COACHES' POLL - Utah State is picked to finish fifth in the Big West Conference according to the league's coaches. USU was also picked to finish fifth during the 2000 season and finished in fourth-place with a 10-6 league mark. The following is a list of the preseason poll.
1. Long Beach State (9) 992. Pacific 863. UC Santa Barbara (1) 854. Cal Poly 685. UTAH STATE 496. UC Irvine 457. Cal State Northridge 388. Idaho 369. Cal State Fullerton 3110. UC Riverside 13
SCOUTING UTAH - Utah is 23-6 on the season and ranked 13th in the country. The Utes received an automatic bid into the 2001 NCAA Tournament after winning the Mountain West Conference tournament by defeating No. 9 Colorado State in five games in the championship game. The Utes finished the regular season with a 11-3 league mark and in second-place. Utah is making its fourth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and lost to Hawai'i in the second round last season. Utah returns four starters and 10 letterwinners from that NCAA Tournament team that went 23-8 on the season and finished in third-place in the Mountain West Conference with a 10-4 league mark. Sophomore middle blocker Kim Turner leads the team with a .346 hitting percentage an 158 total blocks to go along with 308 kills. Head coach Beth Launiere is in her 12th season at Utah and has an overall record of 226-152. Utah is 13-0 at home on the season.
SCOUTING TEXAS TECH - Texas Tech is 18-13 on the season and making their second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and eighth overall. The Red Raiders finished the Big 12 season tied for sixth-place with a 9-11 league mark. Texas Tech lost in the first round of the 2000 NCAA Tournament to Utah in Honolulu, Hawai'i in five games. The Red Raiders return five starters and six letterwinners from that NCAA Tournament team that went 24-9 on the season and finished in a tie for fifth-place in the Big 12 Conference with a 12-8 record. Sophomore middle blocker Angela Mooney leads the team with a .254 hitting percentage to go along with 267 kills and 73 total blocks. Head coach Jeff Nelson is in his seventh year at Texas Tech and has an overall record of 170-93. The Red Raiders are 1-1 on the season on neutral courts.
DEJAVU IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT - When Utah State and Brigham Young meet in the first round of the NCAA Tournament prior to the Utah-Texas Tech match later that night, numerous players may wonder if this is dejavu or not. The similarites between the 2001 and 2000 NCAA Tournament are startling for all four teams involved. Last season, USU and BYU met in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Provo, Utah with the Cougars winning in three games. Also during the 2000 Tournament, Utah and Texas Tech met in the first round in Hawai'i, with the Utes prevailing in five games.
SERIES HISTORY - Utah State is 22-34 all-time against the University of Utah, which includes a 9-14 record on the road. USU has lost its last eight matches at Utah and its last win in Salt Lake City came during the 1990 season. The last time USU and Utah met was on Oct. 23 of this season with Utah winning in Salt Lake City in four games. Utah State is 6-0 all-time against Texas Tech with the last meeting coming during the 1983 season. USU is also 27-5 all-time versus current members of the Big 12 Conference as the Aggies are 3-0 versus Baylor, 1-0 versus Colorado, 1-0 versus Kansas, 0-2 versus Kansas State, 2-0 versus Missouri, 2-2 versus Nebraska, 1-0 versus Oklahoma, 4-0 versus Texas, 7-1 versus Texas A&M, and 6-0 versus Texas Tech.
HEAD COACH BURT FULLER - In his first season as head coach of the Utah State Volleyball program, Burt Fuller has done an outstanding job of building the Aggie program into one of the best in the country. In just his first year as a collegiate head coach, Fuller guided the Aggies to a fourth-place finish in the Big West Conference and the school's second straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Fuller also coached five all-conference players during the season, which was the largest number of honorees in school history. His 19-10 record ranks as the best winning percentage by any first year Aggie coach, and his 19 wins are the second most by any first year USU coach. His 12-6 league mark is also a best at Utah State for most league wins by a rookie coach. Prior to taking the head coaching job at Utah State, Fuller spent the past seven seasons as an assistant coach at UCLA as the Bruins advanced to the NCAA Tournament six times including a national runner-up finish in 1994. UCLA advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons Fuller was there. In his seven seasons at UCLA, Fuller coached 23 all-conference selections and five All-American's. As a collegiate head coach, he is 19-10 (.655) overall.
Year School Overall Conf. NCAA2001 Utah State 19-10 (.655) 12-6
MCARTHUR-BIRCH NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-REGION - Senior outside hitter Tanya McArthur-Birch was named to the Verizon Academic District VIII Women's Volleyball second team on Nov. 15 as voted on by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). McArthur-Birch, an exercise science major with a 4.0 grade point average, is hitting .146 on the season for the Aggies with 114 kills. She is also among the team leaders in service aces (7) and digs (87).
BOROM ENTERS SINGLE-SEASON TOP TEN - Senior outside hitter Lisa Borom has had a huge impact on the Aggie program in her only season at USU after transferring from Pepperdine. Borom ranks seventh on the USU single-season charts for digs (276), and ninth in kills (360) and attacks (932). Borom was named honorable mention all-Big West this year and led Utah State with 17 double-figure kill matches and 11 double-doubles. She also ranked in the top ten in the Big West Conference in kills per game and led the team in that category.
MATHESON SECOND ALL-TIME - Senior middle blocker Michelle Matheson is second all-time at USU in hitting percentage for a career. Matheson entered the top 10 this season and is hitting .291 in her career at USU which trails only Denae Mohlman who hit .348 during her career at USU. Matheson also continues her climb up the career block assists list at USU with 284 in her career, ranking second all-time. She also entered the career top-10 this year for total blocks and is currently second all-time with 307. During her senior season, Matheson is fourth on the single-season list for hitting percentage (.310), seventh in block assists (97), and 11th in total blocks (109). She was named first-team all-Big West this year after finishing in the top-ten in the Big West in hitting and blocking.
NEVES MOVES INTO THIRD-PLACE IN ASSISTS - Senior setter Chelsi Neves has moved into third-place on the USU career assists list with 2,704 in her career. She set a new single-season record last year with 1,441 assists and her 1,263 assists this year ranks third all-time. Neves earned second-team all-Big West honors as a junior and first-team all-Big West honors as a senior. She leads the team with a .388 hitting percentage and hit .410 during conference play.
OLMSTEAD MOVES INTO SECOND-PLACE - Senior defensive specialist Heather Olmstead has moved into second-place all-time at USU in digs. She now has 959 career digs and is just 65 away from moving ahead of Nikki Conner for the all-time record of 1024. Olmstead also is ninth all-time in games played with 403 and ninth in matches played with 114. This season, Olmstead has 318 digs which is just 18 shy of setting a new single-season mark for digs. Olmstead was named honorable-mention all-Big West this season after ranking in the top ten in digs per game.
CARTWRIGHT NEARING SINGLE-SEASON TOP TEN - Sophomore middle blocker Erin Cartwright is moving closer to entering the single-season top ten list for kills and blocks in a season. She is currently 17 kills and 15 blocks away from entering the single-season top ten in each of those categories. Cartwright was named honorable mention all-Big West this year after transferring to USU from Salt Lake Community College were she was a first-team junior college All-American.
RECAPPING THE BYU MATCH - Utah State played a phenomenal match from start to finish as both the Aggie offense and defense controlled the game. USU began the evening by hitting .333 in game one and then a blistering .486 in game two to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match. The third game was no different for USU, as the Aggies quickly built a seven-point advantage at 14-7. BYU closed to within six points late in the game but could get no closer as Utah State recorded the sweep. Individually for Utah State, junior outside hitter Shauni Fluckiger had another outstanding match with a team-high 12 kills to go along with six digs and two blocks as she hit .370 in the match. Senior outside hitter Lisa Borom also had 12 kills in the match for USU to go along with seven digs and two blocks, hitting .308. Senior middle blocker Michelle Matheson hit .500 in the match with 10 kills to go along with five digs and three blocks, while sophomore middle blocker Erin Cartwright hit .438 with eight kills, five digs and three blocks. As a team, Utah State hit an amazing .396 in the match and held BYU to a .266 hitting percentage. USU also notched seven team blocks in the contest to just five for the Cougars. Overall, Utah State committed just 10 attack errors in the match and did not have more than four in a game.
RECAPPING THE UTAH MATCH - Utah State has its season-high seven match winning streak snapped at Utah on Oct. 23 as USU lost to the Utes in four games by scores of 30-22, 28-30, 27-30, 20-30. Utah State had the early advantage in the match and won game as the Aggies out hit the Utes .205 to -.025. USU and Utah played toe-to-toe in game two before the Utes finally pulled away at the end of the game by scoring the final two points after the game was tied at 28. The Aggies had an early lead in the third game, but Utah slowly chipped away and finally tied the game at 16. The match stayed close until Utah scored the final three points of the game to notch the win. Game four was all Utah as they opened a quick six-point lead and coasted to the 10-point win. Individually for Utah State, senior middle blocker Michelle Matheson led USU with 13 kills to go along with four blocks and four digs, while junior outside hitter Shauni Fluckiger had 12 kills and a team-high 18 digs. As a team, Utah State hit .122 in the match, while Utah hit .186. USU recorded 15 team blocks in the match as compared to 19 for the Utes. Utah also had six more digs in the match along with eight more attacks.
