Nov. 10, 2003
2003 Gonzaga Volleyball Notes
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2003 Gonzaga Volleyball Statistics
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FRIDAY - Nov. 14, 2003
Gonzaga at No. 17 Loyola Marymount 7 p.m.
SATURDAY - Nov. 15, 2003
Gonzaga at No. 4 Pepperdine, 7 p.m.
UPCOMING ACTION:
Nov. 22 vs. Portland, 7 p.m. (Senior Night)
GONZAGA BULLDOGS: 3-24, 0-11 WCC
BULLDOGS HIT ROAD FOR FINAL TIME IN 2003: Gonzaga embarks on its final road trip of the season as the Bulldogs head to Los Angeles for weekend matches with No. 17 Loyola Marymount and No. 4 Pepperdine. The road has not been kind to the Bulldogs this season as they have posted a 1-11 road record including 0-5 in WCC road matches. The Bulldogs lone road win was against Montana prior to starting WCC action. Gonzaga is coming off of two home losses to Saint Mary's and San Francisco, both losses coming in 3-0 decisions. Heather Signor and Abby Cullen continue their individual races into the Bulldogs career and single-season record book with only three matches left.
PLAYING IN THEM ALL: Gonzaga has played 99 games on the season and to date only three players have appeared in all 99 games. Seniors Abby Cullen and Heather Signor join junior Lauren Armas as the only three players to have appeared in all 99 matches on the season. Junior Christina Davis has appeared in 98 games to stand one game behind the games played leaders. Cullen currently leads the team with 3.06 kills per game, 1.36 blocks per game with a .234 attack percentage on the season. Heather Signor is the team leader in digs at 372 for a 3.76 digs per game average. Armas ranks fourth on the team in kills with 161 on the season and her .255 attack percentage is best on the squad. Armas has also been a force at the net with 92 blocks on the season for a 0.93 blocks per game average.
YOSHIMURA OPENS SECOND SEASON ON THE BENCH: Kip Yoshimura opens his second season as the Bulldogs head coach and continues the rebuilding project of the Gonzaga volleyball program. Yoshimura posted a 4-24 record in his first season as the Bulldogs head coach and now holds a 258-120 record during ten seasons as a head coach. Prior to taking over at Gonzaga, Yoshimura coached nine seasons at Lewis-Clark State College taking the Warriors to nine straight NAIA tournament appearances. A 1990 graduate of Long Beach State University, Yoshimura entered the coaching ranks as a student assistant on Long Beach State's 1989 NCAA National Championship team. Yoshimura then coached at Weber State before one season as an assistant coach at Gonzaga during the 1992 season.
No. 17 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT LIONS (22-5, 7-3 WCC): Gonzaga opens its final road weekend at No. 17 Loyola Marymount on Friday night. The Bulldogs lost the season's earlier decision, 3-0, in Spokane in October. Kealani Kimball leads the Lions attack with 4.12 kills per game while Kelli Nerison ranks among the WCC leaders with 1.44 blocks per game. LMU has won 21 straight over the Bulldogs with Gonzaga winning only one game in a match since the 1996 season. Steve Stratos coaches the LMU Lions.
No. 4 PEPPERDINE WAVES (20-2, 10-0 WCC): Gonzaga wraps up the 2003 road season on Saturday night with a match at No. 4 Pepperdine. Gonzaga nearly upset the Waves in October falling to the then No. 6 Waves 3-2. Gonzaga was within five points of pulling off the upset before losing the fifth game 15-12. Katie Wilkins averages 5.34 kills per game to pace the Waves offense which combines for a .269 team attack percentage. Nina Matthies coaches the Pepperdine Waves.
SENIOR NIGHT UPCOMING: Gonzaga will wrap up the 2003 season next weekend, Nov. 22, with a home match against Portland. That will be senior night as the Bulldogs recognize current seniors Abby Cullen, Natasha Kozen, Heather Signor and Jamie VanMeetren. GU will also honor Mary Finnerty who is working as an administrative assistant for the Bulldogs volleyball team during her final year of eligibility.
THE SIGNOR WATCH: Heather Signor added 20 more digs to her career total over the weekend to increase her career total to 1,236. Signor now trails Linda Bushinski by 67 digs for the career record. With three matches remaining Signor needs to average just over 22 digs per match to pass Bushinski's career mark of 1,303. Signor is also in pursuit of the single-season dig mark as she has registered 372 digs this season to rank sixth on the single-season list. Bushinski also owns the single-season mark with 436 digs coming during the 1986 season. Momi Bowles ranks second on that list with 430 digs in 1990, the only two Zags to ever reach 400-plus digs in one season.
TWO CLOSE ON KILLS CHART: Abby Cullen continues to move up the Gonzaga career kills chart as she moved into sixth place on Saturday night with her 1,102 career kill. Also closing on the career list is junior Christina Davis. Over the weekend Davis moved into 12th place with 925 career kills. Davis is now chasing Nancy Miller (1991-94) for 11th place on the career list as Miller stands just four kills ahead of Davis with 929 career kills.
STEADY PLAY FROM ARMAS: Junior Lauren Armas continues to have steady efforts on the court this season as she is currently only one of three Zags to have appeared in all 99 games. Armas ranks fourth on the team in kills with 1.63 and leads the squad with a .255 attack percentage. Armas also leads Gonzaga with 18 service aces on the season, ranking one ahead of Lacey Bell.
KOZEN HAVING BEST SEASON: Senior Natasha Kozen is having her best statistical season despite missing the first three weeks. Kozen has already matched her 2002 kill total with three matches remaining. Kozen is currently averaging 2.92 kills per game, her previous season best was 2.47 in 2001
