Sept. 1, 2003
2003 Gonzaga Volleyball Notes (Week 2)
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2003 Gonzaga Volleyball Statistics
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FRIDAY - Sept. 5 (SBC/Sands Regency Invite)
Gonzaga vs. Arizona State, 4:30 p.m.
SATURDAY - Sept. 6 (SBC/Sands Regency Invite)
Gonzaga at Nevada, Noon
Gonzaga vs. Tennessee, 5 p.m.
2003 GONZAGA BULLDOGS: 1-2, 0-0 WCC
Upcoming Tournaments
September 12-13 @ Gonzaga Volleyball Classic (Spokane, WA)
September 19-20 @ MSU/Wingate Inn-vitational (Bozeman, MT)
BULLDOGS HEAD TO RENO: Gonzaga heads to 'The Biggest Little City In The World', Reno, Nevada, as the Bulldogs participate in the SBC/Sands Regency Invitational this weekend. Gonzaga will face off against Arizona State, Tennessee and host Nevada in the two-day event. This will be the Bulldogs second trip to the State of Nevada after winning the UNLV tournament in 2001. Gonzaga is coming off a 1-2 performance at the Oregon State Volleyball Classic in which they were without the services of two starters.
SIGNOR DIGS WAY INTO RECORD BOOK: Senior Heather Signor has dug her way into the Gonzaga career record book as she moved into 10th place on the Bulldogs career digs list with 902 digs. Signor needed just 24 digs to pass former Zag Nicole Lamoure as she entered the 2002 season and finished the first weekend of play with 38 digs. Signor now has her sights set on Aimee Wilson and Diane Pascua which stand in 8th and 9th place. Wilson finished her Bulldog career with 961 digs while Pascua was just two ahead of her with 963. Signor should have a chance to surpass the pair with good weekend performances at the upcoming Nevada tournament and next week's Gonzaga Volleyball Classic. During Saturday's final match against Mississippi State, Signor set a new career-high with 23 digs against MSU.
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 256-98 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.
ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS (1-2): The Bulldogs open a second straight tournament against a member of the Pac-10 Conference after a five-game loss to Oregon State last weekend. Arizona State opened the season with a 1-2 record, the one win coming against Utah with losses to Ohio and WCC member San Diego. The Sun Devils are led by a pair of players as Juliana Escobar (3.91) and Natalie Harris (3.36) are each averaging over 3 kills per game. The Sun Devils are under the direction of Brad Saindon in his first season as head coach.
NEVADA WOLF PACK (2-2): Gonzaga faces host Nevada on Saturday morning in the seventh meeting between the two schools. The series is tied with Nevada winning the last three decisions including both matches last year. The Wolf Pack are 2-2 on the season after weekend action at the Cal State Fullerton tournament. Christine Harms is the Wolf Packs big offensive weapon early in the season averaging 3.82 kills per game. Devin Scruggs is in her seventh year as head coach at Nevada.
TENNESSEE LADY VOLUNTEERS (2-1): Gonzaga concludes play at the SBC Sands Regency Invitational against Tennessee, the second straight weekend that the Bulldogs have ended a tournament against a member of the SEC. Last weekend Gonzaga defeated Mississippi State to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 mark against schools from the SEC. Tennessee comes into the event with a 2-1 record after wins against Maryland and Villanova and a five-game loss to Michigan State. The Lady Vols are led by Michelle Piantadosi who is averaging 3.67 kills per game. Rob Patrick is in his seventh season as head coach at Tennessee.
DAVIS EARNS ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: Junior outside hitter Christina Davis was named to the Oregon State Volleyball Showcase All-Tournament team after leading the Bulldogs to a 1-2 record. Davis finished the weekend with a team-high 54 kills an average of 4.15 per game. During weekend action Davis posted two double-doubles against Oregon State and Mississippi State and finished all three matches with double figure kills. It was the second time in her three year career that Davis has earned All-Tournament honors after collecting her first honor as a freshman at the UNLV Tournament, Gonzaga's last tournament championship.
TALE OF TWO SETTERS: Gonzaga was once again forced to employ the services of two-first year setters as the Bulldogs opened the Oregon State Volleyball Showcase without projected starter Emilee Gihring. True freshmen Melissa Schickler and Megan Thompson split the duties as GU posted a 1-2 record in the tournament. The two setters split time with each player appearing in all 13 games, Schickler getting the start in all three matches. Both players performed well for their first Division I experience as Schickler finished the weekend with 71 assists (5.46 per game) and Thompson had 49 assists (3.77 per game). The Bulldogs will probably go with Schickler and Thompson again this weekend and expect Gihring to return to the team next week.
BIG BLOCKS LEADER: Junior Lauren Armas holds the early season lead in total blocks as she finished the Oregon State tournament with 13 blocks. She is currently averaging one block per game and had a solid blocking match against OSU with six blocks assisted. Armas becomes the first player other than senior Abby Cullen to hold the blocks lead at any point of the season over the last two years. Cullen has been the Zags dominant force at the net the last two years as she has ranked in the top three in the West Coast Conference in blocks per game. Armas play at the net now gives the Bulldogs another threat at middle blocker.
KOZEN MISSES OPENING WEEKEND: Senior Natasha Kozen was forced to miss the opening weekend of the season leaving the Bulldogs without the services of a second starter (setter Emilee Gihring the other). Kozen was expected to have a big season as she moved from right-side hitter to outside hitter for the Bulldogs.
VanMEETREN GIVEN OPPORTUNITY: With Natasha Kozen's absence from the starting line-up fellow senior Jamie VanMeetren was given the starting nod at outside hitter for the Bulldogs. VanMeetren averaged 2.62 kills per game to rank second on the Bulldogs squad and her 20 digs stand fourth on the team.
STILL NOT RECEIVING IT WELL: A weakness in the Bulldogs team in 2002, Gonzaga once again struggled with returning serve as GU committed 33 reception errors during three matches at Oregon State. Against the host Beavers on Friday night, it was the telling stat as OSU took advantage of 15 Gonzaga reception errors to hold off the Bulldogs in five games. Gonzaga did make improvements the next game with only seven errors against Northern Arizona. On the flip side Gonzaga has only dropped in eight service aces with Lauren Armas and Melissa Schickler each posting three.
GONZAGA VOLLEYBALL CLASSIC ON THE HORIZON: Following their road trip to Reno this weekend Gonzaga will open the 2003 home season with the return of the Gonzaga Volleyball Classic. The tournament, previously titled Spikeoff Spokane, makes its return to the Spokane campus after a two-year hiatus. In 2001 the event was cancelled due to the September 11th tragedy and was not held last year due to a coaching change in the GU volleyball program. The first home tournament for Bulldogs head coach Kip Yoshimura will feature Boise State, Idaho State and UNLV.
