Utah Valley State (6-8) vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (14-9)
Location: Corpus Christi, Texas
Date: October 15th
Time: 6:00 p.m. (MST)
Site: Moody Fieldhouse
Series Record: Wolverines lead series 1-0

Utah Valley State (6-8) vs. Texas-Pan American (7-9)
Location: Edinburg, Texas
Date: October 16th
Time: 6:00 p.m. (MST)
Site: UTPA Fieldhouse
Series Record: Wolverines lead series 1-0

OREM, Utah - The Utah Valley State volleyball team will travel to Texas to take on two fellow Division I Independent teams on Friday and Saturday. The Wolverines will match-up against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. (MST), and than travel to Edinburg, Texas to play Texas-Pan American on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. (MST).

Wolverine Update:
The Wolverines have played 12 of their first 14 matches on the road, compiling a 4-8 mark in road matches this season. UVSC has won both the home matches they have played in this season giving them a 6-8 overall record. The Wolverines will play three more road matches, including this weekend's matches, before finally returning home for three consecutive matches in the Activity Center.

Continuing to the lead the charge offensively is the Brazilian duo of Deise Borghetti and Alina Wallauer. Borghetti is averaging a team-high 3.98 kills per game, while Wallauer tallies an average of 3.10 kills per game. Lacee Koelliker has been solid all year distributing the ball. She averages 10.96 assists per game. True freshmen, Jessica Endres and Chelsea O'Neal have been a pleasant surprise for head coach Sam Atoa. Endres, a middle blocker out of Gilbert, Arizona has been steady on the front line averaging 2.44 kills per game. O'Neal, a libero out of Magnolia, Texas, has been just as steady on the back line averaging a team-high 3.77 digs per game.

Last Week's Action:
UVSC went 1-1 last week, beating Westminster College in four games on Tuesday and falling to Nevada in four games on Thursday.

Westminster Recap: In a rare home match for Utah Valley State, the Wolverines beat Westminster College in four games, 30-15, 31-33, 30-20, 30-26, on Tuesday night in the Activity Center. The Wolverines, led by outside hitter Krystal Taylor and company, dominated most of the match, including games one and three in which they held the Griffins under 21 points, and hit .333 and .406, respectively. Taylor finished with her first double-double of the season, notching 12 kills and 10 digs. Setter Lacee Koelliker also tallied a double-double, her sixth of the season, with a match-high 42 assists and a team-high 12 digs. Other key contributors were: Stephanie McFarland, who tallied 10 kills and hit .389, Anne Olsen with nine kills, and eight digs, Alina Wallauer with nine kills, and Jessica Endres with eight kills. Amber Smith also tallied eight digs for Atoa's rotating squad. The Wolverines hit a solid .252 on the night and held the Griffins to a .111 hitting percentage. UVSC also recorded a season-high 12 service aces.

Nevada Recap: Utah Valley State took Nevada to four games, but came out on the losing end, 30-21, 30-25, 30-32, 30-23, at Virginia Street Gym on Thursday night. Deise Borghetti led the way with a team-high 17 kills, to go along with her 11 digs, tallying her fifth double-double of the year. Alina Wallauer added 10 kills, and seven digs. Atoa was also impressed with Krystal Taylor and Lacee Koelliker. Taylor hammered out nine kills, and had one block solo and two block assists. Koelliker was her usual steady-self recording her seventh double-double of the season with 42 assists, and a match and season-high 25 digs. The Wolverine offense was slowed down by a strong UNR front line. The Wolf Pack held UVSC to an overall hitting percentage of .087, and out team blocked the Wolverines 14 to 6.5.

Double Trouble:
Four different Wolverines have notched double-double performances this year, they are: Alina Wallauer with 7, Lacee Koelliker with 7, Deise Borghetti with 5, and Krystal Taylor with 1.

Koelliker Named Division I Independent Setter of the Week:
Lacee Koelliker was named the NCAA Division I Independent -??Setter of the Week-?? for her performances against Westminster and Nevada the week of October 4-10.

Koelliker performed well on the court and was also honored for her efforts off the court last week.

On the court, Koelliker recorded double-doubles in both of Utah Valley State's matches this week. She leads the team with seven double-doubles on the season. Against Westminster on Tuesday she notched a match-high 42 assists to go along with her 12 digs, averaging 10.5 assists per game. Against Nevada on Thursday she tallied match-highs in both assists and digs, finishing the match with 42 assists (10.5 per game) and a season-high 25 digs. Off the court Koelliker was named the Scholar Athlete of the Month for September.

The award was the second of the season for Koelliker as she also received the honor on September 21st. It was the fourth award for UVSC this year.

This season, eight Division I Independent schools have grouped together to elect Player of the Week awards. Those teams are Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas-Pan American, IPFW, Northern Colorado, South Dakota State, North Dakota State, Providence, and Utah Valley State. Awards are voted on by participating team sports information directors and released each Tuesday.

Koelliker Named September Scholar Athlete of the Month:
Lacee Koelliker was named Scholar-Athlete of the Month for September. The award is given by the athletic department each month to a student athlete based on academic excellence, leadership, and performance in the field of competition.

Koelliker had a spring semester GPA of 3.950 that placed her on the athletic department's Honor Roll. She has a cumulative GPA of 3.932

The sophomore setter has been equally impressive on the court. During the month of September, Koelliker helped lead the Wolverine volleyball team to wins over Montana, Central Florida, Memphis, UC Davis and Portland. She has jumpstarted the Wolverine offensive attack with an impressive 11.05 assists a game.

She recorded 40 assists in a win at Montana. She also has over 40 assists in matches against Idaho State (42), UNLV (43), Oklahoma (46), UC Davis (47), Central Florida (55) and Cal Poly (59).

Academic and Athletic Excellence is not new for Koelliker. She graduated from Silverado High School in 2003 with High Honors and received an Honors Diploma with a 4.5 GPA. She also received the Nevada Silver Scholar award in 2002.  

Borghetti, Koelliker Receive Player of the Week Honors:
Utah Valley State right side hitter Deise Borghetti, and setter Lacee Koelliker received Division I Independent -??Player of the Week-?? honors for their performances in the Nike Portland Pilot Invitational September 16-18. Borghetti was honored as the Offensive Player of the Week, and Koelliker was named Setter of the Week.

Borghetti and Koelliker helped the Wolverines to a 2-2 overall record and runner-up finish in the invitational.

Borghetti, a senior out of Medianeira, Brazil, earned All-Tournament honors notching two matches with 20-plus kills (26 against UC Davis, and 22 against Cal Poly-SLO). In four matches she averaged a double-double with 17 kills and 10.25 digs per match. It was the second straight week that Borghetti was named to All-Tournament Teams, having been the only player to be selected in the BYU/Mizuno Classic last week.

Koelliker finished the tournament with 172 assists, an average of 10.75 assists per game. Against Cal Poly-SLO she tallied a season-high 59 assists, to go along with 10 digs. Koelliker notched 47 assists and 12 digs in a win over UC-Davis, and in a sweep over Portland State she recorded 38 assists and six digs. Against Portland in the championship match she finished with 28 assists and seven digs.

Borghetti Honored Two Weeks in a Row:
Senior right side hitter, Deise Borghetti was named to the Nike Portland Pilot Invitational All-Tournament Team on September 18 th , and the week before she was named to the Mizuno Classic All-Tournament team. In the Mizuno Classic Borghetti averaged 4.45 kills, and 3.18 digs per game in the tournament. She had match-high kills against UCF (21), and Oklahoma (18).

Endres Named Newcomer of the Week:
Freshman middle blocker Jessica Endres was named the Division I Independent Volleyball Newcomer of the Week for her performance in the BYU/Mizuno Classic September 10-11. The weekly award is given to a true freshman or transfer player.

Endres, a true freshman from Gilbert, Arizona, helped the Wolverines go 2-1 in the Mizuno Classic. UVSC sandwiched wins over Central Florida and Memphis around a loss to Oklahoma. Against UCF Endres was called upon 20 different times, notching 13 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Against OU she tallied seven kills, and against Memphis, Endres carried the team with a match-high 17 kills, while hitting an impressive .536.

Last Year's Post Season Honors:
UVSC returns three players who received NCAA Division I Independent honors in 2003. They are: outside hitters Alina Wallauer and Krystal Taylor, and setter Lacee Koelliker.

Wallauer (173 K, 2.37 K/G) received two honors as she was named the D-I Independent -??Newcomer of the Year,-?? and to the All-Independent Second Team. Koelliker (379 A, 4.51 A/G) and Taylor (109 K, 1.85 K/G) were both named to the Independent All-Freshman Team.

Scouting the Opposition:
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi: The Islanders come into Friday's match with an overall record of 14-9. TAMCC most recently lost to UVSC's Saturday opponent, Texas-Pan American in three straight games last Tuesday. The Islands are led by senior middle blocker, Lauren Smith. She is already the all-time block and kill leader at TAMCC. Smith averages 3.00 kills, and 0.78 blocks per game. She leads the team with 13 block solos this season.

Texas-Pan American: The Broncs come into Saturday's match with an overall record of 7-9. UTPA hosts Northern Colorado on Friday before matching up against the Wolverines on Saturday. The Broncs swept TAMCC in three games last Tuesday, and actually beat the Islanders in Corpus Christi just six days previous. UTPA is led offensively by sophomore outside hitter, Heather Bravo. She pounds out an average of 3.37 kills per game. Junior middle blocker Stephanie Redd is also having a solid season averaging 2.78 kills and .078 blocks per game.

Up Next:
The Wolverines will at least get to place close to home, as they travel to in-state rival Weber State on Tuesday, October 19 th . First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. (MST). UVSC will then look forward to three consecutive home matches, the first of which will be against Brigham Young University on Tuesday, October 26 th in the Activity Center. All students get in free with their UVSC Student ID.