Oct. 6, 2009
Week 7 Notes
OREM, Utah - The Utah Valley Wolverines, winners of their last six matches, will embark on their first Great West Conference road trip of the season when they travel to Chicago State (0-15, 0-4) and NJIT (12-5, 3-0) Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
The Wolverines and NJIT are currently the only two teams in the league without a conference loss.
Utah Valley played 12 of its first 16 matches at home. The Wolverines played three matches at the Weber State Invitational to open the season and then played at Boise State on Sept. 17.
The Wolverines are currently 7-5 at home, and three of the five losses were to nationally ranked USC (twice) and Oregon, as well as Missouri and Washington State.
"I want to stay home for sure, but that's not always going to happen," UVU volleyball coach Sam Atoa said. "That's always the challenge to take care of things at home and I think we have done that already. Now the challenge is for us to do that with the same intensity against some opponents that are going to be really tough for us. If we continue to stay disciplined in what we're doing I think we will be okay."
The Wolverines are 3-0 all-time against Chicago State and 2-0 against NJIT.
Utah Valley beat Chicago State, 3-0, on Sept. 18. The Cougars have won just one set all season.
The Highlanders, whose match with Utah Valley is their only match this week, are led by Sabrina Baby, who, in matches played through Oct. 4, leads the nation in digs per set at 6.58. As a team, the Highlanders lead the nation in the same category at 20.84.
The match with Chicago State is at 6 p.m. (MDT) and the match with NJIT is at 3 p.m. (MDT).
WOLVERINES NATIONALLY: In matches played through Oct. 4, junior OH Kayli Broadbent ranks in the Top 100 nationally in two categories: 23rd in kills per set (4.22) and 29th in points per set (4.71). Senior L Allyce Jones ranks 29th in digs per set (4.94), while sophomore S Chelesa Fa'alogo ranks 41st in assists per set (10.65).
As a team, the Wolverines were ranked in the Top 37 in the nation in four categories: aces per set (24th, 1.81), assists per set (31st, 12.74), kills per set (31st, 13.72) and hitting percentage (37nd, .252).
MANWILL, JONES HONORED BY GWC: UVU laid claim to the GWC Volleyball Player of the Week selections after the Wolverines posted two conference wins last week, keeping them undefeated and tied for first place (NJIT) in the league.
Camie Manwill and Allyce Jones led their team to a 3-1 win over North Dakota, handing the Sioux their first conference loss of the season. The pair also lifted the Wolverines to a sweep of South Dakota, 3-0.
Manwill, a senior outside hitter from Paradise, Calif., recorded 29 kills in the two matches. Against North Dakota, she had a career-high four consecutive service aces, a season-high 24 points, 19 kills and a hitting percentage of .409. Also, Manwill posted 18 digs and four blocks.
On the defensive side, Jones recorded 39 digs in the two wins, including a season-high 26 versus North Dakota, for a 6.50 dig per set average. The senior libero from Pleasant Grove, Utah, also had six assists and two service aces in the two victories.
ON TOP OF THE CONFERENCE: On the conference level, the Wolverines lead in aces per set (1.81); assists (12.74); blocks per set (2.03), hitting percentage (0.252) and kills per set (13.72). They also rank second behind NJIT in digs per set (14.19).
Individually, Kayli Broadbent and Kathleen Stevens lead the conference in aces per set (0.38); Chelsea Fa'alogo leads in assists per set (10.65); Dani Robison is second in blocks per set (0.93) and Allyce Jones is second in digs per set (4.94). Broadbent also leads in kills per set (4.22) and points per set (4.71), while Camie Manwill is third in kills per set (3.6) and third in points per set (4.2).
