No. 15 Volleyball Hosts Cross-Bay Rival San Francisco
10/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 20, 2004
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What's on Schedule: The No. 15-ranked Saint Mary's volleyball team hosts San Francisco on Saturday, October 23 at 7:05 p.m. at McKeon Pavilion. The Gaels carry a 16-2 overall record and a 5-1 West Coast Conference mark going into their lone match of the week. San Francisco brings a 9-13 overall record and a 2-4 conference mark into McKeon Pavilion.
Who's Hot: Saint Mary's freshman outside hitter/libero Missie Stidham posted back-to-back double doubles against No. 25 San Diego and No. 15 Santa Clara. Stidham recorded 12 kills and 12 digs to go along with three aces in three games at outside hitter and one game at libero in a 3-1 loss on Friday night. On Saturday night, Stidham recorded 13 kills and 19 digs in a 3-1 victory.
Scouting the Dons: San Francisco comes into the week with a 9-13 overall record and a 3-7 conference mark. The Dons are coming off losses against No. 25 San Diego and No. 15 Santa Clara. The Dons took the Broncos to five games and lost to the Toreros in four games. San Francisco was led by Stephanie Voelckers over the weekend, who recorded 27 kills and 18 digs against Santa Clara and 13 kills and 15 digs against San Diego. During conference play, Voelckers leads the team with 4.30 kills per game and is third on the team with 3.39 digs per game. On the season, San Francisco has been led by Theresa Hart, who is averaging 3.83 kills per game and 3.04 digs per game. During conference play Hart is averaging 3.65 kills per game and 3.70 digs per game. The Dons setter Jamie Kartchner is averaging 12.91 assists per game overall and Brynn Maurer leads the team with 4.49 digs per game.
Saint Mary's versus San Francisco the Series: In 38 meetings, the Gaels hold a 21-17 advantage over the Dons. The Gaels were swept by San Francisco last season, which included a 3-2 loss at McKeon Pavilion on November 22, 2003 and a 3-1 loss at San Francisco on October 25, 2003. The last time the Gaels beat the Dons at home was October 4, 2002, a 3-1 win in head coach Jon Stevenson's first season.
Gaels Ranked No. 15 in USA Today/CSTV Coaches Poll: After splitting the weekend series against No. 25 San Diego and No. 15 Santa Clara last weekend at McKeon Pavilion, the Saint Mary's volleyball team earned a No. 15 ranking on Monday. Saint Mary's improved to a school-record 16-2 and also improved to 5-1 in conference play. The Gaels also carry a No. 7 RKPI in the fourth edition of the RichKern.com/AVCA Division I Region Rankings and are ranked No. 2 in the Pacific Region. Saint Mary's is also ranked No. 17 by Volleyball Magazine and No. 15 by RichKern.com.
Turning Away Opponents: As a team the Gaels rank first after six West Coast Conference matches in blocks. Saint Mary's has recorded 77 total blocks in 22 games for a 3.50 blocks per game average. Loyola Marymount ranks second with 3.42 blocks per game and Santa Clara is third with 3.36 blocks per game.
Standing in Second: Saint Mary's ranks second in the West Coast Conference in hitting percentage, assists, and kills after six matches. The Gaels have a .257 hitting percentage behind San Diego, who is hitting .288. Saint Mary's has recorded 338 assists for a 15.36 assists per game average, which is behind San Diego's 16.67 assists per game average. The Gaels have recorded 16.68 kills per game, and are behind San Diego, who has recorded 19.17 kills per game.
Kirk Standing on Top: Saint Mary's sophomore middle blocker Christina Kirk ranks first in hitting percentage after six West Coast Conference matches. Kirk has recorded 28 kills in 15 games with five errors in a total of 47 attacks for a .489 hitting percentage. Kirk had eight kills against Santa Clara (.500 hitting percentage) and five kills (.333 hitting percentage) against San Diego.
Salzman Records 20-Plus Kills: Saint Mary's junior outside hitter Kaui Salzman recorded a season-high 21 kills against No. 15 Santa Clara on Saturday night. Salzman's previous high this year was 20 against San Jose State on September 14.
Gaels Record Best Start in School History: After beating BYU 3-2 on September 17, the Gaels improved to 9-0 on the season, the best start in school history. The Gaels had their nine match winning streak come to an end on September 18 with a 3-1 loss at Utah. Saint Mary's started 4-0 in 1993, and went 6-1 to start the season in 1990.
Week in Review: Saint Mary's went 1-1 last week after dropping the first game of the weekend to No. 25 San Diego 3-1 and bounced back with a 3-1 victory over No. 15 Santa Clara on Saturday night. The Gaels were led by freshman Missie Stidham against the Toreros. Stidham recorded a team-high 12 kills, 12 digs and three aces. Lindsey Bogason, Cassandra Kolkka and Mariko Coverdale each had nine kills in the loss. Against No. 15 Santa Clara, the Gaels were led by junior outside hitter Kaui Salzman, who recorded a season-high 21 kills and added 17 digs. Stidham added 13 kills and 19 digs, Kolkka had 12 kills and 12 digs, Coverdale had nine kills, Christina Kirk had eight and Stacey O'Connor had 12 total blocks. The win also snapped a 14-match losing streak against the Broncos.
Head Coach Jon Stevenson: In his third year at the helm of the Saint Mary's women's volleyball program is head coach Jon Stevenson after two successful seasons. Since taking over the Gael program on March 1, 2002, Stevenson has helped Saint Mary's improve its win total in each season, improving the Gaels from a 271 RPI to a 5 RPI, defeated six nationally-ranked opponents, posted the first winning record in 13 years, and participated in the school's first NCAA Tournament in 2003. In just two short seasons at Saint Mary's, Stevenson has produced one All-WCC First Team selection, four All-WCC Honorable Mention honorees, and six tournament Most Valuable Player selections. With a 16-2 record to start the 2004 season, Stevenson's career coaching record at SMC is now over .500 with a 45-33 record. Stevenson's career coaching record is also over .500 and stands at 74-65 in four years.
What's Next for the Gaels: Saint Mary's hits the road for the first time in two weeks when it travels to Los Angeles, CA to face the Pepperdine Waves on Friday, October 29 at 7:05 p.m. and then the Gaels will face the Loyola Marymount Lions on Saturday, October 30 at 7:05 p.m.
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