Oct. 1, 2012

Complete Volleyball Release in PDF Format

WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE:The 15th-ranked University of San Diego women's volleyball team (12-2, 4-0 WCC) will go to battle with Saint Mary's College on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. live on a nationally televised match on ESPNU inside the friendly confines of the Jenny Craig Pavilion. This will be a battle for first place in the WCC. The Toreros will then head to Malibu on Saturday for a 1 p.m. WCC match against the defending champion Waves of Pepperdine University.

The Last Meeting Saint Mary's 3 San Diego 2 October 26, 2011 San Diego, CA Toreros Drop 3-2 Decision to SMC The University of San Diego women's volleyball team drops a 3-2 decision to Saint Mary's College in their 2011 ESPNU debut Wednesday evening inside the Jenny Craig Pavilion. Recap | Box Score

The Last Meeting Pepperdine 3 San Diego 0 November 19, 2011 San Diego, CA Toreros Drop Season-FInale to Pepperdine, 3-0 Sandra Lozic recorded a match-best 11 kills, but it wasn't enough, as the 20th-ranked University of San Diego women's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 West Coast Conference decision to No. 18 Pepperdine University Saturday afternoon at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. Recap | Box Score

LAST TIME OUT:The Toreros posted a 2-0 record this past week to move into sole possession of first place in the WCC. USD picked up a pair of 3-1 wins over Loyola Marymount University and the University of Portland. In Thursday's road win over LMU, Carrie Baird and Katie Hoekman led the Toreros offensive attack with 12 kills apiece, while Hoekman hit for a .450 clip and Baird recorded a double-double with 12 digs. Alaysia Brown record 11 kills, and led the team with three blocks, meanwhile, Chloe Ferrari recorded 10 kills. Rachel Alvey recorded a double-double with 52 assists and 13 digs, while Kandiss Anderson led the defense with 15 digs. As a team, USD hit .193 for the match. In Saturday's win over Portland, Brown and Chloe Ferrari were the key offensive pieces for the Toreros in their victory over Portland. Alaysia Brown led the team with 13 kills, hitting for a .407 clip. Chloe Ferrari had 11 kills, however, on only 15 attempts, resulting in an impressive .733 clip. Rachel Alvey recorded 45 assists, and added four kills, and Kandiss Anderson led the defense with 13 digs. The Toreros, as a team, hit .282 for the match, while holding the Pilots to a match hitting percentage of .117.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION:Wednesday's volleyball match between USD and Saint Mary's will air live nationally on ESPNU. Sam Gore will be providing fans with all the play-by-play, and Holly McPeack will be providing color commentary. This mark's the third consecutive year USD battles SMC on ESPNU, with the Toreros winning the first two, and dropping last season's meeting.

SCOUTING THE GAELS:Saint Mary's College enters the match with an overall record of 8-7 and a 3-1 mark in the WCC, after upending then No. 11 and previously undefeated BYU this past Saturday. The Gaels were picked to finish in a tie for first with USD in the preseason coaches poll, and currently stand one match behind the USD in second place. SMC is led offensively by Kristina Graven, who leads the team with 174 kills (3.41 kps), while hitting at a .230 clip. Gabby Jolly also is an offensive threat for the Gaels, as she 146 kills, while hitting at a .339 clip. The floor leader for SMC is Dalas Dodd, who is has a team-best 640 assists, while helping steer the Gael offense to a .245 team attack percentage.

SCOUTING THE WAVES:Pepperdine, the defending WCC champions, enter the week with an overall record of 10-6 and they have a 1-3 mark in the WCC after dropping a 3-2 decision to Saint Mary's and a 3-2 decision to Santa Clara this past week. The Waves, who is currently ranked No. 23, are led by junior outside hitter Jazmine Orozco, who has 198 kills (3.54 kps) and she is hitting at a .259 clip. The floor general for the Waves is junior setter Kellie Woolever , who has a team-best 611 assist, while helping steer the Waves offense to a .244 team attack percentage.

HITTING FOR HIGH PERCENTAGES:Junior middle hitter Chloe Ferrari has been on fire for all of September. Ferrari has etched her name into the single-match record books at USD for hitting percentage, not once, not twice, but three times. On September 15, Ferrari had the match of her life, as she recorded 13 kills on 16 swings, while committing no errors to hit for a .812 clip, the second highest single-match attack percentage in program history. Just one day before, she hit .800 as she recorded 12 kills on 15 swings to hit .800 against Fresno State, the fourth best single-match hitting percentage, and on Sept. 29, she recorded 11 kills on 15 swings and committed no errors to hit for a .733 clip against Portland, good for fifth best single-match hitting percentage. Overall, Ferrari has 139 kills, and it hitting for a .385 clip.

BLOCK PARTY:Junior middle hitter Katie Hoekman was an impenetrable wall at the net this past week, as the Folsom, Calif. native recorded 15 blocks, three solo, to lead the Toreros defense. Hokeman recorded eight blocks alone in Thursday's win over LMU, her highest single-match block total of the season, to go along with 12 kills. Hoekman also was a huge help offensively, as she recorded 20 kills, and hit for a .238 clip. On the season, Hoekman has received one WCC Player of the Week award, and has recorded a team-best 143 kills, while hitting for a .370 clip, and she leads the team in blocks with 44.

SETTING THE TABLE:Junior setter Rachel Alvey helped lead USD to another perfect 2-0 week, and into sole possession of first place in conference this past week. Alvey recorded 97 total assists, with an impressive 12.1 assists-per-set ratio, and she helped steer the Torero offense to a .232 team attack percentage. Alvey began the week with a double-double, as she recorded 52 assists and had 13 digs against Loyola Marymount on this past Thursday. Then on Saturday, she managed to record 45 assists, while digging out three balls and helped the team hit for a .282 clip in the match. Overall, Alvey has recorded 506 assists (9.92 aps), and she had helped steer the Torero offense to a .248 attack percentage.

GOING STREAKING:The University of San Diego women's volleyball team is currently riding a season-high nine-match winning streak, after picking up two wins this past week. During this streak, the Toreros are hitting .254 as a team, while holding opponents to a .166 attack percentage. Four different Toreros have recorded at least 80 kills, paced by Katie Hoekman's 99. USD will look to extend this streak this week as they host to Saint Mary's, and travel to Pepperdine on Saturday.

DIG PINK:The USD women's volleyball team is proud to take part in the Side-Out Foundation and Dig Pink campaign. Education is key to increasing awareness and knowledge about breast cancer. The players, coaches, parents, volunteers, spectators and survivors will be in for a special evening. Please join us in any way that you can. If you attend, please wear pink. Help us and the Side-Out Foundation raise funds and awareness in our fight against Breast Cancer! Wednesday's 6 p.m. match against SMC will be USD's "Dig Pink" match.

THE POLLS: The University of San Diego women's volleyball team moved up one spot to No. 15 in the latest AVCA top-25 polls, after posting a 2-0 record this past week. Saint Mary's is not ranked, but is receiving votes, while Pepperdine dropped five spots to No. 23 in the latest rankings.

PETRIE RETURNS!:San Diego head coach Jennifer Petrie returns to the sidelines this season after taking this past year off to spend time with the newest member of her family, daughter Caroline. Last season in her absence, Associate Head Coach Brent Hilliard took the reigns and led USD to a 28-5 overall record. Petrie has done an outstanding job directing the fortunes of San Diego volleyball since taking over as the Toreros head coach in 1999. Honored as the 2004, 2008 and 2010 West Coast Conference Coach of the Year, Petrie continues to establish the University of San Diego as one of the top volleyball programs in the nation. In 12 complete seasons as head coach, Petrie has led San Diego to nine appearances in the NCAA Tournament (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 & 2010).

TOREROS TABBED CO-WCC FAVORITES:Saint Mary's College and the University of San Diego each received 59 points and four first place votes to share the top spot in the preseason WCC coaches poll. The Gaels finished fourth last season, while the Toreros finished second behind Pepperdine University. This year, the Waves were chosen to finish third with 53 points and the remaining first place vote in the poll. Brigham Young University, last year's third place finisher, was picked to finish fourth this season with 42 points, followed by the University of San Francisco with 33. Loyola Marymount University and Santa Clara University tied for sixth with 27 points apiece, while the University of Portland and Gonzaga University rounded out the list with 13 points and 11 points, respectively.

A PAIR OF TOREROS NAMED TO ALL-WCC PRESEASON TEAM:Junior All-American Chloe Ferrari and All-WCC first-teamer Katie Hoekman both were selected to the WCC Preseason All-Conference team.

- Ferrari, a 6-1 junior from Clovis, Calif., took home All-American honors after leading the team with 355 kills and hitting for a .385 clip as a sophomore. Ferrari helped lead USD into the second round of the NCAA Tournament as they defeated No. 23 Long Beach State, 3-1, in the first round, thanks in large part to Ferrari's team-best 18 kills. Ferrari was also named first-team All-WCC after leading the team with 169 kills in WCC play, while hitting .388, second best in the WCC, and recording 57 blocks.

- Hoekman, a 6-1 junior from Folsom, Calif., returns after taking home her first All-WCC accolade last season. In 2011, Hoekman led the WCC in hitting percentage at .414, while recording 154 kills and racking up 45 blocks in WCC action. Overall, Hoekman led the team with a .369 attack percentage, while placing third in kills at 275 and she was second on the team with 104 blocks.