Courtesy: Western Athletics Conference
The WAC had 14 of its players named to all-tournament teams last weekend, led by California Baptist with three honorees in Sydney Marks, Summer Avery and Tesa Oaks, as the Lancers won the Starkville Classic and Marks was named MVP.
Grand Canyon’s Kaira Moss and Teagan DeFalco were named to the Idaho Volleyball Classic All-Tournament Team, while Kansas City’s Tyrecia Lukes and Rhegan Spiegel earned all-tournament honors at the UMKC Invitational. CSU Bakersfield’s Brooke Boiseau joined Seattle U’s Shae Harris and Eve Kerschenbaum on the Aztec Invitational All-Tournament Team, while UT Rio Grande Valley’s Pamela Moreira and Alexandra Ecker earned all-tournament honors at the HBU Classic. Chicago State’s Megan Klavitter was named to the Cal Molten Classic All-Tournament Team, NM State’s
Ashley Anselmo earned Sun Devil Classic all-tournament honors and Kristen Allred of Utah Valley was named to the Aggie Invitational All-Tournament Team.
WAC STAT LEADERS
After the first weekend of the 2018 season, California Baptist leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.244), opponent hitting percentage (.092) assists (13.85), kills (15.31), service aces (2.46) and digs (18.92), while NM State is tops in blocks (2.60).
Individually, Kansas City’s Tyrecia Lukes leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.542), kills (5.00) and points (5.29), while California Baptist’s Natalie Zimmerer is tops in assists (11.42). Barbara Silva of UT Rio Grande Valley leads the WAC in service aces (0.80), while Seattle U’s Maja Stojanovic is tops in blocks (1.50). Megan Klavitter of Chicago State leads the WAC in digs (5.91).
UTAH VALLEY’S ATOA APPROACHING 400 CAREER WINS
After recording a victory over Holy Cross in the season opener, Utah Valley head coach Sam Atoa is nine wins shy of recording his 400th career victory. Atoa, who is currently in his 20th season as Utah Valley’s head coach, boasts a 391-223 career record (.637). The 2016 WAC Coach of the Year, he holds a 253-192 (.569) mark during his 16 seasons of coaching Utah Valley at the NCAA Division I level, as well as a 138-31 (.775) clip during his four seasons of coaching the Wolverines during the school’s junior college era.
UTRGV PLAYERS RANK IN PROGRAM TOP 10
UT Rio Grande Valley currently has two of the best blockers in program history. Alexandra Ecker already holds the program record for block assists (288) and ranks third in total blocks (314). Meanwhile, Barbara Silva ranks eighth in block assists (217) and ninth in total blocks (233). The duo also join WAC Preseason Player of the Year Ragni Steen Knudsen to rank in the Top 10 in hitting percentage. Ecker is second (.281), Silva is fifth (.243) and Knudsen is eighth (.233).
NM STATE FAVORED IN WAC PRESEASON POLL
The WAC coaches selected NM State to win the WAC regular-season crown in 2018 as the Aggies received six of the first-place votes and 62 total points to earn the top spot in the poll. UT Rio Grande Valley finished in second place with 57 points and the other three first-place votes. Reigning WAC Tournament champion CSU Bakersfield was picked to finish third with 48 points, while Utah Valley was fourth with 42 points. Kansas City was selected in fifth place with 35 points, while Grand Canyon was sixth with 30 points. Seattle U was picked seventh with 23 points, while WAC newcomer California Baptist was selected eighth with 17 points. Chicago State rounded out the poll with 10 points.
PRESEASON ALL-WAC
UT Rio Grande Valley senior outside hitter Ragni Steen Knudsen was selected as the WAC Preseason Player of the Year. NM State and UT Rio Grande Valley placed the most players on the preseason All-WAC team with three apiece, while CSU Bakersfield, Kansas City and Seattle U had two each. Joining Knudsen on the preseason team are teammates Alexandra Ecker and Barbara Silva, NM State’s Briana Ainsworth, Tatyana Battle and Megan Hart, CSU Bakersfield’s Briannah Mariner and Desiree Sukhov, Kansas City’s Emma Dyer and Alicia Harrington, Seattle U’s Shae Harris and Maja Stojanovic, Grand Canyon’s Teagan DeFalco and Utah Valley’s Kristen Allred.
2018 WAC TOURNAMENT
The 2018 WAC Volleyball Tournament will be held Nov. 22-24 at the Icardo Center in Bakersfield, Calif., and will include the top six eligible teams in the regular-season standings.
RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYERS
Of the seven first team All-WAC players in 2017, two return for the 2018 season – Preseason Player of the Year Ragni Steen Knudsen of UT Rio Grande Valley and NM State’s Tatyana Battle. Three of the seven second team honorees return, including Kansas City’s Alicia Harrington, Seattle U’s Shae Harris, the reigning WAC Setter of the Year, and Barbara Silva of UTRGV.
Four of the six All-Freshman Team honorees from a year ago return – Kristen Allred of Utah Valley, Teagan DeFalco of Grand Canyon, Tijana Milojevic of Seattle U and Lia Mosher of NM State.
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