Volleyball Hosts Arizona Schools in Pac-10 Home Opener
September 29, 1998
THIS WEEKEND'S ACTION: The Beavers (10-4, 0-3 Pac-10) look to pick up their first Pac-10 wins when they host a pair of matches against the Arizona schools this weekend. Oregon State will take on No. 19 Arizona (11-1, 3-1) at 7:00 p.m. Friday, October 2 before hosting Arizona State (5-6, 2-2) at 1:00 p.m. Sunday, October 4.
BEAVERS ON TV: Friday night's match with Arizona will be televised on FOX Sports Northwest on a tape-delay basis on Monday, October 5 at 2:00 p.m. Tod Pickett and Peg Rees will serve as the announcers. The match will be the first of four OSU matches to be televised this season.
NIKE NIGHT: Fans will get a chance to pick up free NIKE T-Shirts at the OSU/Arizona match. Friday night's match has been designated as NIKE night, and hundreds of NIKE T-Shirts will be given out to fans throughout the evening.
OREGON STATE VS. THE ARIZONA SCHOOLS: Oregon State is 10-15 all-time against Arizona after dropping two matches to the Wildcats last year. OSU is just 7-18 against Arizona State, but 4-1 in the last five meetings. The Beavers will be looking to put last year's home swing against the Arizona schools behind themselves; OSU easily won the first two games in both matches but ended up losing to both schools in five games at Gill Coliseum last year.
SCHMIDT A HIT LAST WEEK: In Oregon State's three matches last week, Gina Schmidt picked up 40 kills, 34 digs and five aces -- all team highs, and she hit .311 on the week. She had double-doubles in two of the three matches, with 19 kills and 11 digs against UCLA and 13 kills and 21 digs against Portland. Her 19 kills and 21 digs both set new career highs for the rookie, and those 21 digs were the most by a Beaver so far this season.
BJELDANES BACK IN BUSINESS AGAINST BRUINS: After recording double-doubles in six of Oregon State's first 10 matches, Sarah Bjeldanes went three straight matches without recording double-figure kills or digs before she broke out of her slump against UCLA. She hit .289 with 17 kills against the Bruins, her most since September 12 against Xavier. She hit just .083 with 17 total kills in the three matches prior to the UCLA match. Bjeldanes also had 11 digs against the Bruins for her seventh double-double of the season.
BONNARENS REACHES 1000: Brandi Bonnarens became the fifth OSU setter to record 1,000 career assists after picking up 48 against UCLA on September 27. She has 639 so far this season to give her 1,030 assists for her career. She needs 251 more to tie Christine Wilson (92-93) for the No. 4 spot on the career assists list.
AN ACE UP THEIR SLEEVES: The Beavers lead the Pac-10 in service aces with an average of 1.75 aces per game in matches through September 27. Four OSU players are among the league's top 10 in individual aces per game. Eleftheria Koukou (3rd, 0.51 apg) has served 22 aces in 43 games to lead the Beavers this season. She served a career-high five aces in matches against both Denver and Xavier earlier this season. After Koukou, Sarah Bjeldanes (7th, 0.32 apg) and Selina Scoble (10th, 0.27 apg) each have 14 to tie for second on the team. Gina Schmidt (9th, 0.29 apg) is fourth on the squad with 12 aces. OSU has served 89 aces this year, while its opponents have served 73.
SHIRLEY SPECTACULAR AGAINST PILOTS: Angie Shirley established a new career-high and set a school record against Portland on Tuesday. The sophomore knocked down 23 kills, 10 more than her previous career best. She had just two errors in 32 attempts and hit an impressive .656 to shatter the school record for five-game match hitting percentage. The old mark of .585, set by Carol Sears (27k-3e-41att.), had held up since 1985. After 14 matches, Shirley is hitting .362. Should she keep up her pace, she would finish with the second best single-season hitting percentage for a Beaver. Julie Steding's .421 effort in 1983 ranks first, followed by Staci Hintze's .360 mark in 1996.
PAPELL HAS CAREER PERFORMANCE IN FRONT OF HOMETOWN CROWD: Redshirt freshman Jessica Papell returned home to Los Angeles last weekend, and she gave her hometown fans something to cheer about when she picked up two career bests. Papell served the first two aces of her career against No. 8 USC on September 25, and then on September 27 she collected a career-high nine digs against UCLA.
A LOOK AT ARIZONA: The No. 19 Wildcats (11-1, 3-1) dropped their first match of the year last week when they lost to No. 7 Stanford in four games. Arizona defeated California, 3-0, in its other match last week. The Wildcats have two players who have 100 kills and digs so far this year. Senior Keisha Johnson Demps leads the team 174 kills and 55 blocks, and she is second on the team with 111 digs. Junior Raelene Elam is second in kills with 141 and is third with 110 digs. She had 34 kills against Stanford and Cal.
A LOOK AT ARIZONA STATE: The Sun Devils (5-6, 2-2) lost to No. 7 Stanford, 1-3, and defeated California, 3-0, last week. Sophomore Amanda Burbridge has been dominating the ASU offense, as she leads the team with 231 kills (5.02 kpg). After Burbridge, freshman Jami Coughlin is second with 159 kills, and no other players have more than 82 kills. Coughlin also leads the team with 177 digs.
SCOBLE RANKED NATIONALLY: In matches through September 20, Selina Scoble is fourth in the nation in blocking with 1.90 blocks per game. As a team, the Beavers are sixth in the nation in blocking (3.37 bpg). Updated rankings are available every Tuesday evening.
BEAVERS AMONG THE LEAGUE LEADERS: Several Oregon State players rank among the league's top 10 in various statistical categories. Selina Scoble is third in the conference in blocking, with 1.80 blocks per game, and she is also ranked in two other categories. Scoble's .303 hitting percentage is eighth and her 0.27 aces per game puts her at 10th. Angie Shirley is third in hitting percentage (.362), and she is eighth in blocking with 1.29 bpg. Eleftheria Koukou is third in the Pac-10 in serving, averaging 0.51 aces per game, and Brandi Bonnarens is fifth in assists with 12.53 per game. Sarah Bjeldanes is tied for sixth in digs with 3.11 per game and is seventh with 0.32 aces per game. Gina Schmidt is ninth in serving with 0.29 aces per game. As a team, the Beavers lead the conference in serving (1.75 aces per game) and are second in blocking (3.69 blocks per game). OSU is third in hitting percentage (.238) and fifth in kills (15.73 per game). Statistics are through September 27.
THE CENTURY CLUB: Led by Sarah Bjeldanes, five Beavers have collected at least 100 kills so far this season. Through OSU's first 14 matches, Bjeldanes leads the team with 154 kills (3.50 kpg). Angie Shirley is second with 142 kills, followed by Krista Kinsman (133), Gina Schmidt (129) and Eleftheria Koukou (122). Three of those five players also have 100 digs. Bjeldanes ranks first among the Beavers with 137 digs, while Kinsman and Schmidt each have 106.
THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE CLUB: Six Oregon State players have posted "double-doubles" so far this season, with Sarah Bjeldanes and Gina Schmidt each having one against UCLA on September 27. Bjeldanes leads the team with seven double-double outings, followed by Schmidt and Krista Kinsman with three. Selina Scoble has two, and Brandi Bonnarens and Eleftheria Koukou each have one. While the majority of OSU's double-doubles have come with kills and digs, Bonnarens' involved assists and digs, and one of Scoble's was a combination of kills and blocks.
MOZZOCHI NEARING 100 WINS: Jeff Mozzochi, in his sixth season as head coach of the Oregon State volleyball program, needs just seven more wins to pick up his 100th victory at OSU. His OSU squads have compiled a 93-80 record (53.8 percent) during his tenure, including a 19-12 mark in '96 for the program's best finish since 1990. His 1993 and 1994 Beaver teams advanced to the NIVC post-season tournament. Prior to joining the OSU program, he served as head coach at Portland State for nine seasons and guided his teams to a 287-75 record (79.3 percent) and four Division II National Championships. His overall coaching record stands at an impressive 380-155 (71.0 percent) in more than 14 years as a head coach. Mozzochi is a 1980 graduate of California.
