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THIS WEEK: San Francisco takes to the road this
week, traveling to play at Gonzaga at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 7
and then at Portland at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 9.
LOOKING AHEAD: USF returns to the friendly
confines of War Memorial Gym for two games next week. The Dons host
nationally ranked San Diego for a 7 p.m. match on Thursday, Oct.
14. Two days later, USF hosts its annual Dig Pink Match with an
Arts & Wine show preceeding the 7 p.m. match on Saturday, Oct.
16 against Saint Mary's.
LOOKING BACK: The Dons began the West Coast
Conference season with a three-set loss to Pepperdine 23-25, 20-25,
19-25, followed by a tough four-set loss to Loyola Marymount 23-25,
25-23, 14-25, 20-25.
LIVE STATS FOR GONZAGA: Fans can visit:
www.gozags.com to watch live stats for San Francisco's match at
Gonzaga this weekend.
LIVE STATS/VIDEO/AUDIO FOR PORTLAND: Fans can
visit: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/up.portal# to watch
free live stats, video and audio for San Francisco's match at
Portland this weekend.
MOVING ON UP: With 19 kills this past weekend,
senior Sarah
Mandala moved past Lisa Tschannen into fourth place on USF's
all-time kills list. The 5-foot, 10-inch outside hitter has
collected 1,348 career kills and trails Melanie Kaiser by 120
kills. The Dons have 13 games remaining on their
schedule.
CAN'T WAIT TO GET ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Dons
take to the road this week for the first time in nearly four weeks.
USF has played its last five matches at home and hosted seven of
the 10 games the team played in September.
TWICE AS NICE: Two Dons posted double-doubles
in the first weekend of West Coast Conference play. Sophomore
outside hitter Alycia Cox totaled
10 kills and 10 digs against Pepperdine for her second
double-double of the season. Freshman setter/hitter Joan Caloiaro
turned in a career-high 39 assists along with 18 digs against
Loyola Marymount for her sixth double-double of the
season.
BLOCK PARTY: USF totaled 12 team blocks against
Loyola Marymount, which bested the Dons' previous season-high
effort by four blocks. Eight different players had a hand in those
blocks with freshman Jordan Irish and
sophomore Hadley Simmons
each registering a solo block.
DONS TO FIGHT BREAST CANCER, HOST DIG PINK: The
Dons will participate this year in the annual Dig Pink National
Breast Cancer Rally, to help bring awareness to the fight against
breast cancer. USF will host Dig Pink night at 7 p.m. on Saturday,
October 16 against Saint Mary's with the Dons also hosting a
special Art & Wine show before the match starting at 5 p.m.
Tickets to the show are $25. San Francisco encourages fans to wear
pink in support of the cause. USF is also helping to raise money
towards breast cancer awareness. Visit
http://www.side-out.org/application/teams/team_page/1212 to donate
to the cause.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: Gonzaga is in the midst
of a 14-game losing streak. The Bulldogs and Dons both took on
Seattle University and Washington State during the non-conference
schedule. USF beat Seattle in three sets, while Gonzaga lost in
five sets. Both teams lost in four sets to Washington State. Senior
outside hitter Caitlin Cozad leads Gonzaga with 2.02 kills and 0.87
blocks per set. Junior setter Deni Van De Mortel adds 8.58 assists
per set.
LAST TIME VS. USF: Gonzaga overcame a 2-1
deficit to beat USF in five sets on Nov. 14, 2009. It was the
second consecutive year the Dons fell to the Bulldogs in Spokane.
Senior hitter Sarah Mandala notched a match-high 27 kills.
SCOUTING THE PILOTS: Portland enters the second
week of West Coast Conference play having lost five of its past six
matches; two of which came at San Diego and Saint Mary's last
weekend. The Dons and Pilots have both played Seattle University
this year, with USF beating Seattle University in three sets and
Portland losing in five sets. Portland will host just its second
and third matches of the season this week. The Pilots' senior
libero Danielle Dupar leads the WCC in digs with 5.60 per set.
Sophomore middle blocker Ariel Usher paces the team offensively
with 3.03 kills per set.
LAST TIME VS. USF: The Dons came from behind to
secure a five-set win at Portland on Nov. 12, 2009 to win their
15th consecutive match against the Pilots. Hadley Simmons led USF
with 12 kills.
CENTURY MARK: With the Dons' 3-0 sweep against
Seattle University, USF head coach Gilad Doron claimed his 100th
career win. Doron is in his seventh season as a head coach. "I want
to thank all of the players I've coached or am coaching for putting
me in this position," Doron said. "It's the players that win the
games, not the coaches. I'm happy and excited and looking forward
to a bright future with more wins for USF."
KO JOINS USF STAFF: USF completed its coaching
staff with the addition of Ken Ko as an assistant coach. Ko comes
to the Dons after a two-year stint at the University of Florida.
The Oakland native began his collegiate coaching career as a
volunteer assistant for the USF in 2000. Since then he has coached
at Colgate, Cal State Fullerton and Washington State. Ko also spent
six seasons coaching at Miramonte High School in Orinda, Calif. "I
am excited to have the opportunity to work with Ken," USF head
coach Gilad Doron said. "I think he brings a wealth of experience
from different programs and conferences. Mostly, his personality
and his approach on how to train are very compatible to mine and
Melissa [Walbridge's] attitudes. He has great passion for the game
is very competitive.
WELCOME BACK: Senior Sarah Mandala returned to
the Dons' lineup after a seven-game absence caused by an injury.
She picked up right where she left off, leading the team in kills
with 12 against Seattle University. Mandala hit .348 in her first
game back with six assists and four digs.
TAKING CONTROL: Freshman setter/hitter Joan Caloiaro posted her first career triple-double, totaling 30
assists, 14 kills and 13 digs against then No.10 California. She
led the Dons in each of those three categories in addition to
notching two blocks, which tied a team-high. Caloiaro hit .467 for
the match. The Saratoga, Calif. native totaled five double-doubles
in her first nine matches.
QUICK START: USF took the first set against
then-No. 10 California, making it the first set the Bears have lost
all season after having won 24 consecutive sets going into Friday
night's match. The win marked the first set USF has won against Cal
since 2002. The Dons have only won 12 total sets in their 36-match
history.
TAKING THE LEAD: In the Dons' 14 matches this
season, six different USF players have led the team in kills and
six players had led in blocks. Four players have taken their turn
in leading in digs and three players paved the way in assists.
Freshman setter/hitter Joan Caloiaro has led the team in kills,
assists, digs and blocks. Senior hitter Sarah Mandala has taken her
turn in the lead in kills and digs, while sophomore middle blocker
Hadley Simmons has led in kills and blocks.
HEAD OF THE CLASS: Libero Whitney Swain is
the only freshman ranked in the top five in digs in the West Coast
Conference. The Elk Grove native is fifth with 3.83 digs/set for a
total of 184 digs. Swain has led the Dons in digs in seven of its
12 matches.
RECORD BOOK: USF senior setter/libero Alaina Sully is
currently eighth in USF program history in career assists. The
Irvine, Calif. native has totaled 1,446 assists, but is still 346
assists away from moving in seventh on the all-time list.
FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH: USF started three true
freshmen in its first game of the season against Creighton: Caiti
Wenger, Malina Terrell
and Joan Caloiaro. Redshirt freshman Jordan Irish joined Wenger and
Caloiaro in starting in games two and three, while true freshman
Whitney Swain started at libero in game three against
Lipscomb.
MANDALA NAMED PRESEASON ALL-WCC: Senior outside
hitter Sarah Mandala is no stranger to WCC accolades. This is the
second consecutive year she's been named to the league's preseason
team and she was a first team All-WCC selection as a junior and
sophomore. As a freshman she was named honorable mention All-WCC.
Mandala was sixth in the nation last year in kills per set with an
average of 4.84 and finished with 508 total kills.
EXCLUSIVE CLUB: Senior Sarah Mandala needs 184
digs to join the exclusive 700 kills and 700 digs club at
USF. Only eight other players in the history of the program
have played their way into the 700 club. Mandala dug 206
balls as a junior and 131 in both her sophomore and freshman years.
TOUGH ROAD AHEAD: USF plays nine matches this
season against eight teams that qualified for the 2009 NCAA
tournament. Included in that group is Cal, which lost to eventual
national champion Penn State in the regional finals. Four of the
Dons' opponents (two of which they play twice) begin the season
ranked.
