USF Volleyball Faces Top WCC Teams
11/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
THIS WEEK: The Dons travel to neighboring Saint Mary's for a 7 p.m. first serve on Thursday, Nov. 11 and then fly down to San Diego for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, Nov. 13.
LOOKING AHEAD: USF plays its final game of the season against rival Santa Clara on Friday, Nov. 19 at War Memorial Gym. Sarah Mandala and Alaina Sully will be honored as part of Senior Night before the match.
LOOKING BACK: San Francisco lost a five-set heartbreaker 21-25, 25-20, 23-25, 28-26 and 10-15 to Portland on Nov. 4 and beat Gonzaga in four sets on Nov. 6.
LIVE STATS/VIDEO AT SAINT MARY'S: Fans can visit: http://www.smcgaels.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?DB_LANG=C&db_oem_id=21400 and http://www.smcgaels.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=21400&LIST_SPORT_ID=W_VOLLEYBALL to watch free live video and stats for USF's match against Saint Mary's.
LIVE STATS/VIDEO AT SAN DIEGO: To watch live stats and video for the Dons' match against San Diego visit: http://usdtoreros.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/sched/usd-w-volley-sched.html
GET OUT THE BROOM: The Dons completed their first season sweep of the season in beating Gonzaga twice this year. It was the Dons' first sweep of the Bulldogs since 2005. The win also ended an eight-game losing streak for USF.
PUTTING THE HAMMER DOWN: San Francisco recorded a season-high 71 kills against Gonzaga with four players finishing in double-digit kills: Sarah Mandala (10), Hadley Simmons (10), Joan Caloiaro (13) and Malina Terrell (26). The Dons also hit at a season-high clip of .305 — the first time USF finished a game hitting .300 or better all season.
A TENACIOUS TERRELL: Freshman outside hitter Malina Terrell set a career high in kills for the fourth time this season after powering down 26 kills against Gonzaga. Her previous high was 21. Terrell hit .389 for the match. She is now sixth in the West Coast Conference in kills during league play with an average of 3.39 per set.
WHAT A WEEKEND: Joan Caloiaro, a freshman setter/hitter, turned in back-to-back impressive matches against Portland and Gonzaga. The Saratoga native put together her third triple double against the Pilots in totaling 38 assists, 16 kills and 10 digs and followed that up with 51 assists, 13 kills and seven digs for her 12th double-double against Gonzaga. Caloiaro averaged 9.89 assists, 3.22 kills and 1.89 digs during the weekend.
CAN YOU DIG IT?: Sophomore outside hitter Alycia Cox set a career-high in digs against Portland, coming up with 25 by the end of the five-set match. Her previous career high was 20 set during her freshman season. The San Antonio native also added 12 kills to make it her third double-double match of the season.
SCOUTING THE GAELS: The Gaels have won nine of their past 11 games with both losses coming to nationally ranked San Diego. Saint Mary's has two players ranked in the top 10 in league play in hitting percentage: Shannon Lowell and Gabby Jolly. Lowell leads the West Coast Conference in blocking with 1.89 per set and teammates Natalie Loos and Jolly are third and fourth with 1.28 and 1.25 blocks per set. A Saint Mary's player has been named WCC Player of the Week four times this season and Jolly was co-player of the month for September.
LAST TIME VS. USF: Saint Mary's swept USF on its Dig Pink Night on Oct. 16, 2010 by scores of 25-21, 25-21 and 25-17. Freshman setter/hitter Joan Caloiaro paced the Dons with 24 assists and a team-high 11 kills.
LAST TIME VS. USF: The Toreros took advantage of a rough hitting night by the Dons to come away with a 25-17, 25-21 and 25-18 sweep. USF hit just .092 compared to San Diego's clip of .248.
DOUBLE, DOUBLE TOIL AND TROUBLE: USF freshman Joan Caloiaro turned in her fourth consecutive double-double match against Loyola Marymount; beginning with 24 assists and 11 kills against Saint Mary's, continuing with 58 assists and 19 digs against UC Davis, with 31 assists and 20 digs at Santa Clara and 29 assists and 13 digs at Loyola Marymount. The Saratoga native is now in double-digits for double-double matches this season with 12 in addition to having put together three triple-double matches as well.
THE HOT HAND: Freshman Joan Caloiaro's 58-assist effort against UC Davis was the most assists in a match for the Dons in more than two years since Darcy Carroll's 59 assists on Oct. 13, 2007 against Pepperdine. It was a career-high for Caloiaro and just the eighth match of 50 or more assists for the Dons in the past three seasons.
ACCURATE ATTACKING: The Dons had three hitters turn in attacking percentages of .400 or higher with a fourth, Joan Caloiaro, hitting .385 against UC Davis. Freshman Caiti Wenger led the way at .467 with sophomores Erin Kilroy and Alycia Cox hitting at a clip of .455 and .452, respectively.
COX CRUSHES CAREER-HIGH: USF sophomore outside hitter Alycia Cox set a new career-high against UC Davis with 20 kills, besting her previous high by eight kills. The San Antonio native made just one attacking error in 42 attacks, hitting .452 for the night along with eight digs.
TEAM BUILDING: The Dons totaled season-highs in assists (68) and kills (68) against UC Davis besting their previous highs of 58 and 65 set against Portland in a five-set match.
HOLDING DOWN THE MIDDLE: Freshman Caiti Wenger totaled a career-high eight kills at middle blocker for the Dons against UC Davis, making just one attacking error in 15 attempts for a hitting percentage of .467.
TAKE YOUR TURN: In the Dons' 22 matches this season, six different USF players have led the team in kills and seven 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, sophomore middle blocker Hadley Simmons has led in kills and blocks and sophomore outside hitter Alycia Cox has led in digs, kills and blocks.
THE QUIET STORM HITS: Freshman Malina Terrell turned in her best two matches of the season in the Dons' trip to the Pacific Northwest. The outside hitter committed just one attacking error against Gonzaga, hitting .600 and tying her career high in kills with 13 in just three sets. Terrell then smashed a new career-high against Portland, totaling 21 kills for a weekend average of 4.25 kills per set.
RAISING THE BAR: The Dons set new season highs against Portland in kills (65), total attacks (185), assists (58) and service aces (8). It was USF's first five-set match of the season.
HABIT FORMING: Freshman setter/hitter Joan Caloiaro posted her second career triple-double against Portland, totaling 34 assists, 11 kills and 10 digs on .360 hitting. Her other triple double came against then-No. 10 California. In 18 matches this season, the Saratoga, Calif. native has collected eight double-doubles and two triple-doubles.
MOVING ON UP: With 19 kills against Pepperdine/Loyola Marymount, 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 1,422 career kills and trails Melanie Kaiser by 46 kills. USF has 3 matches remaining on its schedule.
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.
