09-05-2002, 11:37 PM
Volleyball Team Heads To Alaska
Undefeated Cougars to play in four-team Nanook Classic Tournament.
Sept. 3, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format
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NORTH TO ALASKA: The Washington State volleyball team, 3-0, travels to Fairbanks, Alaska, this weekend for the Auto Service Co. Nanook Classic Tournament hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks...WSU opens with a match against Weber State (2-1*) Friday night and plays host Alaska-Fairbanks (1-0*) Saturday afternoon and Southwest Texas State (3-1*) Saturday night...*all three of WSU's opponents play home matches Tuesday, Sept. 3...this is the first time in the history of Cougar volleyball that a team has traveled to Alaska...Alaska Time is one hour behind Pacific Time.
WSU WINS COUGAR CHALLENGE TOURNAMENT: Washington State claimed the 13th Annual Les Schwab Cougar Challenge title with wins over Nevada, Gonzaga and 23rd-ranked BYU...Cougar senior right side/left side hitter LaToya Harris was named tournament MVP after putting away 35 kills, 25 digs and seven service aces...WSU senior outside hitter Adrian Hankoff and freshman setter Brenn Larson joined BYU's Allison Larson (Sr., OH) and Lexi Brown (Fr., MB) and Nevada's Michelle More (Sr., MB) and Jill Couwenhoven (Sr., S) on the all-tournament team.
Les Schwab Cougar Challenge Tournament Results
BYU def. Gonzaga 27-30, 30-27, 30-22
WSU def. Nevada 30-22, 24-30, 30-27, 30-22
Nevada def. BYU 30-22, 31-29, 29-31, 27-30, 15-4
WSU def. Gonzaga 30-17, 30-24, 30-24
Nevada def. Gonzaga 30-21, 30-22, 30-25
WSU def. BYU 30-15, 30-23, 30-21
COUGAR SUCCESS IN EUROPE: The WSU volleyball squad took its preseason practices to Europe and returned home with an undefeated record (8- 0), a first for any collegiate team according to Bring It promotions, the organization running the tour...the Cougars' conquering of Europe included 3-0 wins over Team Lohoff (Dachau, Germany), Augsburg (Germany), and Salzberg (Austria), 3-1 and 3-0 wins over Club Vasas (Budapet, Hungary), a 3-2 win at Brno (Czech Republic), and finally 3-1 and 3-2 wins over Olymp Praha.
ABOUT THE NANOOK CLASSIC TOURNAMENT TEAMS:
WEBER STATE WILDCATS (2-1 pending 9/3 match vs. Mesa State College) - Located in Ogden, Utah...2001 record was 13-16 overall in 2001, 9-5 and tied for third in the Big Sky Conference...junior OH Stephanie Kropushek leads the team with 4.00 kills per game (.296)...Kendra Meyer (Jr., OH) leads the team in digs with 3.31 digs per game...opened season at College of Charleston tournament - suffered 3-2 loss against Boston College, defeated College of Charleston 3-2 and Tennessee Tech 3-2...coach Al Givens is 107-155 in 10 years at Weber State, 259-292 in 18 years overall...WSU leads the series 6-2.
ALASKA FAIRBANKS NANOOKS (1-0 pending 9/3 match vs. Mars Hill College) - Alaska Fairbanks is a Division II school in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference where the Nanooks finished 12-6 for second place last season...UAF returns eight letterwinners from that team...so far this season defeated Mars Hill College 3-0...Carlin Smith (Jr., M/OH) and Mallory Bergstrom (So., OH) each had eight kills in that match...head coach Phil Shoemaker has a record of 31-16 in three seasons at UAF, 273-318 in 20 years overall...WSU leads the series 2-0 with the last match played in 1980.
SOUTHWEST TEXAS STATE BOBCATS (3-1 pending 9/3 match vs. Texas A&M) - Located in San Marcos, Texas...finished 11-19 overall, 8-12 and tied for seventh in Southland Conference last year...opened 2002 season at home with wins over North Texas (3-2), Mississippi State (3-1) and the Air Force Academy (3-1) plus a loss against Southern Illinois (1-3)...senior outside hitter Tiffany Weidner contributed 5.06 kills per game (.244)...Amy Amundson (Jr., MB) has a 1.12 blocks per game average...head coach Karen Chisum has a 542-341 record in her 23 years at Southwest Texas State...WSU leads the series 2-0 with the last match played in 1992.
LIVIN' LIBERO LOCO: Last year, collegiate volleyball fans were force-fed rally scoring to 30 points and still managed to love the game...this season the newest twist to the competitive rules is the libero (LEE-bah-ro) position, played for several years in the international volleyball arena...the libero is a defensive specialist with restrictions...she wears a different colored jersey from her teammates and can be seen running into the game without the formal substitution ceremony or counting as one of the 12 subs allowed per team in a game...the libero may only play in the back row and may not serve or attack, only dig, dig, dig (pass)...she may only be replaced by the same player she replaced...WSU senior Kortney Jamtaas played the position during the spring practice tournaments and in the eight European contests the Cougars played earlier this month...Jamtaas loved the fast-paced action and is anxious to demonstrate her new position skills this season.
BEATIN' 'EM IN BOHLER GYM - ADVANTAGE COUGARS: During the last nine seasons (1991-1997, 2000-02) WSU has used Bohler Gym as its home court, the Cougars racked up a 180-77 record (.700), averaged 22 wins per season, and made nine post season appearances.
COUGAR COACHING STAFF: Head coach Cindy Fredrick is coaching her 14th season on the Palouse...her record at WSU is 248-164 (.602) while her overall collegiate record is 334-224 (.599) in 18 years...assistant coaches are her husband, Dr. Mashallah Farokhmanesh (14th year), and former Cougar standout, Jennifer Stinson Greeny (third year).
PAC-10 COACHES PRE-SEASON PREDICTIONS: Stanford (nine Pac-10 titles, five national crowns) was selected to successfully defend its league championship in 2002...the Cardinal edged USC by a mere four points but garnered seven of the coaches' first-place nods...Arizona, an NCAA national semi-finalist last year, was predicted to finish third followed by UCLA and Washington State...the bottom half of the predictions show Oregon State, Arizona State, California, Washington and Oregon...the Pac-10 coaches have correctly selected the conference champion in eight of the 13 previous polls...coaches are not allowed to vote for their own team.
NATIONAL POLLS: After being listed 31st on the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll, the Cougars have moved to the 28th spot after the first weekend of play...Stanford is ranked first for the second week...the Pac-10 Conference has five members in the poll, and four in the top 11...WSU was listed at 29th in the Volleyball Magazine Top 20 Preseason Poll.
LET'S RUN THE NUMBERS: Five seniors, one junior, two sophomores, eight freshmen...two NCAA appearances - 2000 second round, 2001 first round...coach with best winning-record at WSU...first in the Pac-10 in serving, second in digs and fourth in kills per game in 2001 season.
HOW ABOUT THOSE COUGS?
#2 Stephanie Baker (6-0, Fr., RS/S, Pasco, Wash.) - Invited walk-on.
#3 Melanie Greene (6-0, Fr., OH, Nampa, Idaho) - Will redshirt 2002 season.
#4 Brenn Larson (5-11, Fr., S, Westlake, Calif.) - Named to Cougar Challenge All-tournament team after 12.20 assists per game in three matches...summer camps and European tour helped solidify this freshman setter with very experienced senior hitters.
#5 Ance Auzina (6-1, Fr., RS/LS, Riga, Lativa) - Pronounced ON-SAW ow-ZEEN-ya - second Latvian to join Cougar team...brings valuable international experience.
#6 Kortney Jamtaas (5-7, Sr., L/DS, Orinda, Calif.) - Three year back row starter...provided some spectacular back row saves...averaged 2.84 digs per game...13 double-digit digs in 29 matches...season's 41 kills doubled her two-year career total of 19 kills...named to 2001 Pac-10 All-Academic honorable mention team.
#7 Zanda Bautre (5-9, So., OH, Riga, Latvia) - Missed Cougars European tour as she was playing in European Beach Championships...as sophomore averaged 2.43 kills per game (fifth on team) and fourth in digs at 2.73 per game...in Pac-10 matches only stats, averaging 2.94 digs per game...named to 2001 Pac-10 All-Academic honorable mention team.
#9 Megan Camp (5-4, Fr., L/DS, Spokane, Wash.) - Invited walk-on.
#10 Adrian Hankoff (5-11, Sr., OH, South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) - Named to Cougar Challenge All-tournament team...leads squad with 3.67 kills per game (.295) and 45.5 points per game...an honorable mention All-Pac-10 selection in 2001...last season's 43 aces is seventh on WSU's single season all-time standings...named to 2001 Pac-10 All-Academic honorable mention team.
#11 Alison Billingsley (5-3, So., L/DS, Walla Walla, Wash.) - Played in four matches (four games) as a freshman.
#12 Holly Harris (6-2, Sr., MH, Sandy, Utah) - Leading blocker on the Cougar team with 1.10 blocks per game...currently climbing up all WSU's career blocking categories lists - 8th in solo blocks (42), block assists (244) and total blocks (286)...holds school match record with a .909 hitting percentage (10 kills, 0 errors, 11 attacks) in 2001 match vs. Oregon...contributes 2.40 kills per game...named to 2001 Pac-10 All-Academic honorable mention team...will join Cougar women's basketball team at conclusion of volleyball season.
#13 Chelsie Schafer (5-10, Sr., RS/LS, Saskatoon, Sak., Canada) - Strong contributor to Cougar Challenge title with 3.33 kills per game...named to 2001 Pac-10 All-Academic honorable mention team.
#14 Jen Barcus (6-1, Fr., MB, Nine Mile Falls, Wash.) - Saw action in four of the Cougars first 10 games and had four blocks...highly sought-after prep volleyball and basketball player.
#16 Victoria Prince (6-0, So., MH, Kennewick, Wash.) - Earned starting position after making strides last spring in using whip-like hitting and improved blocking.
#17 LaQu
Undefeated Cougars to play in four-team Nanook Classic Tournament.
Sept. 3, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
NORTH TO ALASKA: The Washington State volleyball team, 3-0, travels to Fairbanks, Alaska, this weekend for the Auto Service Co. Nanook Classic Tournament hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks...WSU opens with a match against Weber State (2-1*) Friday night and plays host Alaska-Fairbanks (1-0*) Saturday afternoon and Southwest Texas State (3-1*) Saturday night...*all three of WSU's opponents play home matches Tuesday, Sept. 3...this is the first time in the history of Cougar volleyball that a team has traveled to Alaska...Alaska Time is one hour behind Pacific Time.
WSU WINS COUGAR CHALLENGE TOURNAMENT: Washington State claimed the 13th Annual Les Schwab Cougar Challenge title with wins over Nevada, Gonzaga and 23rd-ranked BYU...Cougar senior right side/left side hitter LaToya Harris was named tournament MVP after putting away 35 kills, 25 digs and seven service aces...WSU senior outside hitter Adrian Hankoff and freshman setter Brenn Larson joined BYU's Allison Larson (Sr., OH) and Lexi Brown (Fr., MB) and Nevada's Michelle More (Sr., MB) and Jill Couwenhoven (Sr., S) on the all-tournament team.
Les Schwab Cougar Challenge Tournament Results
BYU def. Gonzaga 27-30, 30-27, 30-22
WSU def. Nevada 30-22, 24-30, 30-27, 30-22
Nevada def. BYU 30-22, 31-29, 29-31, 27-30, 15-4
WSU def. Gonzaga 30-17, 30-24, 30-24
Nevada def. Gonzaga 30-21, 30-22, 30-25
WSU def. BYU 30-15, 30-23, 30-21
COUGAR SUCCESS IN EUROPE: The WSU volleyball squad took its preseason practices to Europe and returned home with an undefeated record (8- 0), a first for any collegiate team according to Bring It promotions, the organization running the tour...the Cougars' conquering of Europe included 3-0 wins over Team Lohoff (Dachau, Germany), Augsburg (Germany), and Salzberg (Austria), 3-1 and 3-0 wins over Club Vasas (Budapet, Hungary), a 3-2 win at Brno (Czech Republic), and finally 3-1 and 3-2 wins over Olymp Praha.
ABOUT THE NANOOK CLASSIC TOURNAMENT TEAMS:
WEBER STATE WILDCATS (2-1 pending 9/3 match vs. Mesa State College) - Located in Ogden, Utah...2001 record was 13-16 overall in 2001, 9-5 and tied for third in the Big Sky Conference...junior OH Stephanie Kropushek leads the team with 4.00 kills per game (.296)...Kendra Meyer (Jr., OH) leads the team in digs with 3.31 digs per game...opened season at College of Charleston tournament - suffered 3-2 loss against Boston College, defeated College of Charleston 3-2 and Tennessee Tech 3-2...coach Al Givens is 107-155 in 10 years at Weber State, 259-292 in 18 years overall...WSU leads the series 6-2.
ALASKA FAIRBANKS NANOOKS (1-0 pending 9/3 match vs. Mars Hill College) - Alaska Fairbanks is a Division II school in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference where the Nanooks finished 12-6 for second place last season...UAF returns eight letterwinners from that team...so far this season defeated Mars Hill College 3-0...Carlin Smith (Jr., M/OH) and Mallory Bergstrom (So., OH) each had eight kills in that match...head coach Phil Shoemaker has a record of 31-16 in three seasons at UAF, 273-318 in 20 years overall...WSU leads the series 2-0 with the last match played in 1980.
SOUTHWEST TEXAS STATE BOBCATS (3-1 pending 9/3 match vs. Texas A&M) - Located in San Marcos, Texas...finished 11-19 overall, 8-12 and tied for seventh in Southland Conference last year...opened 2002 season at home with wins over North Texas (3-2), Mississippi State (3-1) and the Air Force Academy (3-1) plus a loss against Southern Illinois (1-3)...senior outside hitter Tiffany Weidner contributed 5.06 kills per game (.244)...Amy Amundson (Jr., MB) has a 1.12 blocks per game average...head coach Karen Chisum has a 542-341 record in her 23 years at Southwest Texas State...WSU leads the series 2-0 with the last match played in 1992.
LIVIN' LIBERO LOCO: Last year, collegiate volleyball fans were force-fed rally scoring to 30 points and still managed to love the game...this season the newest twist to the competitive rules is the libero (LEE-bah-ro) position, played for several years in the international volleyball arena...the libero is a defensive specialist with restrictions...she wears a different colored jersey from her teammates and can be seen running into the game without the formal substitution ceremony or counting as one of the 12 subs allowed per team in a game...the libero may only play in the back row and may not serve or attack, only dig, dig, dig (pass)...she may only be replaced by the same player she replaced...WSU senior Kortney Jamtaas played the position during the spring practice tournaments and in the eight European contests the Cougars played earlier this month...Jamtaas loved the fast-paced action and is anxious to demonstrate her new position skills this season.
BEATIN' 'EM IN BOHLER GYM - ADVANTAGE COUGARS: During the last nine seasons (1991-1997, 2000-02) WSU has used Bohler Gym as its home court, the Cougars racked up a 180-77 record (.700), averaged 22 wins per season, and made nine post season appearances.
COUGAR COACHING STAFF: Head coach Cindy Fredrick is coaching her 14th season on the Palouse...her record at WSU is 248-164 (.602) while her overall collegiate record is 334-224 (.599) in 18 years...assistant coaches are her husband, Dr. Mashallah Farokhmanesh (14th year), and former Cougar standout, Jennifer Stinson Greeny (third year).
PAC-10 COACHES PRE-SEASON PREDICTIONS: Stanford (nine Pac-10 titles, five national crowns) was selected to successfully defend its league championship in 2002...the Cardinal edged USC by a mere four points but garnered seven of the coaches' first-place nods...Arizona, an NCAA national semi-finalist last year, was predicted to finish third followed by UCLA and Washington State...the bottom half of the predictions show Oregon State, Arizona State, California, Washington and Oregon...the Pac-10 coaches have correctly selected the conference champion in eight of the 13 previous polls...coaches are not allowed to vote for their own team.
NATIONAL POLLS: After being listed 31st on the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll, the Cougars have moved to the 28th spot after the first weekend of play...Stanford is ranked first for the second week...the Pac-10 Conference has five members in the poll, and four in the top 11...WSU was listed at 29th in the Volleyball Magazine Top 20 Preseason Poll.
LET'S RUN THE NUMBERS: Five seniors, one junior, two sophomores, eight freshmen...two NCAA appearances - 2000 second round, 2001 first round...coach with best winning-record at WSU...first in the Pac-10 in serving, second in digs and fourth in kills per game in 2001 season.
HOW ABOUT THOSE COUGS?
#2 Stephanie Baker (6-0, Fr., RS/S, Pasco, Wash.) - Invited walk-on.
#3 Melanie Greene (6-0, Fr., OH, Nampa, Idaho) - Will redshirt 2002 season.
#4 Brenn Larson (5-11, Fr., S, Westlake, Calif.) - Named to Cougar Challenge All-tournament team after 12.20 assists per game in three matches...summer camps and European tour helped solidify this freshman setter with very experienced senior hitters.
#5 Ance Auzina (6-1, Fr., RS/LS, Riga, Lativa) - Pronounced ON-SAW ow-ZEEN-ya - second Latvian to join Cougar team...brings valuable international experience.
#6 Kortney Jamtaas (5-7, Sr., L/DS, Orinda, Calif.) - Three year back row starter...provided some spectacular back row saves...averaged 2.84 digs per game...13 double-digit digs in 29 matches...season's 41 kills doubled her two-year career total of 19 kills...named to 2001 Pac-10 All-Academic honorable mention team.
#7 Zanda Bautre (5-9, So., OH, Riga, Latvia) - Missed Cougars European tour as she was playing in European Beach Championships...as sophomore averaged 2.43 kills per game (fifth on team) and fourth in digs at 2.73 per game...in Pac-10 matches only stats, averaging 2.94 digs per game...named to 2001 Pac-10 All-Academic honorable mention team.
#9 Megan Camp (5-4, Fr., L/DS, Spokane, Wash.) - Invited walk-on.
#10 Adrian Hankoff (5-11, Sr., OH, South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) - Named to Cougar Challenge All-tournament team...leads squad with 3.67 kills per game (.295) and 45.5 points per game...an honorable mention All-Pac-10 selection in 2001...last season's 43 aces is seventh on WSU's single season all-time standings...named to 2001 Pac-10 All-Academic honorable mention team.
#11 Alison Billingsley (5-3, So., L/DS, Walla Walla, Wash.) - Played in four matches (four games) as a freshman.
#12 Holly Harris (6-2, Sr., MH, Sandy, Utah) - Leading blocker on the Cougar team with 1.10 blocks per game...currently climbing up all WSU's career blocking categories lists - 8th in solo blocks (42), block assists (244) and total blocks (286)...holds school match record with a .909 hitting percentage (10 kills, 0 errors, 11 attacks) in 2001 match vs. Oregon...contributes 2.40 kills per game...named to 2001 Pac-10 All-Academic honorable mention team...will join Cougar women's basketball team at conclusion of volleyball season.
#13 Chelsie Schafer (5-10, Sr., RS/LS, Saskatoon, Sak., Canada) - Strong contributor to Cougar Challenge title with 3.33 kills per game...named to 2001 Pac-10 All-Academic honorable mention team.
#14 Jen Barcus (6-1, Fr., MB, Nine Mile Falls, Wash.) - Saw action in four of the Cougars first 10 games and had four blocks...highly sought-after prep volleyball and basketball player.
#16 Victoria Prince (6-0, So., MH, Kennewick, Wash.) - Earned starting position after making strides last spring in using whip-like hitting and improved blocking.
#17 LaQu