September 15, 1998
Friday, September 18, 1998 at Washington 7 p.m. Sunday, September 20, 1998 at Washington State Noon
The Arizona State Sun Devils (3-4, 0-0 Pac-10) try to snap a four-game losing streak as they open Pac-10 play with Washington on Friday, September 18 at 7 p.m. in Seattle, Wash. ASU will travel to Pullman, Wash. to face No. 19 Washington State on Sunday, September 20 at noon. ASU lost its Pac-10 opener to USC, 0-3, last year. The Devils last Pac-10 opening day victory came in 1996 vs. California.
ABOUT WASHINGTON
The Huskies enter this weekend's matches with a 1-3 record ... they are coached by Bill Neville (George Williams College '67) ... the Huskies enter this weekend's contest with a 1-3 overall record ... last week UW split a pair of matches, losing to Eastern Washington, 1-3, and defeating Georgia, 3-0 ... Washington leads the all-time series with ASU, 17-11 ... last year the two teams split their two meetings with ASU winning 3-2 in Tempe and the Huskies winning 3-0 in Seattle ... Kristina Laffling currently leads the team, averaging 4.46 kills and 3.00 digs per game ... ASU is 1-4 in its last five meetings with the Huskies.
ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
The Cougars are 2-3 heading into this weekend's matches ... they are coached by Cindy Fredrick (Augustana College '74) ... Jennifer Stinson and Wendy Rouse are averaging 3.94 and 3.06 kills per game respectively ... WSU lost its matches last weekend, losing to BYU, 0-3, and Long Beach State, 0-3 ... ASU leads the all-time series with the Cougars, 13-11 ... last season WSU won both contests, 3-1 (Tempe) and 3-0 (Pullman) ... ASU is 0-5 in its last five meetings with the Cougars ... the Sun Devils last win over WSU was a 3-2 win in Pullman (10/8/94).
HOMEGROWN TALENT
Head coach Patti Snyder-Park doesn't have to look far to find some of the top talent in the volleyball community. It's right in her backyard. Nine out of 14 players on the 1998 Sun Devil squad hail from the state of Arizona. Seven of the nine are from the Phoenix area. Five of the six starters call the Grand Canyon state home.
ALL-TOURNAMENT SELECTIONS
Junior setter Jolynn Faatulu and sophmore outside hitter Amanda Burbridge were named to the Wahine Volleyball Challenge all-tournament team. It was the second all-tourney honor of the season for Faatulu and first for Burbridge. Faatulu and freshman Jami Coughlin were all-tourney selections at the '98 Airport Hilton/Sun Devil Challenge earlier in September.
NOTING THE DEVILS
ASU's Amanda Burbridge is ranked third in the conference in kills per game (4.63 kpg) ... Arizona's four-game skid is its worst since a six-game skid last season (10/18-11/8) in the middle of Pac-10 play ... Jolynn Faatulu ranks third in the conference in assists per game (12.47 apg) ... the Devils last Pac-10 road victory came vs. Oregon State (11/4/97) ... freshman Jami Coughlin is ranked second in the conference in digs per game (3.57 dpg) ... Burbridge ranks eighth (2.87 dpg).
HEAD COACH SNYDER-PARK
Sun Devils head coach Patti Snyder-Park enters her 10th season with the Arizona State volleyball program. She has guided the Devils to four NCAA tournament appearances in the past six years including a semifinal match appearance at the NCAA Pacific Regional in 1995. Snyder-Park has taken ASU to post-season competition in five of her last eight seasons and has posted a winning record in six of the last seven seasons. She has a career record of 148-112 at Arizona State.
RUNNING THE SHOW
Junior Jolynn Faatulu returns to run the Sun Devil offense in 1998. The 5-9 setter from Long Beach, California ranks sixth in career assists at ASU with 1,876. She will captain the '98 squad along with junior Jamie Peck.Faatulu is currently averaing 12.47 assists and 2.77 digs per game. She is a two-time all-tourney selection in '98. Faatulu needs just 124 digs to reach 2,000 . She will become only the sixth setter in ASu history to reach 2,000.
THE HYPE ON HIBSMAN
Junior middle blocker Laura Hibsman leads the corps. of middle blockers this season. Hibsman who has been sidelined while recovering from appendicitis, returned to the court in ASU's loss to Baylor. She notched eight kills in two games played for the Devils. The 6-0 middle averaged 2.00 kills per game in 1997 as well as a team-high .264 attack percentage. She will be joined in the middle by Shawna Vanley, Michelle Mortensen and Ashley Ottman.
TALK ABOUT TOUGH
The Sun Devils will once again play some of the toughest competition in the nation with 12 matches versus teams ranked in the preseason polls, including five squads from the Pac-10.
BURBRIDGE TAKES OVER
Sophomore outside hitter Amanda Burbridge will take over on the left side for departed senior Terri Cox. Through seven matches, Burbridge, a '97 Pac-10 All-Freshman selection, is averaging 4.63 kills per game and 2.87 digs. She has notched double digits in kills in all seven matches this season. The 6-2 hitter from Scottsdale, Ariz. will be joined by freshmen Jami Coughlin, who is averaging 3.63 kills per game.
SUN DEVILS ON THE NET
Catch all the latest news on the Arizona State Volleyball team on the official Sun Devil Athletics website at http://www.thesundevils.com
INJURY UPDATE
Junior opposite hitter Jamie Peck has a groin injury and will play as pain permits.
PAC-10 ON INFO CONNECTION
Sun Devil volleyball box scores and information are available on a 24-hour basis from Info Connection fax system. For information on how to receive material from Info Connection, please contact the Pac-10 office at (925) 932-4411 or the ASU media relations office at (602) 965-6592.
1998 Sun Devil Schedule/ResultsOverall Record: 3-4 Pac-10: 0-0 DATE OPPONENT RESULT/TIME Sept. 1 Georgia Tech W, 3-1 Sept. 4 &UConn W, 3-2 Sept. 4 &George Washington W, 3-2 Sept. 5 & #20 Loyola Mary. L, 0-3 Sept. 10 vs. Baylor L, 1-3 Sept. 11 vs. Bradley L, 2-3 Sept. 12 at #13 Hawaii L, 1-3 Sept. 18 at *Washington 7 p.m. Sept. 20 at *Washington St. Noon Sept. 25 *California (TV) 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27 *Stanford 1 p.m. Oct. 2 at *Oregon (TV) 7:30 p.m. Oct. 4 at *Oregon State 1 p.m. Oct. 9 *USC 7 p.m. Oct. 11 *UCLA 11 a.m. Oct. 16 *Arizona 7:30 p.m. Oct. 23 at *Stanford 7 p.m. Oct. 25 at *California 1 p.m. Oct. 30 *Oregon State 7 p.m. Nov. 1 *Oregon 11 a.m. Nov. 6 at *UCLA 7 p.m. Nov. 8 at *USC 1 p.m. Nov. 13 at *Arizona 7 p.m. Nov. 20 *Washington St. 7 p.m. Nov. 22 *Washington 1 p.m.
&Airport Hilton/Sun Devil Challenge Wahine Volleyball Challenge (Honolulu, Hawaii.) *Pacific-10 Conference match All times local at site Home matches in bold
PAC-10 IN THE POLLS School USA Today/AVCA Volleyball (9/14/98) (9/14/98) USC 5 8 Stanford 9 10 Arizona 21 17 Washington State 24 19
ASU Volleyball Record Breakdown Pacific-10 0-0 Non-Conference 3-4 Vs. Ranked Teams 0-2 Vs. Unranked Teams 3-2 Home Matches 3-1 Away Matches 0-1 Neutral Matches 0-2 Three Games 0-1 Four Games 1-2 Five Games 2-1 September 3-4 October 0-0 November 0-0 Last 5 Matches 1-4 Current Streak L4
ASU Career Assists 1. 5,180 Regina Stahl, 1984-87 2. 2,956 Jennifer Helfrich, 1989-92 3. 2,731 Noelle Fridrich, 1986-89 4. 2,698 Tiffannie Johnson-Gates, 1990-94 5. 2,238 Tracy Heflin, 1993-96 6. 1,876 Jolynn Faatulu, 1995-present
ASU Career Block Assists 1. 378 Tina Berg, 1987-90 2. 305 Sue Nord, 1986-89 3. 296 Tammy Webb, 1983-86 4. 276 Debbie Penney, 1988-91 5. 272 Nancy Christian, 1990-93 14. 170 Laura Hibsman, 1996-present