October 6, 1998
Friday, October 9, 1998 (# 8) USC 7 p.m. Sunday, October 11, 1998 UCLA 11 a.m.
The Arizona State Sun Devils (7-6, 4-2 Pac-10) return home after a successful road trip to host eighth-ranked USC (9-3, 4-1 Pac-10) on Friday, October 9 at 7 p.m. in the Wells Fargo Arena. ASU will take on UCLA (3-8, 3-2 Pac-10) on Sunday, October 11 at 11 a.m.
ABOUT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA The Trojans enter this weekend's matches with a 9-3 record, 4-1 in conference play ... they are coached by Lisa Love (Texas Tech '78) ... last week Southern California went 2-0, defeating Pepperdine 3-0 and cross-town rival UCLA 3-1 ... USC leads the all-time series with the Sun Devils, 33-10 ... last year the Trojans beat Arizona State 3-0 in both meetings ... Jennifer Kessy currently leads the Trojans offensively with 5.30 kills per game and 3.33 digs per game defensively ... ASU is 1-4 in its last five meetings with the Trojans ... they are ranked No. 8 in the USA Today/AVCA poll and 13th by Volleyball magazine.
ABOUT UCLA The Bruins are 3-8 heading into this weekend's matches, 3-2 in conference play ... they are coached by Andy Banachowski (UCLA '68), the winningest coach in ... Kristee Porter is averaging 4.34 kills per game (fourth in the conference in kills per game) for UCLA while Elisabeth Bachman is averaging 1.34 blocks per game (ranks her fifth in the Pac-10) ... UCLA was defeated by USC 1-3 in last weekend match ...UCLA leads the all-time series against ASU, 39-5 ... last season UCLA won both meetings, winning 3-0 in Tempe and 3-0 in Los Angeles ... ASU is 1-4 in its last five meetings with the Bruins ... currently they are not ranked.
NOTING THE DEVILS ASU's Amanda Burbridge is ranked third in the conference in kills per game (5.02 kpg) ... Jolynn Faatulu ranks third in the conference in assists per game (12.98 apg) ... freshman Jami Coughlin is first in the conference in digs per game (3.83 dpg) ... Faatulu ranks ninth (3.00 dpg) ... as a team, ASU ranks second in digs (15.85 dpg) ... Coughlin is ranked 10th in the Pac-10 in service aces per game (0.27) ... ASU's sweep of the Oregon school's last weekend marked the first conference road sweep since 1995 ... Shawna Vanley's nine block assists vs. Oregon State set a career high for the middle blocker ... ASU is 2-0 in televised matches ... With 3-0 wins over Oregon and OSU, it marked the first time ASU completed a two-match conference road trip by sweeping both opponents.PAC-10 STANDINGS CONFERENCE OVERALL Pl. School W L Pct. W L Pct. 1. Stanford 6 0 1.000 10 2 .833 2. Arizona 5 1 .833 13 1 .929 3. USC 4 1 .800 9 3 .750 4. ARIZONA STATE 4 2 .667 7 6 .538 5. UCLA 3 2 .600 3 8 .273 6. Washington State 2 3 .400 5 6 .455 Washington 2 3 .400 3 6 .333 8. Oregon 1 4 .200 6 9 .400 9. Oregon State 0 5 .000 10 6 .625 10. California 0 6 .000 3 11 .214
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 2,177. She will captain the '98 squad along with junior Jamie Peck. Faatulu is currently averaging 12.98 assists and 3.00 digs per game. She is a two-time all-tourney selection in '98. Faatulu became only the sixth setter in ASU history to reach 2,000 assists . Faatulu's 74 assists vs. Washington (9/18) ranks fifth all-time at ASU for single-match assists.
WHO'S THAT GIRL? Freshman outside hitter Jami Coughlin is making some noise on the court for the ASU Sun Devils. The Arizona native is leading the squad in digs with 3.83 per game and is second in kills averaging 3.33 per game. She set a freshman school record for most digs with 25 vs. Bradley (9/11). Her 24 kills vs. George Washington (9/4) were three shy of the freshman kills record set by Valentina Vega in 1982. Coughlin leads the squad with 14 service aces.
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 13 matches, Burbridge, a '97 Pac-10 All-Freshman selection, is averaging 5.02 kills per game and 2.81 digs. She has notched double digits in kills in all 13 matches this season. Burbridge notched a career-high 34 kills vs. Washington (9/18). Her kill total was one-shy of ASU's all-time single-match kills record set by Lisa Stuck in 1982. The 6-2 leftside hitter from Scottsdale, Ariz. will be joined by freshmen Jami Coughlin, who is averaging 3.33 kills per game. She averaged 5.00 kills per game vs. the Oregon schools last weekend.
ALL-TOURNAMENT SELECTIONS Junior setter Jolynn Faatulu and sophomore 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.
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.
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