Oct. 5, 2005

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WHAT'S ON SCHEDULE: The Saint Mary's volleyball team opens their West Coast Conference home schedule on Friday, October 7 when they face Loyola Marymount at 7:05 p.m. The Gaels will then host Pepperdine on Saturday, October 8 at 7:05 p.m. Both matches will be played at McKeon Pavilion. The Gaels opened WCC play on the road at San Francisco last week and left with a 3-1 victory, to begin conference with a 1-0 record.

WHO'S HOT: Saint Mary's junior middle blocker Christina Kirk had an outstanding overall performance last week in a 3-1 victory over San Francisco to open West Coast Conference play. Kirk recorded 11 kills with a .417 hitting percentage and had seven blocks in the middle. Kirk currently leads the WCC in blocks and ranks fifth nationally.

STIDHAM JOINS 30-30 CLUB: Saint Mary's sophomore outside hitter Missie Stidham has recorded over 30 kills and 30 digs in two different matches this season. Stidham recorded 31 kills against Utah State on September 17 and 30 digs against Virginia on September 3. Stidham is the only player in Division I to record both 30 kills and 30 digs this season.

SAINT MARY'S BLOCK PARTY: The Gaels are currently ranked second in the nation in blocks per game, averaging 3.85. Last week the Gaels ranked second in the nation and posted 15.5 blocks against San Francisco to remain in second. Nebraska currently leads the nation averaging 4.17 blocks.

KIRK FIFTH IN NATION, BARKER 14TH: Saint Mary's junior middle blocker Christina Kirk ranks fifth in the nation in blocks per game. Kirk is averaging 1.78 blocks per game and has totaled six solo and 76 assisted blocks. Kirk also leads the WCC in blocks per game. Freshman middle blocker Brittany Barker ranks 14th in the nation in blocks, averaging 1.62 blocks per game. Barker also ranks second in the WCC, behind Kirk.

SCOUTING THE LIONS: Loyola Marymount comes into the week with an 11-4 overall record and a 0-2 West Coast Conference record after dropping matches to No. 12 San Diego and No. 15 Santa Clara last week. The Lions were led by Dina DeBernardi in a 3-1 loss to Santa Clara. DeBernardi recorded 16 kills and hit .323. Emily Day added 12 kills and Michelle Look had 19 digs. Against San Diego, the Lions were led by Heather Hughes, who recorded 16 kills and Day had 13 kills and DeBernardi had 11 kills. On the season Loyola Marymount is led by Hughes, who is averaging 3.85 kills per game and Christina Reneau is averaging 3.16 kills and 3.79 digs per game. As a team the Lions lead the WCC in digs per game at 18.93. The Gaels swept the season series against Loyola Marymount last season and have won three straight matches, dating back to 2003.

SCOUTING THE WAVES: Pepperdine comes into the week with an 8-6 overall record and a 1-1 WCC mark after beating No. 12 San Diego 3-2 and losing to No. 15 Santa Clara 3-1. The Waves were led by Lecca Roberts against San Diego, as she recorded 19 kills with a .469 hitting percentage. Sophia Milo and Julie Rubenstein each added 12 kills and Katy Daly had 10 kills. In a loss to Santa Clara, Daly had 19 kills, Rubenstein had 18 kills, Roberts had 14 and Milo had 13. On the season the Waves are led by Rubenstein, who is averaging 4.22 kills per game. Roberts is averaging 3.34 kills and 1.17 blocks per game and Melissa Mehlhorn is averaging 11.68 assists per game. As a team Pepperdine is second in blocks per game in the WCC behind Saint Mary's, averaging 3.16. The Gaels swept the season series between the two schools last season.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Saint Mary's went 1-0 last week playing only one game at San Francisco in its WCC opener. The Gaels beat the Dons 3-1, by scores of 30-24, 30-20, 22-30, 30-23. Saint Mary's was led by Missie Stidham and Kaui Salzman, who each had 16 kills. Stidham added 14 digs and Salzman had six digs. Christina Kirk provided a huge spark in the middle, recording 11 kills and seven blocks and Cassandra Kolkka had 10 kills and eight digs. The Gaels hit .205 for the match, but recorded 15.5 blocks and held San Francisco to a .141 hitting percentage.

STIDHAM SETS BACK-TO-BACK CAREER HIGHS: Sophomore outside hitter Missie Stidham recorded a career-high 31 kills against Utah State on September 17 in the Gaels final match of the Stanford Invitational. Stidham broke her previous career-high of 20 kills, which she set one night earlier in a victory over No. 24 UC Santa Barbara.

KIRK IN THE MIDDLE: Junior middle blocker Christina Kirk set a career-high for total blocks in a match with 14 against Virginia on September 3 in the Texas A&M Tournament. Kirk had two solo blocks and 12 block assists in the match and she also added 10 kills. Kirk's previous career-high was 12 total blocks against San Diego on November 15, 2003 at McKeon Pavilion. Kirk also set a career-high in kills with 12 against Utah State on September 17.

SALZMAN SETS CAREER-HIGH: Senior outside hitter Kaui Salzman recorded a career-high 26 kills against Virginia on Saturday, September 3 in the Texas A&M Tournament. Salzman hit .351 in the match and also added 16 digs and eight blocks. Salzman's previous career-high in kills came in 2003, when she posted 25 kills at Pepperdine on October 4.

SAINT MARY'S RANKED IN TOP 25 FOR 15 STRAIGHT WEEKS: With their No. 21 ranking on September 19, the Saint Mary's volleyball team had been ranked in the Top 25 of the CSTV/AVCA Coaches Poll for 15 consecutive weeks, dating back to last season. The Gaels were ranked in the Top 25 for the first four weeks of this season and finished the season ranked in 11 straight polls last year. The 15 consecutive weeks is the most of any sport in Saint Mary's history.

SAINT MARY'S PICKED TO FINISH SIXTH IN WCC: Prior to being ranked No. 23 in the preseason Coaches Poll, the Gaels were picked to finish in sixth place in the WCC by the conference's coaches. Saint Mary's finished second in conference last season with a 12-2 record. San Diego and Pepperdine were picked to finish in first, Santa Clara was picked third, Loyola Marymount fourth and San Francisco fifth. The Gaels two losses during conference play last season came against San Diego.

HEAD COACH Rob Browning: Rob Browning was hired as the eighth head women's volleyball coach in the program's 27-year history on March 23, 2005. Browning was a unanimous choice among the selection committee, players and staff. Browning is an experienced coach in all levels of the game and has been working as an assistant coach for the USA Men's National Team for the past six years. Browning has helped assist the men's team in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, the 1999 and 2003 World Cups and 2002 World Championships. While working with the men's national team, Browning assisted in all aspects of coaching and administering the team. Browning produced and analyzed statistics and video on USA and opponents, helped put together scouting reports, provided data and input for practice planning and helped run drills and manage all aspects of practice. Prior to coaching the men's national team, Browning served as a volunteer assistant on the BYU men's volleyball team for three years, culminating in BYU's first NCAA National Championship in 1999. Browning was the head coach of the Holton-Arms School girl's varsity team from 1994-96 and created, directed and coached the Fairfax Juniors Boys Volleyball Club in Fairfax, VA.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR SAINT MARY'S: The Gaels hit the road for two WCC matches at Portland on Friday, October 14 and at Gonzaga on Saturday, October 15. Both matches will begin at 7:05 p.m.