Volleyball to wrap regular season road schedule in Bay Area

November 14, 2007

The Arizona State Sun Devils (15-12 overall, 7-7 Pac-10) will hit the road on their final road trip of the 2007 regular season as they head to the Bay Area to take on the fourth-ranked Stanford Cardinal and the sixth-ranked Cal Golden Bears. The Sun Devils will take on the Cardinal on Friday, November 16 and the Golden Bears on Saturday, November 17. Both matches are set to start at 7 p.m. PT.<separator></separator> <separator></separator>Follow The Sun Devils Live!:<separator></separator>All of ASU's fans can also follow all of ASU's home matches, and most road matches, via the free statistical GameTracker at www.thesundevils.com. Also available for fans both near and far are video broadcasts of all home matches. For more information please visit: asu.newtier.com .<separator></separator> <separator></separator>Recapping Last Weekend:<separator></separator>Against Arizona: The Sun Devils traveled to Tucson last week to complete their second series sweep in consecutive years as ASU stormed out to top the `Cats 30-28, 30-28 and 30-27. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/reaves_sarah00.html">S… Reaves</a> and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/giordano_margie00.html… Giordano</a> led the offensive attack with 16 and 15 kills apiece with Giordano posting a whopping .452 kill percentage. Reaves also pulled in 13 digs on the night and had two solo blocks to help lead the defense where <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/donahue_sydney00.html"… Donahue</a> got it done with 17 digs on the night. The Sun Devils are now 39-25 all-time against the `Cats.<separator></separator> <separator></separator>Series History vs. the #4 Stanford Cardinal:<separator></separator>The series history against the Stanford Cardinal now currently stands at 4-50 overall in favor of the Cardinal. Earlier this season the Sun Devils were swept by the Cardinal at home in Tempe. Last season, the Cardinal swept by ASU in Palo Verde 3-0 and topped them again in Tempe with another 3-0 win.<separator></separator> <separator></separator>Series History vs. the #6 California Golden Bears:<separator></separator>Against the Bears the Sun Devils have an 27-20 series history against Cal with the Sun Devils holding the upper hand. Earlier this season ASU hung tough with the then 9th-ranked Bears where they won the first game 30-27 before just falling 30-26, 30-20 and 30-26 in the next three. Though the Bears emerged with the win, <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/giordano_margie00.html… Giordano</a> still grabbed 23 kills.<separator></separator> <separator></separator>Quick Sets -- Release Highlights:<separator></separator>• Libero <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/donahue_sydney00.html"… Donahue</a> has recorded 10 or more digs in 96 of her 107 career matches, including a streak of 60 matches with 10 or more digs dating back to October 21, 2005 vs. USC.<separator></separator>• <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/donahue_sydney00.html"… Donahue</a> also currently holds the Pac-10 lead in digs and digs per game. After twelve weeks Donahue has 548 digs for a 6.16 per-game average. She currently holds the Pac-10 single-game match high total as well with 45 against Virginia on August 25th.<separator></separator>• ASU has the current Pac-10 match high for kills with their 88 against Utah Valley. They also pulled in 98 digs in the Utah Valley face-off, second in Pac-10 match-highs.<separator></separator>• Sophomore, <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/mercer_marina00.html">… Mercer</a> holds the season Pac-10 match-high for assists with her 73 against Utah Valley, she also holds second place in the category with her 72 assists against Oregon on September 27.<separator></separator>• Freshman <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/todorovich_sara00.html… Todorovich</a> has begun showing up on the radars for her defense as she is ninth in the Pac-10 standings in blocks and holds the 2007 season match-high of five solo blocks in ASU's sweep over Washington<separator></separator>State on November 1. Sophomore <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/mittelstaedt_paige00.h… Mittelstaedt</a> is also in the standings tied for second in the Pac-10 for solo blocks in a match with her four against Iowa State on September 1st. She is also tied for fifth in single-match kill total with her 26 against Utah Valley.<separator></separator>• Freshman <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/reaves_sarah00.html">S… Reaves</a> is off to a stellar start to her rookie campaign as she leads the Sun Devils in kills with 341, good for a 4.37 per-game average, fifth place in Pac-10 standings, and second in conference matches only. She is currently third in Pac-10 match highs for kills after her 28 against Oregon on September 27. Her 28 kills are not only a freshman match record, but an ASU match record, besting <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/escobar_juliana00.html… Escobar's</a> 27 against Oregon on October 18, 2002. In the Pac-10, Reaves is currently ranked fifth in kills per game, with 45 more kills than the only other Freshman on the list, Stanford's Alix Klineman.<separator></separator> <separator></separator>NCAA-tionally Known:<separator></separator>The Sun Devils are currently racing up the NCAA ranks across the country. Most notably<separator></separator>are:<separator></separator>• <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/donahue_sydney00.html"… Donahue</a> is ranked NINTH in the nation in digs per game with a 6.16 average.<separator></separator>• Setter, <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/mercer_marina00.html">… Mercer</a> is ranked 37th nationally with a 12.59 assists per game average.<separator></separator>• Freshman, <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/reaves_sarah00.html">S… Reaves</a> is ranked 74th nationally in kills per game with a 4.38 average.<separator></separator>• Freshman, <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/todorovich_sara00.html… Todorovich</a> is ranked 160th in blocks per game with a 1.14 average.<separator></separator> <separator></separator>Brains and Brawn These Girls Have It All:<separator></separator>The Sun Devil Volleyball team has proven year after year that they are some of the best on the court and also in the classroom. ASU holds the proud title of MOST Pac-10 All-Academic selections in history with 40 over every other Pac-10 school. They also have a ten-year streak of at least one honor on the Pac-10 All-Academic team. Leading the list last year were <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/meek_colette00.html">C… Meek</a> and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/mercer_marina00.html">… Mercer</a>, who both were named to the first-team and Rachel Mittlestaedt who was named to the second team. Four other Sun Devils received honorable mentions as well. This season, <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/mercer_marina00.html">… Mercer</a> has already been named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA All-District Academic Second Team.<separator></separator> <separator></separator>Digging Her Way To The Top:<separator></separator>Senior libero <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/donahue_sydney00.html"… Donahue</a> is on pace to place her name all over not only ASU and Pac-10 record books (which she already has), but the NCAA ones as well. The senior currently has the single-season ASU and Pac-10 digs record and this season has already broken the career Pac-10 digs record, while inching up the NCAA records as well. Her current total of 2,293 puts her 7th all-time in NCAA history and only fi ve digs from taking 6th place. Last season alone, Donahue had 742 digs as well as tying an all-time NCAA record of 50 digs in a match, which she did in three games against<separator></separator>LMU on August 26, 2006.<separator></separator> <separator></separator>A Tough Schedule:<separator></separator>As always, ASU is set to face a tough slate for the 2007 season. Aside from being in the all-powerful Pac-10, ASU jumped from an RPI of 152 to 30 in a successful year which found them later in the NCAA Tournament. The jump itself is one of the highest in the history of NCAA Volleyball alone. This year the Devils look to jump yet again in the RPI rankings, taking on a tougher and tougher schedule every year.<separator></separator> <separator></separator>Head Coach <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/saindon_brad00.html">B… Saindon</a>:<separator></separator>Head Coach <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/saindon_brad00.html">B… Saindon</a> is in his fifth season at the helm of the Sun Devil Volleyball program. Saindon has compiled a 43-70 record at ASU and an all-time 287-210 record in 16 seasons at the collegiate level. He coached the University of Colorado to a 181-112 record from 1986-96, leading the Buffalos to six NCAA Tournaments and two Sweet 16 appearances. He was also the head coach of the Australian Women's National Team in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Saindon graduated from ASU in 1976 with a degree in business administration. Saindon also reached another coaching milestone this season as with their 3-1 win over #16 Oregon in Eugene, he collected his 300th collegiate career win.<separator></separator>