CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, POMONA

Bronco Sports News

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2003

Contact: Paul Helms

(909) 869-2812

 

 

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

MEDIA NOTES

 

2003 CPP Record: 13-6. 2003 CCAA Record: 8-3

 

Broncos Begin Second Half Of CCAA Play On The Road: Cal Poly Pomona’s women’s volleyball team, which finished its first round of California Collegiate Athletic Association play with an 8-3 record, will start the second round on the road this weekend. The Broncos will be at UC Davis on Friday at 7 p.m. and Chico State on Saturday at 7 p.m. Cal Poly Pomona, which received votes in the AVCA Top 25 for the first time this season, is one-half game ahead of Cal State Bakersfield and Cal State L.A. and two games behind co-leaders UC San Diego and Cal State San Bernardino. The Broncos will play seven of their remaining 11 contests on the road. In their first 11 conference games, the Broncos are 6-1 in Darlene May Gym and 2-2 on the road. The Broncos are hoping to build upon a successful 2002 season that saw them compile a 20-11 record and achieve a 20-win season for the first time since 1997. Cal Poly Pomona is trying to win 20 games in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1992 and 1993.

 

About Last Week: The Broncos defeated Cal State L.A. and Cal State Dominguez Hills in Darlene May Gym to run their CCAA record to 8-3. The win over Cal State L.A., which entered the match with only one conference loss, was especially significant. The Broncos started strongly and defeated the Golden Eagles, 30-21, 30-23, 24-30, 30-27. Cal Poly Pomona overpowered Cal State L.A. in the first two games and then came on strong late in the fourth game to end the match. Kellie Francis (So., Chino, Don Lugo HS) led a balanced Cal Poly Pomona attack with 14 kills and three blocks, while Lindsay Fischer (Sr., Alta Loma, Alta Loma HS) had 13 kills, 12 digs and three blocks, Allison Anderson (So., Chino Hills, Ayala HS) had 13 kills and four blocks. Kimberly Van Beek (Sr., Artesia, Whitney HS) had 10 kills, three aces and two blocks. Elizabeth Defoort (So., Glendora, Citrus College) had six kills and one block. Breezie Jordan (So., Ventura, Buena HS) had a team-high 14 digs and Emily Kennedy (So., Upland, Upland HS) had 49 assists and four digs. The Broncos then swept past Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday, 30-19, 30-27, 30-26. Francis led the Broncos again with 12 kills and Fischer had nine kills, 11 digs and two blocks. Emma Kariotis (Fr., Long Beach, Long Beach HS) had six kills and one block in her first start for the Broncos. Kennedy had 42 assists, four kills and seven digs.

 

Scouting The Opposition: The Broncos are 18-3 all-time against UC Davis, including a 27-30, 30-22, 30-25, 30-15 win in Darlene May Gym on Sept. 13. Kimberly Van Beek (Sr., Artesia, Whitney HS) led the Broncos with a career-high 24 kills, while Lindsay Fischer (Sr., Alta Loma, Alta Loma HS) had 12 kills and 13 digs. Kelly Gaudino had 22 kills to lead the Aggies. Cal Poly Pomona has won five consecutive matches against UC Davis. Cal Poly Pomona is 13-6 all-time against Chico State, including a 24-30, 30-26, 30-25, 30-25 win in Darlene May Gym on Sept. 12. Van Beek led the Broncos with 17 kills. Stacey Clifton had 17 kills to lead the Wildcats.

 

Rankings: Cal Poly Pomona received votes for the first time this season in the most recent national rankings released by the AVCA on Tuesday. UC San Diego is still the No. 1 team in the country, while Cal State San Bernardino is still third. Five of the top 13 teams in the country are from the Pacific Region – in addition to UC San Diego and Cal State San Bernardino, Western Washington is fourth, Hawaii Pacific is 11th and BYU-Hawaii is 13th. Cal State L.A. and Cal Poly Pomona both received votes, but were not included in the Top 25.

 

How About That Schedule: Cal Poly Pomona is once again facing a very challenging schedule in 2003. When the Broncos defeated Cal State San Bernardino on Oct. 1, it marked the second time in five days that Cal Poly Pomona hosted the No. 1 team in the country. UC San Diego was also ranked No. 1 on Sept. 26 when the Tritons knocked off the Broncos in four games. The Broncos faced three teams – Chaminade (HI), Findlay (Ohio) and Florida Southern – in the Cal Poly Pomona Invitational that received votes in the AVCA preseason National Top 25. Four CCAA programs are currently either in the Top 25 or receiving votes. UC San Diego (1) and Cal State San Bernardino (3) remain in the top five, while Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State L.A. received votes. The Broncos will face each CCAA squad twice this season.

 

On The Bench: Rosie Wegrich, who holds the Cal Poly Pomona standard for most wins by a head coach, is in her 12th year with the program. Wegrich has compiled a 543-402-10 record in 28 years as a head coach and is one of the most successful Division II coaches in the nation. Before coming to Cal Poly Pomona, Wegrich coached at Division I programs at Minnesota and Arizona. She has a 214-143 mark (.599) at Cal Poly Pomona and picked up her 200th win as Bronco head coach last season in a thrilling five-game victory over Cal State L.A. on Nov. 15, 2002. Wegrich also picked up her 500th career win when the Broncos posted a four-game win over Grand Canyon in the final match of the 2000 season.

 

Look Who’s Back: The Broncos return four starters and 10 players overall from their 2002 squad, including first-team All-CCAA outside hitter Lindsay Fischer (Sr., Alta Loma, Alta Loma HS) and second-team All-CCAA middle blocker Kimberly Van Beek (Sr., Artesia, Whitney HS). Fischer led the Broncos with 450 kills and 368 digs last season and is one of the top outside hitters in the region again this season. Fischer earned honorable mention All-Pacific Region recognition last season. The 450 kills were the sixth-highest single-season total in Cal Poly Pomona history. Van Beek was third on the team in kills with 277, second in blocks with 95 and led the team in service aces with 44 despite missing the final five matches of the season with a broken finger suffered in practice. Emily Kennedy (Fr., Upland, Upland HS) is back for her second year after a sensational freshman season. She recorded 1,251 assists last season, which is seventh on Cal Poly Pomona’s all-time single-season list. Allison Anderson (So., Chino Hills, Ayala HS) returns for her second season and has been outstanding so far for the Broncos. She appeared in all 31 matches last year and was fifth on the team in kills with 203 and third in blocks with 91. Two other players who missed either all or most of the 2002 season, Elizabeth Defoort (So., Glendora, Citrus College) and Kellie Francis (So., Chino, Don Lugo HS) are also back for the Broncos. Defoort suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Broncos’ second match of the season, while Francis was a redshirt in 2002 and did not play at all.

 

Look Who’s New: Cal Poly Pomona welcomes a strong recruiting class that is expected to make major contributions this season for the Broncos. Four freshmen – Lindsay Aarestad (Fr., Escondido, San Pasqual HS), Emmanuella Kariotis (Fr., Long Beach, Long Beach Poly HS), Casey Riedel (Fr., Saugus, Saugus HS) and Mallory Manzo (Fr., Fontana, Etiwanda HS) – have joined the squad, while a pair of juniors – Christina Gordon (Jr., Moreno Valley, Riverside CC) and Megan Meenan (Jr., Hermosa Beach, El Camino College) – are also new to the program. Riedel is sixth on the team in kills with 82, while Meenan is sixth in service aces. Kariotis got her first start for Cal Poly Pomona in the Oct. 10 match against Cal State Dominguez Hills.

 

An Impressive Second Season: Allison Anderson (So., Chino Hills, Ayala HS) has been one of the Broncos’ top offensive threats in 2003. Anderson opened the season with a strong showing in the Cal Poly Pomona Invitational. Anderson recorded 58 kills and 14 blocks in the Broncos’ first four matches and was named the tournament Co-Most Valuable Player. Anderson followed that up with 71 kills and 23 blocks in the Western Oregon Tournament. She set a new career high when she recorded 27 kills in a five-game loss to Northwest Nazarene. She also had a career high in block assists in the tourney, posting 11 in a four-game loss to Western Oregon. Anderson had 19 kills in the Broncos’ five-game win over Cal State San Bernardino on Oct. 1. Anderson’s single-match high in 2002 was 12 kills. She has reached double figures in kills in 16 of the Broncos’ first 19 matches after hitting double figures in four matches all last season.

 

Leading With Lindsay: Lindsay Fischer (Sr., Alta Loma, Alta Loma HS), who is coming off one of the best seasons in the program’s history, is a top candidate for All-Pacific Region honors again this year. In 2002, Fischer became the first Cal Poly Pomona player since 1998 to earn All-Pacific Region recognition. She received honorable mention. Fischer recorded 450 kills and 368 digs last season and led the team in both categories. Even more important for the Broncos: she stayed healthy. In 2001, Fischer suffered a season-ending injury in the fourth match of the year and the Broncos struggled to a 10-20 mark. With Fischer back in 2002, the Broncos went 20-11. With 186 kills so far this season, Fischer has moved into third place on Cal Poly Pomona’s career kill list with a total of 1,145. Cathy Bell is the all-time leader with 1,556 and Ellen Migasi is second with 1,336.

 

A Hit On And Off The Court: One of Cal Poly Pomona’s top players, Kimberly Van Beek (Sr., Artesia, Whitney HS), is also one of the Broncos’ top students. Van Beek earned second-team All-CCAA honors last season despite missing the final five matches with a broken finger. She led the team in service aces with 44 and was third in kills (277) and second in blocks (95). Van Beek has started strongly this season, recording 208 kills and 47 blocks in the Broncos’ first 19 matches. She is second on the team in both categories. She recorded a career-high 24 kills in the Broncos’ four-game win over UC Davis on Sept. 13 and had 41 kills in Cal Poly Pomona’s wins over Chico State and the Aggies. She had a team-high 18 kills in the Broncos’ five-game loss at Cal State Bakersfield on Sept. 19. Van Beek excels in the classroom as well. The psychology major earned Verizon Academic All-America District VIII honors last season and carries a sparkling 3.8 grade point average. She is a member of the university’s President’s Honor List and the Dean’s List.

 

Thanks For The Assist: Emily Kennedy (So., Upland, Upland HS) is picking up where she left off last season when she put together one of the best freshman seasons in Cal Poly Pomona history. Kennedy, who recorded 1,251 assists last season, has 893 in the Broncos’ 19 matches this season. She set a new career high with 70 assists against Northwest Nazarene in the Western Oregon Tournament. Kennedy had 210 assists in the four matches in Oregon. She also has 26 block assists this season, which is sixth on the team and she leads the squad with 29 service aces.

 

The Leaders Of The Stats: Allison Anderson (So., Chino Hills, Ayala HS) leads the Broncos in kills with 273, while Kimberly Van Beek (Sr., Artesia, Whitney HS) is second with 208 and Lindsay Fischer (Sr., Alta Loma, Alta Loma HS) is third with 186. Anderson also leads in blocks with 79, while Van Beek has 47 and Fischer has 37. Emily Kennedy (So., Upland, Upland HS) leads the team with 893 assists and 29 service aces.  Anderson has 21 aces, while Van Beek has 19 aces. Breezie Jordan (So., Ventura, Buena HS) leads the Broncos in digs with 185, while Fischer has 183.

 

CAL POLY POMONA

Women’s Volleyball

 

CPP Schedule & Results

 

8/29     vs. Florida Southern!                            W 3-1

8/29     vs. Chaminade!                                     L 2-3

8/30     vs. Findlay!                                           W 3-0

8/30     vs. Alaska Fairbanks!                           W 3-0

9/5       vs. Central Washington^                       W 3-0

9/5       vs. St. Martin’s^                                   W 3-0

9/6       vs. Northwest Nazarene^                     L 2-3

9/6       at Western Oregon^                             L 1-3

9/12     vs. Chico State*                                   W 3-1

9/13     vs. UC Davis*                                      W 3-1

9/19     at CS Bakersfield*                               L 1-3

9/20     at CS Stanislaus*                                  W 3-0

9/26     vs. UC San Diego*                               L 1-3

9/27     vs. Grand Canyon*                               W 3-1

10/1     vs. CS San Bernardino*                       W 3-2

10/3     at Sonoma State*                                 L 2-3

10/4     at San Francisco State*                        W 3-0

10/9     vs. Cal State L.A.*                               W 3-1

10/10   vs. CS Dominguez Hills*                       W 3-0

10/17   at UC Davis*                                       7 p.m.

10/18   at Chico State*                                     7 p.m.

10/24   vs. CS Stanislaus*                                7 p.m.

10/25   vs. CS Bakersfield*                              7 p.m.

10/30   at UC San Diego*                                7 p.m.

10/31   at Grand Canyon*                                7 p.m.

11/5     at CS San Bernardino*             7 p.m.

11/7     vs. San Francisco State*                       7 p.m.

11/8     vs. Sonoma State*                                7 p.m.

11/14   at Cal State L.A.*                                7 p.m.

11/15   at CS Dominguez Hills*                        7 p.m.

*Denotes CCAA Game

!= Cal Poly Pomona Invitational

^= Western Oregon Tournament