WCC 2022

[Zazu]

Blossom and Patterson Take UCU WCC Volleyball Player Of The Week Honors

SAN MATEO, Calif. – Helping their squads collect back-to-back road sweeps last week, Gabby Blossom from No. 2 San Diego was named the University Credit Union WCC Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week, while Pepperdine's Riley Patterson was tabbed the UCU WCC Defensive Player of the Week.

Patterson earned defensive player of the week honors for the third time this season, while Blossom was tabbed offensive player of the week for the first time. On the year, Pepperdine now owns six total weekly honors, while San Diego boasts seven.

UCU WCC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – GABBY BLOSSOM, GR., S – SAN DIEGO
Blossom racked up 80 assists and two service aces in six sets across a pair of road sweeps of Santa Clara and San Francisco. Blossom tallied 45 assists against the Broncos, which tied her third-highest assist total in 23 matches so far this season. She added another 35 on Saturday against the Dons, also chipping in a pair of service aces. Her total of 80 assists last week was second in the WCC only to Loyola Marymount's Isabella Bareford, who had 84 across eight sets. For the season, Blossom is averaging a conference-best 11.33 assists per set, a mark that ranks eighth in the nation.

Also Nominated: Grace Chillingworth, Pepperdine; Jayde Harris, Portland; Erin Livingston, BYU; McKenna Marshall, Gonzaga; Jacquelyn Moore, LMU; Zoe Thiros, Gonzaga

UCU WCC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – RILEY PATTERSON, SR., L/DS – PEPPERDINE
Patterson helped the Waves garner a pair of road sweeps this week, impressing with 6.00 digs per set and 36 total digs in six sets en route to the wins over Saint Mary's and Pacific. She also totaled 0.83 assists, 0.33 aces and 0.33 kills per set to help the cause, finishing with five assists, two aces and 36 digs. In the first sweep at SMC, she marked 21 digs, collecting over 20 digs for the seventh time this season, and averaging 7.00 digs per set. She also finished with two aces, two assists and a kill. In the final match against Pacific, Patterson chipped in 15 digs and three assists, averaging 5.00 digs and 1.00 assist per set.

Also Nominated: Leyla Blackwell, San Diego; Charity Bradley, Portland; Heather Gneiting, BYU; Sam Hastings, LMU

2022 University Credit Union WCC Volleyball Offensive Players of the Week
August 29: Grace Frohling, San Diego
September 5: Grace Chillingworth, Pepperdine
September 12: Meg Brown, Pepperdine
September 19: Katie Lukes, San Diego
September 26: Jayde Harris, Portland
October 3: Grace Chillingworth, Pepperdine
October 10: Jayde Harris, Portland
October 17: Alexa Edwards, Pacific
October 24: Katie Lukes, San Diego
October 31: Biamba Kabengele, Pacific
November 7: Gabby Blossom, San Diego

2022 University Credit Union WCC Volleyball Defensive Players of the Week
August 29: Leyla Blackwell, San Diego
September 5: Riley Patterson, Pepperdine
September 12: Kristen Erland, Saint Mary's
September 19: Riley Patterson, Pepperdine
September 26: Haylee Stoner, San Diego
October 3: Heather Gneiting, BYU
October 10: Whitney Llarenas, BYU
October 24: Annie Benbow, San Diego
October 31: Abby Wadas, San Francisco

November 7: Riley Patterson, Pepperdine

[Zazu]

  Current Standings

School Conf CPct. Overall Pct. Streak San Diego 13-0 1.000 22-1 .957 W19 Brigham Young * 12-2 .857 18-5 .783 W4 Loyola Marymount 11-3 .786 16-7 .696 W3 Pepperdine 9-5 .643 18-7 .720 W2 San Francisco 6-8 .429 13-12 .520 L2 Pacific * 5-9 .357 13-12 .520 L2 Saint Mary's 4-9 .308 7-14 .333 L3 Santa Clara 4-10 .286 8-18 .308 L6 Portland 2-11 .154 9-15 .375 L7 Gonzaga 2-11 .154 6-18 .250 W1

 * Pacific has forfeited 11/10 match against BYU

 

 Schedule for Weeks 8-10

TEAM	RCRD	THU NOV 10	FRI NOV 11	SAT NOV 12	THU NOV 17	FRI NOV 18	SAT NOV 19	TUE NOV 22
San Diego	13-0	St. Mary's		Pacific	@ LMU		@ Pepperdine	@ BYU
BYU	11-2	Pacific *		St. Mary's	@ Pepperdine		@ LMU	San Diego
LMU	11-3		@ Pepperdine		San Diego		BYU	Gonzaga
Pepperdine	9-5		LMU		BYU		San Diego	Portland
San Francisco	6-8	@ Portland		@ Gonzaga		@ Santa Clara		Pacific
Pacific	5-8	@ BYU		@ San Diego	Portland		Gonzaga	@ San Francisco
St. Mary's	4-9	@ San Diego		@ BYU	Gonzaga		Portland	Santa Clara
Santa Clara	4-10	@ Gonzaga		@ Portland		San Francisco		@ St. Mary's
Portland	2-11	San Francisco		Santa Clara		@ Pacific	@ St. Mary's	@ Pepperdine
Gonzaga	2-11	Santa Clara		San Francisco		@ St. Mary's	@ Pacific	@ LMU

* BYU W, 3-0 due to Pacific forfeit.

[Zazu]

KSL.com article addressing the forfeit by Pacific: Pacific volleyball team refuses to play at BYU, cites unsupported Duke claim of 'racist comments' PROVO — The University of Pacific women's volleyball team has forfeited its West Coast Conference match at No. 18 BYU on Thursday because of concerns by some of its players about a claim that racial slurs were aimed at a Black player from Duke during a match in August. "The volleyball team has decided to not play the Nov. 10 game at Brigham Young University. The team expressed concerns following reports of racist and hostile comments during an Aug. 26 match. Pacific stands with our student-athletes," said Mike Klocke, Pacific's senior director of media communications, in an emailed statement. A statement from BYU Athletics said Pacific did not work with BYU to address the players' concerns. "The University of the Pacific's decision to forfeit this week's women's volleyball match is unwarranted and deeply disappointing," the BYU statement said. "Following the Aug. 26 allegation, BYU conducted an extensive review and found no evidence to corroborate this allegation. As we have stated previously, BYU will not tolerate any conduct that would make a student-athlete feel unsafe in our athletic environments. It is unfortunate that Pacific would make a decision that perpetuates the very challenge we are working to heal in our polarized society." The forfeit was first revealed on a schedule on the WCC website. The match also was removed from the team's schedule on Pacific's website on Monday. "The West Coast Conference has been notified by the University of the Pacific of the volleyball program's decision not to compete in the Nov. 10 match against Brigham Young University as part of the WCC regular season schedule," the conference said in a statement. "The conference has had regular communication with each institution since becoming aware of this intention and understands the sensitivities with both programs. The WCC continues to encourage civility and respect for everyone involved or impacted with this decision." The WCC said conference officials will not make any further comment. After BYU released the results of its investigation of the Duke match, conference officials released a statement that said they believed BYU had "conducted a transparent and thorough investigation. BYU's inability to locate perpetrator(s) does not mean the remarks were not said." The statement said BYU officials appropriately responded to the allegations during the Aug. 26 match and that "BYU has adopted appropriate measures and policies to help avoid future incidents." Pacific is the second school to refuse to play a BYU team since Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson, who is Black, said that she heard racial slurs when Duke played before a sellout crowd in the Smith Fieldhouse at BYU on Aug. 26. A BYU investigation, which included interviews of fans and extensive reviews of television and cellphone audio and video recordings, found no evidence to support Richardson's statement. Although they have supported Richardson, no other Duke players or staff have said they heard the slurs. Richardson said she heard slurs when she served in front of a student section at one end of the court near her teammates and an associate Duke athletic director. BYU temporarily removed the student section from the service area during its investigation. That section remains closed. The Tigers last played at BYU on Sept. 23, 2021. BYU won, 3-0. Pacific did not publicly report any concerns about its visit. Pacific athletic director Janet Lucas informed BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe about the team's decision on Friday. "BYU continues to provide one of the best environments in college volleyball," the BYU Athletics statement said. "The most storied programs in volleyball, both women's and men's, have competed for decades on our campus and expressed appreciation for their experience at BYU. We have hosted the NCAA Women's Tournament for the past seven years in a row. "We recognize the real challenges of racism in our society, and we reiterate our strong belief that the solution is to work together in addressing these issues and not to separate from one another. We regret that Pacific elected not to work with us in addressing their concerns."

I'm curious about how this will impact the standings. The WCC says they are not going to comment any further about it, but they have not made any statement as to how it will impact the conference standings. Is this being treated as a regular win for BYU and loss for Pacific or are they just going to disregard it?

UPDATE:  BYU, Pacific, and the WCC show the win for BYU and the loss for Pacific only in the conference record. The overall records do not include it.

[Zazu]

Week 8 Conference Matches THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2022

4:00 PM PST

Santa Clara @ Gonzaga        (8-18, 4-10)     (6-18, 2-11)

1st Match | 10/15/22, Santa Clara, CA | Santa Clara W, 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-15) STATBROADCAST stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=420815 WCC VOD wccsports.com/watch/?id=6315357170112 SCU 3 21 22 25 25 15 GON 2 25 25 23 15 7

6:00 PM PST

San Francisco @ Portland   (13-12, 6-8)     (9-15, 2-11)

1st Match | 10/15/22, San Francisco, CA | San Francisco W, 3-2 (25-21, 20-25, 27-25, 18-25, 15-12) STATBROADCAST stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/index.html?id=418776 WCC VOD wccsports.com/watch/?id=6315363774112 USF 1 21 11 27 23 POR 3 25 25 25 25

7:00 PM PST

Saint Mary's @ San Diego        (7-14, 4-9)     (22-1, 13-0)

1st Match | 10/15/22, Moraga, CA | San Diego W, 3-0 (25-22, 25-11, 25-15) SIDEARM STATS usdtoreros.com/sidearmstats/wvball;game=12713/summary WCC VOD wccsports.com/watch/?id=6315361814112 SMC 0 12 19 15 USD 3 25 25 25

[Zazu]

Gonzaga up 1-0 (25-21), 19-12 on Santa Clara. Kennedy Croft & Zoe Thiros have 7 kills each for the Zags. Alyssa Hughes has 5. Santa Clara is led by Layla Truitt with 10 kills. Sangiacomo with 6.

[Zazu]

Gonzaga heads to the locker room with a 2-0 lead on Santa Clara.

Layla Truitt leads all players with 11 kills, then Sangiacomo with 10 for Santa Clara. Interesting to see they've set Truitt 28 times, three more than Sangiacomo. I don't think that happens very often.

For Gonzaga Thiros has 9 kills now, Croft still at 7, Hughes with 6. Croft getting the most sets (28) in her second match back from injury after nearly a month. Nice to see her on the court again.

[Zazu]

Santa Clara went up 4-0 in set 3 and never relinquished the lead to win it 25-23, now down 1-2. It got tight at the end though. Leading 24-20, Gonzaga reeled off three straight points to force a Broncos TO. On the 4th match point, Truitt, playing right front got the set and the down the line kill to end it. She continues to lead all hitters with 17 kills. Sangiacomo is right behind her with 16. Thiros also has 16.

[bayarea]

Santa Clara stormed out in set four and never looked back, taking the set 25-15 to even the match at 2-2. True freshman Layla Truitt is up to 24 kills at .340 which must be a career best. Sangiacomo had a very slow start but now has 21 kills at .400.
Thiros leads the Zags with 19 kills.

Santa Clara switched out a pin hitter (Tulino for Spaar) and a MB (Poppinga for Goodman) after the first two sets, and it seemed to spark a different level of play.

[Zazu]

Santa Clara going for the reverse sweep leading 10-5 in the 5th set.

[bayarea]

Nov 10, 2022 21:17:07 GMT -5 Zazu said:

Santa Clara going for the reverse sweep leading 10-5 in the 5th set.

Nothing going right for the Zags in the fifth set...many unforced errors.  SCU now up 12-5

14-6...


15-7 win for the Broncos in the fifth.

[Zazu]

Nov 10, 2022 21:18:53 GMT -5 bayarea said:

Nov 10, 2022 21:17:07 GMT -5 Zazu said:

Santa Clara going for the reverse sweep leading 10-5 in the 5th set.

Nothing going right for the Zags in the fifth set...many unforced errors.  SCU now up 12-5

14-6...


15-7 win for the Broncos in the fifth.

This match seems like a microcosm of Gonzaga's season. Rarely able to sustain a high enough level of play to win matches.

I thought Truitt looked really good today for Santa Clara. Must be nice for Sangiacomo to have someone else carry the load.

[bayarea]

Meanwhile, Portland took the first set over San Francisco 25-21 and lead in the second set. But, as we've seen, it's not over 'til the fat lady sings....

[bayarea]

Portland is really rolling with a 25-11 second set over San Francisco, in which they hit .542 and USF hit .125. Portland leads 2-0, but if they watched Gonzaga, they won't get too cocky.

[bayarea]

USF took the third set 27-25, but Portland came from behind to take the fourth set 25-23 and the 3-1 win over San Francisco

[bayarea]

Ho hum...San Diego predictably rolling toward a sweep at Saint Mary's 25-12, 25-19, 10-4. USD hitting .320 and holding SMC to 0.023