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BSU volleyball headed to WAC tournament
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Boise State volleyball makes their first ever appearance in the Western Athletic Conference championship tournament tomorrow in Reno, Nev.
The 2004 season marks the first double-digit season for the Broncos since 1998.
This season also marks first time wins over Southern Methodist, Tulsa and Fresno State universities. Another first for the Broncos was taking a game from nationally ranked Hawaii in their Oct. 29 meeting in Bronco Gym.
Continuing with the historical firsts, sophomore middle blocker Cameron Flunder was the first BSU volleyball player to be named WAC athlete of the week for Sept.6.
Senior middle blocker Heather Malaschak has been ranked in the top-25 in the nation in blocking for since Oct. 5 and is now ranked 14th.
According to BSU head coach Scott Sandel, the Broncos practiced hard Tuesday and Wednesday focusing on the third part of the season, not the last two losses to Nevada and Fresno State. ?We are going to go out and play with ambition,? said Sandel.
The Broncos (17-11, 6-7 WAC) are the fourth seed in the tournament and will face the fifth seeded Fresno State (14-12, 6-7 WAC) in the semifinals.
The Bulldogs held the Broncos to one game in the final season meeting between the two last Saturdays. Both teams battled with errors. The Broncos won the blocking battle by a half a block but lost the attack battle.
The first seed is defending champion Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (23-0, 13-0 WAC). The Wahine closed out their season with a five game win over the Nevada Wolfpack.
Hawaii will play the eighth seed Southern Methodist University (13-12, 5-8 WAC) in the semifinals.
The second seed Rice University (24-3, 12-1 WAC) will take on seventh seed Tulsa University (16-9, 5-8 WAC) in the first round.
The Wolfpack secured the third seed with their sweep over the Broncos. Nevada (18-7, 10-3 WAC) will take on sixth seed San Jose State University (14-12, 5-8 WAC) in the first round of tournament action.
Nevada has an advantage on all the teams, a wild home crowd. Turnout for the tournament is expected to exceed those numbers, especially if the Wolfpack do well.
The semi-finals will kick off at noon Pacific Standard Time tomorrow in Virginia Street Gym. Hawaii vs. SMU will open the tournament followed by Boise vs. Fresno at 2 p.m. The evening will start with Nevada versus San Jose at 5:30 and end with Rice versus Tulsa at 7:30 p.m.
The quarterfinals will start Saturday at 2 p.m. with a match between the winners of matches one and two of the semifinals. Match six will begin at 4 p.m. between the winners of matches three and four of the semifinals. The championship match will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday.
The Broncos have the potential to make a strong showing this weekend. When they are on their game it is hard to break their momentum. Malaschak believes in the potential of the team. ?We are not the underdogs, but we have the potential to blow out our opponents, when we put our minds to it,? said Malaschak.
The WAC announced its All-Conference teams. Cameron Flunder was named to the first-team, and Heather Malaschak was named to the second-team. This marks the second season in a row that Flunder has been named to an All-Conference team.
Last season she was a member of the second-team. This also marks the first time in the WAC that the Broncos have had two players named to the conference teams.
Amber Fuger
Sports Writer
