Mandala Named WCC Co-Player of the Month

Oct. 1, 2009

(San Bruno, Calif.) - Sarah Mandala of the University of San Francisco volleyball team has been named the West Coast Conference Co-Player of the Month for September, as announced by the conference office Thursday. The junior shares the monthly honor with San Diego's Ali Troost.

Mandala posted an outstanding September, hitting double figure kills in all 10 of the Dons' matches, including four matches with 20-plus kills. The native of San Dimas recorded 26 kills twice - against San Diego State and then-No. 13 Stanford. In addition, she added 25 against Alabama and 24 against Cal State Bakersfield. All of the games, Mandala was playing as an outside hitter, a new position for her. For the first two years of her career, Mandala served as an opposite for the Dons.

During the month, Mandala posted three double-doubles and fell just a dig short of the feat on two occasions.

To close out September, Mandala recorded her 1,000th career kill. With the point, she became just the ninth player in USF history to each the milestone and just the third to do so as a junior. Mandala reached the benchmark in 265 matches, making her the fastest Dons to accomplish the feat.

Currently Mandala leads the Dons and the WCC with 237 kills, averaging 4.94 per set. The average propelled her to second place in the Division I this week. She also ranks fifth in the nation with 5.49 points per set.

The monthly honor is the first of the junior's career.

The Dons take to the court Friday, as they open WCC play hosting rival Santa Clara. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. The match will serve as the Dons' DiG PiNK game, raising awareness towards breast cancer.