Volleyball Travels To San Diego, Moraga

Oct. 7, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

THIS WEEK: USF will take the show on the road this weekend, traveling to No. 24 San Diego and Saint Mary's as West Coast Conference play continues. The Dons will face the Toreros Thursday in San Diego at 7 p.m. before returning to the Bay Area to face the Gaels, who are receiving votes in the national polls, Saturday at 7 p.m. Saturday's game in Moraga will serve as the second DiG PiNK game the Dons have played in this season.

LOOKING AHEAD: San Francisco will return home next week, facing the Pacific Northwest WCC foes - Gonzaga and Portland. The Dons will welcome the Zags to War Memorial Gym Thursday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. before hosting the Pilots on the Hilltop Saturday, Oct. 17 at 1 p.m.

LOOKING BACK: The Dons opened West Coast Conference play Friday, hosting Santa Clara. San Francisco controlled the match from the get-go, sweeping the Broncos 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-20). Junior Sarah Mandala dominated in the contest; recording 15 kills on .444 hitting with an assist, an ace, four digs and a pair of blocks. The victory marked the third straight time the Dons have defeated the Broncos, marking a program best.

COACH DORON ON YOUTUBE: Coach Doron previews this weekend on his weekly YouTube interview. Fans can access the interview by scrolling to the bottom of the page and using the embedded player or by accessing the USF Athletics YouTube channel - YouTube.com/USFDonsAthletics

DONS TO FIGHT BREAST CANCER, HOST DIG PINK: The Dons will participate this year in the annual Dig Pink brigade, to help bring awareness to and fight breast cancer. USF will host Dig Pink night on four different occasions. Friday night against the Broncos, USF raised over $2,100 towards the international fight. USF is also helping to raise money towards breast cancer awareness; those who wish to donate can visit the link on the volleyball home page at www.USFDons.com. San Francisco will also compete in the DiG PiNK events at Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine on October 24 and 25, respectively, as well as Saturday's game at Saint Mary's.

MANDALA NAMED WCC CO-PLAYER OF THE MONTH: Sarah Mandala of the University of San Francisco volleyball team has been named the West Coast Conference Co-Player of the Month for September. 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.

DONS BEGIN TO REWRITE HISTORY OVER BRONCOS: Friday evening, USF posted a dominating 3-0 victory over visiting Santa Clara to open WCC play. The Dons' victory marked the third straight time USF has dispatched Santa Clara. Since the Broncos went 34-0 between 1990 and 2006, the Dons have won four of the past five meetings, including the last three straight.

MANDALA HITS ILLUTRIOUS MARK: Junior Sarah Mandala continues to make strides in her career and recently reached a major benchmark - 1,000 kills. Currently, Mandala has amassed 1,015 career kills. The San Dimas native recorded the milestone 1,000th kill in the final point against Cal State Bakersfield. She is now just the ninth player in USF history to accomplish the feat, reaching the mark quicker than the other eight, and became just the third Don to achieve the milestone as a junior.  

MANDALA RANKS THIRD NATIONALLY: Junior Sarah Mandala currently ranks third nationally in kills per set, averaging 4.94. Division I is currently paced by Yun Yi Zhang from Temple, who averages 5.78 kills per set, and Burgandy McCurty of Siena with 5.21. Mandala also ranks in the top-4 in points per set (5.50). Senior libero Haley Carroll and sophomore Erin Bragg are the lone other Dons ranking in the top-100 nationally, thanks to 5.0 digs per set to place Carroll 22nd and 1.1 blocks per set to place Bragg 89th.

CARROLL MAKES HISTORY, INCHES CLOSER TO 2,000: Thanks to 24 digs against Sacramento State, senior libero Haley Carroll became USF all-time digs leader. With her 15th dig of the match, Carroll blew past previous record holder Brynn Maurer (2004-07) with 24 digs against Sacramento State. With 17 regular season matches remaining in her career in the Green and Gold, Carroll has accumulated 1,820 digs.  Carroll already sits atop the San Francisco all-time ranks for digs per set with 4.80 in 379 sets played. The senior also ranks in the all-time career aces category with 136, placing her second in program history.

CARROLL, MANDALA NAMED TO WATCH LIST: Senior libero Haley Carroll and junior opposite Sarah Mandala have been named to the AVCA Division I Preseason Watch List, as announced by the AVCA. Last season Carroll earned All-West Coast Conference honorable mention accolades while Mandala was named to the All-WCC First Team.

BRAGG EYES STRONG SOPHOMORE CAMPAIGN: Middle blocker Erin Bragg has seen a strong start to her sophomore campaign, including an impressive outing during the 2009 Asics Challenge. Bragg saw time as a reserve last year as a freshman, and has transitioned into a starting role this season. In the Dons four matches of the Asics Challenge, Bragg recorded 48 kills on team-high 354 hitting. The native of Clovis also added 12 blocks, two aces and six digs. For her efforts, Bragg earned All-Tournament honors for the first time in her career. For the season, she boasts 129 kills on .315 hitting with a team-high 54 blocks.

MANDALA CONTINUES TO WORK HER WAY UP: Junior opposite Sarah Mandala continues to make waves in the USF record books. Thanks to 15 kills against Santa Clara, the San Dimas native moved into sole possession of eighth place on the all-time career kills list. Previously, ranked ninth and just passed Chiara Lawerence (1993-96), who had 1,011 career kills. Mandala opened the season ranked 17th overall with 736. She currently leads USF with 252 kills this season. Mandala also ranks fourth all-time on the kills per set list, averaging 3.79 in 268 sets played. This season, she is far surpassing her career average, with 4.94 kills per set.

WAR MEMORIAL GYM RENOVATIONS: Home matches this fall will be the first competition held in War Memorial Gym since renovations were completed this summer. The home of the Dons' men's and women's basketball and volleyball program celebrated its 50th anniversary during last season. The floor replacement this summer was the first floor replacement done since the arena opened in 1958-59. In addition to the new floor and design, new NCAA and conference championship banners were hung to celebrate the legacy and tradition of USF.

DORON RETURNS TO THE HILLTOP FOR HIS THIRD SEASON: Gilad Doron enters his third season at the University of San Francisco looking to build on a solid debut in 2007 and continue the success of a record breaking 2008 season. Doron was introduced as the ninth head coach in program history on March 14, 2007. It is the second Division I head coaching assignment for Doron who spent three years (2004-06) as the head coach at Villanova, guiding the Wildcats to back-to-back winning seasons in the Big East. During his tenure on the Hilltop, Doron has posted a 46-28 (.622) overall record, including 18 WCC victories. His league win mark is the third highest total in the USF coaching ranks, just four wins shy of the record of 22 held by Laurie Corbelli (1986-89).

DONS FACE TOUGH SLATE IN 2009: USF will face a challenging schedule in 2009, playing nine teams in 13 matches that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2008. Included in the nine teams is a match against National Champion runner-up and Bay Area foe, Stanford. The WCC slate also poses to be a challenge for the Dons, as last season the league advanced five teams to the NCAA Tournament. Over the past six seasons, the league has emerged as one of the premier volleyball conferences in the country. In the past five seasons, the WCC has owned a national top-five ranking in the RPI on three occasions. Last season, the WCC had five schools with RPI's under 50, trailing only the Pac-10 (7) and the Big Ten (7).

2008 REVIEW: The Dons open 2009 off the heels of a record breaking 2008 season, which included advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history. USF also posted a record-setting 11-3 finish in the West Coast Conference, earning it a program-high second place conference finish. For their accomplishments, five Dons - Carly Babin, Alix Gombos, Sarah Mandala, Haley Carroll and Darcy Carroll - earned All-West Coast Conference accolades.

WONG JOINS USF COACHING STAFF: Scott Wong joins the USF volleyball coaching staff as the associate head coach this season. A current USA men's volleyball assistant coach and former National Team member, Wong has spent the past two seasons with the third-ranked Pepperdine men's volleyball team as an assistant coach. Wong joins the Dons as a replacement for former associate head coach Dan Fisher, who has left the Hilltop for the associate head coach position with the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball program.