Nov. 27, 2001
SAN BRUNO, Calif. - Senior outside hitter Jami Bari was named the West Coast Conference's Player of the Week after registering her 1,000th career kill in the first game against Idaho last weekend. That milestone also makes Bari only the fifth Bronco all-time to notch 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career. She reached the defensive marker two weeks ago against Pepperdine.
Although the Broncos fell to the Vandals in three games, Bari posted her team-leading 13th double-double of the season with 14 kills and 11 digs.
Today's honor marks the second for Bari this season, as she was honored by the league September 10 after posting 50 kills-a 4.17 per-game mark-and added 42 digs-3.50 per game-to lead the 20th-ranked Santa Clara University volleyball team to the SCU Invitational title. Bari registered a double-double in each of the matches, including a career-high 20 kills and a .405 hitting percentage against Creighton on Saturday afternoon. She was a key player in the Broncos' upset over then-ranked No. 13 UC Santa Barbara later that night, contributing 12 kills and 15 digs to the win. She earned the tournament's MVP honors after adding an 18-kill, 14-dig performance against North Carolina on Sunday.
The 22nd-ranked Santa Clara University volleyball team will travel to Stanford for the first and second rounds of the 2001 NCAA Championships, marking the fourth straight postseason appearance for the Bronco program. Santa Clara will open the tournament against San Jose State on Friday, Nov. 30 at 5 p.m., while the third-seeded Cardinal (27-2) and Nevada (17-7) will play after the conclusion of the first match, around 7 p.m. On Saturday, Dec. 1, the winners of both Friday contests will face each other at 7 p.m. All three matches will take place at Stanford's Maples Pavilion.
The Broncos, 19-9 overall, earned one of 33 at-large berths after placing second in the West Coast Conference standings. Santa Clara, 2-5 all-time in the NCAA Championships, will be making the program's sixth appearance in the postseason. The Broncos advanced to the second round in 1999 and 2000. San Jose State is 24-7 on the season and earned an at-large bid after placing second in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament. The Spartans hosted SCU earlier in the season, falling to the Broncos in three games. In fact, Santa Clara has faced 13 of the 64 teams selected by the NCAA and went 6-7 in those matches, although five of those losses went to the top nine teams in the tournament.