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PACIFIC ATHLETIC FOUNDATION'S
INSIDE THE LINES
YOUR INSIDE LOOK AT PACIFIC ATHLETICS
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Keeping our PAF members
informed on all things
Pacific Athletics!
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Pacific Athletic Foundation's Inside the Lines features exclusive content for our loyal PAF members. We want to keep you in the know when it comes to our student-athletes' accomplishments both on the playing field and in the classroom as well as our former student-athletes' continued success upon graduating. We will also highlight some of our outstanding PAF members and businesses who have gone above and beyond!
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Pacific Announces Class of 2024 for Athletics Hall of Fame
Three individuals and two groups of teams have been named to the Class of 2024 to be inducted into the Pacific Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday, Feb. 23 in a special reception and dinner in the Janssen-Lagorio Gymnasium on the Pacific campus.
Football standout Mark Nordquist, ‘68, women’s tennis national qualifier Tracee Lee, ’95, and water polo All-American Dragan Bakic, ’07, were named to the Hall of Fame as individuals. Also honored will be the three men’s basketball teams from 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06. All three teams earned NCAA Tournament bids and two of the teams advanced to the second round. The men’s swimming and diving teams from 1964-1968 will also be honored. In each of those years, Pacific swimmers earned multiple All-America honors and scored in the NCAA College Division championship.
In addition, Bob Thomason, ’72, and John Noce, ’53, will receive the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award of Merit, which recognizes alumni who participated in athletics at Pacific and achieved distinction in their professional lives through notable examples of integrity, dedication, idealism and team spirit that Coach Stagg personified and to which Pacific is dedicated.
Thomason served for 25 years as the Pacific men’s basketball head coach (1988-2013). He led the Tigers to five NCAA tournament appearances (1997, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2013) and was named Big West Coach of the Year five times. Thomason experienced the NCAA Tournament as both a player and a coach as he was a key player on the 1970-71 team that earned a spot in the 1971 tournament.
Noce was the head coach at the College of San Mateo (CSM) baseball program for 31 years (1962-1991), capturing 13 conference titles and finishing runner-up three times in the California community college playoffs. At the time of his retirement, he was the winningest coach in California community college baseball history.
Noce started his collegiate career at CSM before transferring to Pacific where he played on the 1951 and 1952 squads. He came to Pacific from San Mateo with his teammate, pitcher and Hall of Famer Reeve “Bud” Watkins, and the two of them formed a strong battery. He caught Watkins in junior high, high school, junior college, at Pacific and at the professional level with the Stockton Ports.
Noce was honored in 2003 with the Lefty Gomez Award from the American Baseball Coaches Association for contributing significantly to the game of baseball locally, nationally and internationally. In addition to placing more than 200 former players on Division I teams, he had 72 play professional baseball including eight major leaguers. He also had a 20-year career coaching in Italy and was an assistant coach in the Olympic Games for the Italian National Team in 1984, 1992 and 1996.
Link to story here.
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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT:
STOCKTON HALL OF FAME
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Three Tigers Inducted into Stockton Hall of Fame
Hundreds of Stocktonians gathered on November 15th in the Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium for an evening filled with old sports stories from some of the greatest athletes from the 209.
The 58th Annual Stockton Athletic Hall of Fame Induction ceremony honored seven athletes, one athletic family, and two teams who are now part of Stockton Athletic history and made an impact on Stockton through their chosen sports.
Three of the seven individuals were former Pacific Tigers including:
Joseph Abdullah
When you think of a hometown hero for the Stockton area Adullah is a name that comes to mind. From 1990-91 he was the man for St. Mary’s football as its star running back earned him All-League and All-Area recognitions. From there Abdullah stayed in the 209 as the running back for the University of the Pacific for the next few years and is known for scoring the Tigers final touchdown. In his junior and senior seasons at Pacific, he proved he had NFL talent rushing for a total of 2,409 yards. He played professionally for two years with the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos.
Walt Harris
From 1964-68 Harris played football at Pacific which led him to his calling of coaching. His coaching career had him a little bit of everywhere from his alma mater to Cal Berkley, Michigan State, Illinois, and Tennessee. He was head coach at Pacific from 1989-91 and also was at the helm of Pittsburg and Stanford. Harris made it to the NFL in 1992 as the quarterback coach for the New York Jets. His decades' worth of knowledge of the game has him considered to be one of the best football minds in the country.
Tom Jones
Before Jones was at the helm of Pacific basketball he was a star for the Tigers from 1965-69. Jones was named the team’s MVP in 1968 and then the Mr. Team Award in his final season. He would go on to coach the university basketball and tennis teams throughout his 20 years of coaching across the city of Stockton. Jones has written two books about the sports scene in the 209 and is working on a third book about Pacific football.
Credit to the Stockton Record: Article
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STEVE WERNER PROPERTIES INC. | |
Steve Werner '77 is a 4th generation Stocktonian and a proud University of the Pacific alumnus. Steve has been a loyal member of the PAF, and given to the University for over 40 consecutive years, while also volunteering his time by serving on the Eberhardt School of Business Advisory Board.
In addition, Steve supports our students through two endowed scholarships, has a naming at the Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center and has held Men's Basketball season tickets for over 40 years.
THANK YOU, Steve, for your loyalty and support of Pacific!
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Peter Alam and Justas Trainauskas
After a marvelous run to the ITA National Fall Championship, Pacific's doubles team, senior Peter Alam and junior Justas Trainauskas, battled Old Dominion in the tournament's round of 16. The Tigers had gone 9-0 through the multiple ITA tournament bouts dating back to early October, but their run came to an end this afternoon in San Diego.
In a back and forth first set with ODU's Connor Henry Van Schalkwyk and Codie Van Schalkwyk, the two teams traded set wins until it was tied 6-6. In the tie breaker, the Lions jumped out to claim the 77- 63 win over the Tigers. Ready to regroup in the second set, the Tigers came in ready, but the Lion tandem quickly took the second set 6-1.
While the run was cut short, Alam and Trainauskas did make history. They were the first doubles team to qualify for fall nationals since 2017, but they are also the first pair to advance in the tournament since it became the fall nationals standard in 2017.
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Six Tigers Earn All-WCC Selection
The Pacific volleyball team earned six WCC All-Conference honors in its 2023 season as the league announced its postseason awards Wednesday morning. Alexa Edwards, Jenna Heller and Biamba Kabengele were named to the All-WCC First Team, while Darina Kumanova and Emily Van Groningen were selected as Honorable Mentions. Zoe Morales earned All-WCC Freshman Team honors.
The 2023 team accumulated the largest total end of the year conference selections since Pacific rejoined the WCC in 2013. In the 2021 season, five Tigers earned postseason awards. The Tigers boasted an 18-10 record overall and a 10-6 record in conference games to finish tied-fourth the WCC standings in 2023.
Alexa Edwards ranked in the top-10 in the WCC all season in kills/set. The senior outside hitter ended the year with 375 total kills, averaging 3.47 kills/s. She also appeared in the top-10 in digs, recording 283 on the season, averaging 2.62 digs/s. Edwards earned a season high 21 kills against San Francisco and season high 18 digs over 2023 WCC Champion Pepperdine.
Jenna Heller ranked amongst the top-10 WCC leaders all year in assists. The junior setter ended the regular season with 899 assists, averaging 8.32 assists/s. Heller went for a career high 51 assists in the home season finale against Pepperdine. She tied two career highs this season in digs and kills with 19 digs against Fresno State and 6 kills against Saint Mary's.
Biamba Kabengele was amongst the top-five in the league all season in points and kills. Through fewer sets than her conference-counterparts, the fifth-year senior outside hitter recorded 334 kills and 394.5 points in her second year with the Tigers. She had a season high 20 kills against San Francisco and a career high five aces against Pepperdine. Kabengele recorded 35 aces on the year, which ranked her second in the conference.
Darina Kumanova was a cornerstone in the Pacific lineup all season. She recorded 192 kills and 225 digs on the year. Her 29 service aces this season puts her amongst the top-10 in the league. The senior outside hitter went for a career high 18 digs against Loyola Marymount, while garnering a season high 13 kills over Saint Mary's.
Emily Van Groningen came up big in her sophomore season. The middle blocker ranked in the WCC top-10 in hitting percentage (.295), while leading Pacific with 86.0 blocks on the year. She went for a career high 14 kills while at San Francisco and tied a career high 7 blocks against Pepperdine. She recorded 176 kills on the season.
Zoe Morales started her career at Pacific making an immediate impact. The freshman libero notched a career high 19 digs against Pepperdine in the home finale, while also going for a career high three aces over LMU. In five matches she went for double digit digs. Morales had 126 digs on the year, while tallying 15 aces.
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SYDNEY WETTERSTOM
Head Beach Volleyball Coach
Former Division I indoor and beach volleyball player and assistant coach Sydney Wetterström was named the first-ever head coach of the Pacific beach volleyball program on July 17th..
Wetterström comes to Pacific after serving as an assistant beach coach at Southern Miss during the 2023 season, where she helped guide the Golden Eagles to 18 wins, the most in program history. In her lone season with the team, she also helped lead the program to a Sun Belt Conference Beach Volleyball Championship semifinals berth after wins over Mercer, UL Monroe, and second-seeded Charleston.
Along with her coaching responsibilities, Wetterström held administrative duties, including coordinating travel arrangements, placing equipment orders, marketing home tournaments, and implementing fundraising strategies.
Before her time at Southern Miss, Wetterström served as an assistant for the indoor volleyball team at Akron during the 2022 season.
A former Division I standout in indoor and beach volleyball, Wetterström spent four seasons competing at Michigan from 2016 until 2019 before transferring to Florida State to play one season of beach volleyball in 2020.
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PAF HOSPITALITIES ANNOUNCED | |
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2023-24 Men's and Women's Basketball Hospitality Dates/Locations
Saturday, 12/16 2pm tipoff
MBB vs. UC Davis @ Alex & Jeri Vereschagin Alumni House
Thursday, 1/4 7pm tipoff
MBB vs. USF@ Alex & Jeri Vereschagin Alumni House
Thursday, 1/18 7pm tipoff
MBB vs. Santa Clara @ Valley Brew Restaurant
Saturday, 1/20 6pm tipoff
WBB vs. Pepperdine @ A.G. Spanos Center Concourse
Thursday, 1/27 7pm tipoff
MBB vs. Gonzaga @ Janssen-Lagorio Gymnasium
Tuesday, 2/6 8pm tipoff
MBB vs. SMC @ Janssen-Lagorio Gymnasium
Saturday, 2/10 7pm tipoff
MBB vs. San Diego @ Alex & Jeri Vereschagin Alumni House
Saturday, 3/2 2pm tipoff
WBB vs. Santa Clara @ Alex & Jeri Vereschagin Alumni House *
*This is a POST GAME Senior Celebration
**Pre-game hospitality events will take place two hours prior to the announced tipoff. **
As a reminder, beginning this year, access to the hospitality events will be limited to donors at the $500 level or higher. A PAF donor at this level, who is also a season ticket holder, will receive access to the hospitality equivalent to the number of season tickets they have purchased. We will have an entry list at the door, there are no hard tickets. If you are a $500 donor but not a season ticket holder, and would like to come to the hospitalities, you will receive access for 2 people per event.
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Keeping our donors, fans, and alumni educated on NCAA rules | |
The University of the Pacific is grateful for all of the ways that our donors contribute to the success of our athletic programs. As an NCAA member institution, Pacific is responsible for the actions of all individuals and entities involved in the promotion of its intercollegiate program. A violation of NCAA rules by a representative of athletics interest can result in serious sanctions to the institution and individual student-athletes and prospects.
There are two new resources available that we invite all of our members to check out:
- Compliance Guide for Boosters and Fans
- Compliance Guide for Local Businesses
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our Assistant Director of Compliance, Wendy Cornwall, at wcornwall@pacific.edu.
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