Oct. 21, 2006
STOCKTON, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team needed just three games to defeat Big West conference opponent Pacific Saturday evening on the road in the Tiger's Alex G. Spanos Center. The Gauchos swept the Tigers, 30-24, 30-25, 30-22, with outside hitters Lauren McLaughlin and Jamie Garbisch leading the way with 11 kills apiece.
The Gaucho record is lifted to 13-8 overall and 5-3 in conference play. Pacific drops to 6-14 on the season and 3-5 in the Big West. Prior to this week, the two teams were tied for fourth in conference standings with a 3-3 record. Pacific continues to lead the overall series with the Gauchos, 44-22.
In addition to her 11 kills, Garbisch also posted eight digs on the game, a service ace and two blocks. McLaughlin also had a service ace and a .360 clip on the night. Behind McLaughlin and Garbisch was junior Brett Quirarte who had nine kills on 15 attempts with no errors for an impressive .600 hitting percentage. As a team, the Gauchos hit .351 overall.
Senior Olivia Waldowski led the team with four block assists on the night while senior libero Emily Hendrickson had a team-high 25 digs. Freshman setter Stephanie Brandt had 33 assists and a match-high four aces.
For Pacific, Alexa Anderson led the team with a double-double on the evening with 13 kills and 17 digs, both team-highs. Olivia Riley dished out 38 helpers while Julie Magud tallied 12 digs and posted two aces.
The Gauchos grabbed an early lead in game one before the Tigers chipped away to tie things up at 9-9. Several ties ensued before Pacific captured a narrow two-point advantage at 15-13. UCSB fought back and posted an 8-0 run highlighted by two Garbisch kills. The Tigers were held off for the remainder of the frame as UCSB captured the 30-24 victory. The Gauchos saw their best hitting of the night as they outhit the Tigers .405 to .256 in game one.
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Game two got off to a great start for UCSB as Brandt put away two back-to-back aces to gain the initial advantage. From that point forward, the Gauchos did not look back as they commanded the entire frame. The Tigers made a 5-0 run in the middle of the frame to come as close as 21-19, but UCSB held on and took the 30-25 win.
The third frame was a similar story as the Gauchos scored first and never relinquished the lead. UCSB outhit Pacific .351 to .136 in game three and captured the sweep with a score of 30-22 in the final frame.
The last five of the Gauchos' wins have come in three games, UCSB will look to continue this trend as they face conference opponent UC Irvine at home next Friday, October 28 in the Thunderdome. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
