Nov. 17, 2001
Santa Barbara, Calif. - It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday..... Not if yesterday held a 3-1 loss to Pacific.
The 23rd ranked UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team bounced back from yesterday's 3-1 loss to sweep Cal State Northridge 30-20, 30-19, 30-20 on Senior Night at the Thunderdome in their final Big West match of the season. Danielle Bauer lead the Gauchos with her 14th double-double of the season with 17 kills and 12 digs, while hitting .353 in the contest. UCSB finishes conference action, 16-12, 14-4 in Big West play. The Matadors finish at 15-14, 8-10.
After emotional salutes to Gaucho seniors Brooke Rundle, Brie Lampe and Missy Blackshire, UCSB settled into the match gaining a 16-16 lead on a Bauer kill. The Gauchos never looked back, holding Northridge to a -.179 hitting performance in game one. UCSB sealed the game on another Bauer kill from Rundle, who had 10 assists in game one.
UCSB came out hot in game two as well, building a 8-4 lead early on an error from Laura Walter. However, the Matadors battled back, tying the score at 10-10 on an error from Bauer. After a time-out pep talk from head coach Kathy Gregory, the Gauchos retook the lead, increasing their advantage to as many as 10 when a kill from Erica Menzel put the Gauchos ahead 26-16. Blackshire's first kill of the match game at game point giving the Gauchos game two, 30-19.
Game three was all UCSB as the Gauchos took the first three points off Menzel's serve. Despite Northridge coming within one point at 5-4, the Gauchos dominated the third game, forcing a .000 performance for the second straight game from the Matadors. One of Lampe's 10 kills gave the Gauchos their largest lead of the game at 22-11. On an error from Alexis Cormier, the Gauchos took game three 30-20 and the match.
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Four different Gauchos posted double-digit digs in the win, including Menzel, Blackshire and Kristin Nelson. Blackshire's 10 digs was a career-high for the senior. The Matadors were lead by Alexis Cormier, who registered a near double-double with nine kills and 10 digs.
The Gauchos dominated the Matadors in all aspects of the game, hitting (-.048 to .147), kills (42 to 29), blocking (16 team blocks to 10), assists (38 to 26), service aces (7 to 1), and digs (67-53).
UCSB will concluded its regular season on Friday, when they travel to Arizona for the Four Points Thanksgiving Tournament where they face off with San Diego State in a 4:00 pm match.
