Nov. 30, 2001
Long Beach, Calif. - The goal of all 64 teams which qualify for the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament is to play as long as possible.
Finding itself nine points away from being swept out of the first round of the tourney, the University of San Diego showed its drive to stay alive by storming back to defeat 24th-ranked UC Santa Barbara 26-30, 26-30, 30-28, 30-27, 15-10 Friday night in The Pyramid.
The Gauchos finish their season at 17-14 after suffering their first opening-round exit from the NCAA's since a five-game loss to Minnesota in 1993. USD's improbable comeback improved its record to 22-8, and gave the Torreros a chance to pull off an even more remarkable upset Saturday night when they face off with top-ranked Long Beach State in second round action. The undefeated 49ers swept past San Diego State 30-21, 30-16, 30-24 in Friday's other contest in The Pyramid.
"I'd like to congratulate San Diego. It was a great comeback and a disappointing loss for UC Santa Barbara," Gaucho Head Coach Kathy Gregory said. "The ineffectiveness to put away game three hurt us, and in game five we made the errors. In rally scoring you need to make things go your way and we didn't. We had a lot of chances, but USD played better as a team."
Finding itself leading 21-13, Santa Barbara let game three slip away when USD went on an 12-2 run and eventually took its first lead at 27-26. Freshman Jocelyne Roy then pounded home two of her eight kills on the night to help San Diego pull to within 2-1 and stave off tournament elimination.
The Torreros continued to hold the momentum to open game four. Their largest advantage came at 27-13 before UCSB mounted a comeback similar to that of its opponents in the previous frame. The Gauchos reeled off 10 straight points on the serve of Kristin Nelson, and then staved off three match points to pull within 29-27 following many stirring rallies. At that point Torrero freshman middle blocker Kristen Hurst received a yellow card for delay of game while tying her shoe, and the ensuing serve by UCSB's Danielle Bauer went into the net to end the game.
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After its spirited near-rally, Santa Barbara built a 2-0 advantage to start the deciding fifth game. The Gauchos' last lead in the match came at 4-3, and with the score knotted at nine San Diego notched three consecutive points on Hurst's serve, including an ace. Gregory called a time out and her squad won the following point, but it would be their last of the match. Hurst, who finished with seven kills, ended UCSB's season with a put-away down the middle that Bauer was unable to dig.
The final point was not indicative of Bauer's play during the first two games, during which the junior middle blocker put on a one-woman show to help the Gauchos build their 2-0 advantage. The Santa Ana, Calif., native pounded home nine kills in game one and notched five blocks, including three assisted stuffs in a row as Santa Barbara distanced itself from USD.
Game two saw Bauer record seven more put-aways, and she finished with a season-best 25 kills to go along with 17 digs and 12 blocks for her first carer triple-double. The two-time All-Big West First Team honoree recorded double-digit kills in 27 of her 31 matches in 2001, and paced the UCSB attack for the 23rd time this season. Meanwhile Gaucho senior opposite hitter Brie Lampe ended the final contest of her collegiate career with 15 kills and a match-high .342 hitting percentage. Sophomore outside hitter Erica Menzel had 12 put-aways and 16 digs for her 12th double-double of the season.
Devon Forster, a freshman outside hitter, tallied 22 kills to lead San Diego, which lives to play at least one more day.
