Dec. 6, 2002
Santa Barbara, Calif. - The eighth-seeded UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and gave head coach Kathy Gregory her 700th career win with a 30-20, 28-30, 30-21, 30-26 victory over Fresno State on Friday night in the Thunderdome.
The Gauchos, ranked No. 7 nationally, improved to 29-2 overall with their second four-game win in 2002 over the Bulldogs, who end the year with a 23-7 mark.
Leading 18-15 in game one, UCSB reeled off eight straight points on the serve of senior Danielle Bauer which included two aces by the 2002 Big West Conference Player of the Year. The home team then captured six of the final eight points, securing game point on an FSU service error. Neither squad came out with guns blazing, as Santa Barbara hit just .156 compared to .073 by Fresno.
The Gauchos appeared headed for another triumph in the second frame, holding a 26-22 advantage which forced Bulldog head coach Lindy Vivas to call timeout. The stoppage in play inspired her troops, who promptly reeled off four straight points capped by a Java Johnson kill of an errand pass that evened the score. Bauer slammed one home to make it 27-26 following a timeout call by Gregory, but that would mark UCSB's final lead of the game. Two Gaucho hitting errors ended the set.
However three consecutive Bulldog miscues gave the home team a 14-8 advantage in game three, a lead that increased to 24-18 when junior opposite hitter Francina Edmonds found an opening with her soft tip to cap a three-point Santa Barbara run. One of Erica Menzel's team-high 19 put-aways, followed by another Bauer ace then made the scoreboard read 29-20, and Brooke Niles and Niki Carroll teamed for a big block to give UCSB its two-games-to-one-cushion.
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Fresno came out inspired to open the fourth game, leading 9-4 before the Gauchos caught up to their opponent with a five-point run. From that point, neither squad could pull ahead by more than three points until Bauer's kill following a long rally put UCSB in a familiar spot at 26-22. FSU pulled back within two at 28-26 when sophomore Megan Fenton notched one of her 16 put-aways on a tip, but the Big West Champions obviously learned from their game-two mistakes as Courtney Guerra closed out the contest with a pair of kills.
Menzel connected at an impressive .350 clip, and also dug 16 balls for her conference-leading 22nd double-double this season. Meanwhile Bauer slammed home 17 balls but hit just .161 on the evening. Those were the only two Gauchos to reach double-figures, however Guerra finished with nine kills as did Edmonds, who also blocked five balls. Niles handled the setting and recorded 52 assists, 13 digs and six blocks as part of UCSB's 14 collective stuffs.
Johnson paced a balanced Fresno State attack with her match-high 21 put-aways and nine total blocks,, while Carrie Hartt matched Fenton's 16 kills. The Bulldogs recorded more collective kills and digs than Santa Barbara, but registered just a .121 hitting percentage compared to .212 by the home team.
The Gauchos will attempt to reach the NCAA Sweet 16 for the fifth time in a six-season span as they take on California in a second-round contest Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. The Bears (20-11) upset 14th-ranked Santa Clara (24-7) by a 19-30, 30-20, 30-22, 30-20 margin in Friday's early match in the Thunderdome.
