June 7, 2006

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Nine matches against teams which joined UC Santa Barbara in last year's NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament highlight the 2006 schedule for the four-time defending Big West Conference champion Gauchos.

"We continue to play top-level competition in hopes of preparing us for the postseason," 32nd-year UCSB head coach Kathy Gregory stated. "Strength of schedule is one of the most important factors in qualifying for the NCAA Tournament, and I think this schedule will help put us in position for a postseason bid. We also want to challenge ourselves in order to make another run at the Big West title."

UCSB begins its season by traveling north for a pair of road matches, at Fresno State on Friday, Aug. 26 and at Stanford the following day. Santa Barbara and Stanford are two of only three programs in the nation that have qualified for every NCAA tourney dating back to its inception in 1981, joining Penn State with that distinction.

The Gauchos will find themselves in Northern California again the following weekend, playing two matches as part of the USF Powerade/Asics Classic. UCSB takes on San Jose State on Sept. 2 and host school San Francisco a day later. Somewhat surprisingly, it will be Santa Barbara's first-ever meeting with USF and first against SJSU since 1995.

The Gauchos' only out-of-state contests of the regular season occur Sept. 8-9 at the UNLV Invitational against the host Rebels and Xavier before wrapping up tournament play with perhaps their most challenging weekend of the 2006 campaign. At the USD Invitational from Sept. 14-16, Santa Barbara faces three NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago, including Wisconsin which reached the Elite Eight as well as Ohio, a Sweet 16 participant in 2005. UCSB opens against host San Diego - another Big Dance participant last year - on Sept. 14.

A three-match homestand commences the Gauchos' slate of 10 contests in Santa Barbara this season, beginning with a Sept. 20 clash with future Big West member UC Davis. UCSB opens league play on Sept. 23 against Central Coast rival Cal Poly, then hosts Loyola Marymount in a non-conference tilt three days later. LMU was the last team to beat the Gauchos in the Thunderdome, as UCSB currently boasts a school-record 15-match home winning streak dating back to 2004.

Big West action kicks into high gear the following weekend as UCSB travels to Long Beach State - which shared the league crown in 2005 - and UC Irvine. Santa Barbara faces each of its seven conference foes twice, once at home and again on the road, with the champion earning an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

All of the Gauchos' home matches will be played in the Thunderdome, with the exception of Nov. 10 vs. Pacific which will take place in Robertson Gym due to scheduling conflicts.

The Gauchos take a break from Big West play on Oct. 10, hosting 2005 Sweet 16 participant Pepperdine in the Thunderdome, and then face three more non-league contests in late November. UCSB concludes the regular season with a road match at UC Davis on Nov. 17 before battling defending America East Conference champ Albany and Western Michigan during the Baden Thanksgiving Classic in Long Beach, Calif., on Nov. 24. The NCAA Tournament Selection Show will be held on Nov. 26, and the Gauchos hope to hear their name called for a 26th straight year.

Santa Barbara finished last season with a 21-9 overall record (12-2 in conference) after advancing to the first round of the Big Dance and received votes in the final American Volleyball Coaches' Association national poll. The Gauchos have gone 60-8 (.882) in Big West play since its run of titles began in 2002, easily the best four-year league mark in program history. In 2006 UCSB will feature an intriguing mix of eight returning letterwinners - including three starters who each earned postseason honors a year ago - and eight newcomers, two of which were top-100 selections on PrepVolleyball.com's "Senior Aces" list for 2005.