June 24, 2008

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team has released its 2008 schedule and it features matches against eight opponents from the 2007 NCAA Tournament field, including matches against Final Four participants Stanford and Cal, five in-state tournaments, and eight home contests.

The Gauchos will open the season with three consecutive Bay Area tournaments, beginning with the Cal Molten Classic on Aug. 30 where they will face NCAA Sweet Sixteen participant St. John's before facing host, and 2007 Final Four participant, Cal the following day. The following weekend, UCSB will compete in the University of San Francisco Tournament. The tourney will feature host USF, Utah State, and Texas Arlington, in addition to the Gauchos.

UCSB will round out its Northern California road swing at the Stanford Invitational, which is scheduled for Sept. 11-13. The Gauchos will face-off with NCAA Tournament participants Santa Clara and New Mexico State, and national runner-up Stanford at arguably the toughest tournament on the 2008 slate.

Following the Stanford Invitational, the Gauchos will finally play their first Southern California match in a non-conference pairing with Loyola Marymount on Sept. 16. UCSB will head to Malibu that same week for a tournament at Pepperdine on Sept. 19-20. The Gauchos will face-off with NCAA Tournament participants Pepperdine and Texas State.

After their trip to Malibu, the Gauchos will finally open their Big West Conference schedule on Sept. 26 at Cal State Northridge. Santa Barbara will host its home opener the following weekend when Pacific pays a visit to the Thunderdome on Oct. 3.

The Gauchos will host a total of eight home matches this season, all of which will be conference contests. UCSB will close Big West and home action on Nov. 22 when it hosts UC Riverside.

Prior to the start of the regular season, UCSB will host an Alumni Match on Saturday, Aug. 23 at the Gauchos' Thunderdome. If you are a Gaucho alum interested in playing in the match, contact the volleyball coaching staff.

The UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team ended the 2007-08 season last November with a 14-18 overall record. The Gauchos graduated just two seniors: Brett Quirarte and Lauren Smith.