UC SANTA BARBARA OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Oct. 14, 2008

• The Schedule
Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008
Match No. 17: UC Santa Barbara at Cal Poly, 7 p.m.
at Mott Gym (3,032)
Gametracker
Live Video

Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008
Match No. 18: UC Santa Barbara at UC Riverside, 7:30 p.m.
at Student Recreation Center (3,168)
Live Video

• This Week in Gaucho Volleyball
The UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team will play two more Big West Conference road matches this week as they head to Cal Poly on Thursday and UC Riverside on Saturday. The Gauchos will look to break out of their current three-way tie for fourth in the conference standings this week.

• For The Record
UCSB played just one match last week against conference rival Long Beach State. After three sets the Gauchos were ahead 2-1, but they were unable to close the door in the final two sets, falling 23-25, 25-21, 24-26, 25-19, 15-9 to the 49ers. With the loss, UCSB falls to 7-9 overall on the season and 3-2 in the Big West. The Gauchos have won four of their last six contests and their two losses in Big West play have both been in five sets.

• How The Big West Was Won
Three weeks into conference action, Pacific currently holds the top spot in the Big West standings with its 5-1 league mark. There is a two-way tie for second between Long Beach State and Cal Poly, which each have posted a 4-1 conference record. UCSB is in a three-way tie for fourth-place with UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton with 11 conference matches still to play.

• The Gregory File
The Sept. 6 win over Utah State marked the 800th career victory for Gaucho head coach Kathy Gregory. The only coach UCSB women's volleyball has ever known, Gregory has guided the program to a 805-355 (.694) record since accepting the reins of the team in 1975, making UCSB the 20th winningest Division I program. In her 33 years at the helm - the longest tenure in the history of Gaucho Athletics - "The Queen" has guided Santa Barbara to 20 or more victories 26 times, while her teams have finished the season ranked amongst the nation's top-25 on 28 occasions. She boasts five NCAA Sweet 16 appearances in the past 11 years (including three Elite Eights) as well as National Coach of the Year honors in 1993. Gregory, a member of the Volleyball Hall of Fame and currently the sixth-winningest coach in the Division I ranks, has also earned Big West Coach of the Year acclaim in four of the last six seasons. Gregory is one of only six coaches in NCAA history to surpass the 800-win career mark.

• The Lowdown On Lauren
Outside hitter Lauren McLaughlin had arguably the best performance of her senior year on Saturday at Long Beach State. She led all players during the five sets with 27 kills, tying her career-high, which she set on Aug. 25, 2007 against Fairfield. During the match, McLaughlin also tallied a season-high 20 digs for her sixth double-double performance of the year. She currently leads the Gauchos with her 3.40 kills per set average, ranking seventh among Big West players, and she also leads the team with an average of 4.32 kills per set in conference contests. With her 27 kills on Saturday, McLaughlin reached 1,258 career kills, which puts her on the Gaucho all-time career kills list, ranking in at No. 10.

• The Outsiders
McLaughlin was not the only Gaucho to turn in a season-best performance on Saturday. Fellow outside hitter Rebecca Saraceno laid down a season-high 16 kills in the narrow defeat, along with a service ace and eight digs. Saraceno is currently third on the team averaging 2.27 kills per set. Sophomore outside hitter Charlene DeHoog rounded out the double-digit kill performances against Long Beach with 12. She also chipped in a career-high tying two service aces and a season-best four block assists. DeHoog is second on the team behind McLaughlin with her 3.15 kills per set average, which ranks ninth among Big West players. She leads the outside hitters with her .232 season hitting percentage and has hit .235 across the Gauchos' five Big West matches.

• Kipp, Kipp, Hooray!
Sophomore middle blocker Kasey Kipp continues to lead UCSB with her .274 season clip, ranking sixth amongst Big West players. More impressive than her hitting is her ranking as the No. 2 blocker in the conference with her 1.14 stuffs per set average. Against Long Beach State, Kipp, as well as DeHoog and freshman middle blocker Lily Lopez, tallied four block assists. She also tallied two kills and a career-best two digs.

• Leigh-bero
Senior libero Leigh Stephenson tallied 15 digs in Saturday's match with Long Beach State. This season, she leads the team averaging 4.00 digs per set, ranking second amongst Big West players. Stephenson is the conference record-holder for digs in a single season with her 650 tallied in 2007 and currently has 236 so far this year. For her career, she has collected 1,110, which is 77 shy of making the UCSB record book's career digs top-10 list.

• Assisted Living
Sophomore setter Dana Vargas handed out a season-best 53 assists on Saturday while also tallying a season-high four kills along with nine digs and a block assist. Currently, Vargas ranks eighth in the conference with her 8.39 assists per set average.

• Smokin' Aces
The Gauchos are currently ranked second in the Big West with their 1.41 service aces per set average with two players - Dana Vargas and Rebecca Saraceno - ranking in the top-10 for aces per set. Saraceno ranks fifth with 0.30 and Vargas is seventh with 0.27. Last weekend, the Gauchos out-aced the 49ers 4-2. In addition to Charlene DeHoog's team-leading two aces, Saraceno and junior Chelsea Pavlik collected one ace apiece.

• Mustang Matters
Cal Poly is coming off of their first conference loss of the season: a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Long Beach State, which snapped the Mustangs' four-match winning streak. Overall, Cal Poly has posted a 9-7 record this season and a 4-1 Big West mark. At home, the Mustangs have posted a 6-3 record this year. Jaclyn Houston ranks second in the conference with her .368 hitting percentage and first for blocks with 1.21 per set. Kylie Atherstone leads the team and is third in the Big West with an average of 3.65 kills per set. UCSB holds a 39-20 series advantage against the Mustangs, but has lost the last four pairings including two 3-1 losses in 2007.

• Honing In On The Highlanders
UC Riverside has gone 7-13 so far this year and has posted a 2-3 record in Big West action with wins over UC Davis and Cal State Northridge. Kelly Fink leads the squad averaging 3.40 kills per set, which ranks sixth among Big West players. The Gauchos have never lost in 20 matches to the Highlanders and won the last match-up, 3-0, on Nov. 17, 2007.

• Coming Soon
Following this week's road swing, the Gauchos will return to the Thunderdome for a pair of conference contests next weekend. UCSB will host Cal State Fullerton on Friday, Oct. 24 and Cal State Northridge on Saturday, Oct. 25. Both matches are slated for a 7 p.m. first serve. For ticket information, please visit the UCSB Ticket Office online or call (805) 893-UCSB. As always, admission is free for current UCSB students.