UC SANTA BARBARA OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

UCSB, which is 0-4 at home, will look to post its first home victory this weekend.

Oct. 23, 2007

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• The Schedule
Friday, Oct. 26, 2007
Match No. 22: UC Davis at UC Santa Barbara, 7 p.m.
at The Thunderdome (6,000)

Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007
Match No. 23: Pacific at UC Santa Barbara, 7 p.m.
at The Thunderdome (6,000)

• What's Ahead
The UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team continues Big West Conference action this weekend when it hosts a pair of matches in the Thunderdome. First-year conference member UC Davis will visit on Friday, Oct. 26 before Pacific faces-off with the Gauchos the following day. Both matches are slated for a 7 p.m. first serve. This weekend's action can be followed on Gametracker, which can be found on the women's volleyball schedule page at www.ucsbgauchos.com, and as always, all Big West home matches can be viewed online at BigWest.TV.

• For The Record
Santa Barbara will look to improve its 7-14 overall record and 2-7 conference mark this weekend. Historically, UCSB has never finished a season below .500 and has never posted a Big West record below .500. In fact, the Gauchos have only finished three seasons with fewer than 20-wins. Playing at home hasn't provided UCSB with the edge they have been needing as the Gauchos have gone 0-4 at the Thunderdome. In order for the Gauchos to finish at .500 this season, they will have to win nine of their remaining 11 matches. As UCSB stands now, it is unlikely that the team will make a 27th consecutive trip to the NCCA Tournament, Santa Barbara is one of only three programs (along with Penn State and Stanford) that has participated in every tournament since its inception in 1981. The NCAA released the mid-season Division I women's volleyball Ratings Percentage Index on Oct. 12 and the Gauchos ranked 143rd. The RPI helps the NCAA selection committee determine which teams, outside of those that earn automatic berths via conference championships, will make the 64-team field.

• Gauchos Drop Pair On The Road
The Gauchos traveled South last week for a pair of Big West matches. On Friday, UCSB was swept for the second time this season by Long Beach State. The 49ers outhit UCSB, .250 to .093 on their way to the 30-14, 31-29, 30-17 win. Santa Barbara then headed to Cal State Northridge on Saturday. Like their Sept. 21 match against the Matadors, the Gauchos led 2-1 before Northridge came back to capture the 21-30, 30-16, 21-30, 30-26, 15-12 win. The pair of wins marked the first-ever series win for Northridge. UCSB has posted a 2-4 record in five game matches this season.

• Around The Conference
Last weekend, Cal Poly (8-1) defeated Long Beach State (7-2) in five games to gain sole possession of the top spot in the Big West. With seven conference matches remaining, the defending champions now control their own destiny in the quest for their second consecutive Big West title. Long Beach currently stands one match ahead of UC Irvine (6-2) and Saturday's opponent, Pacific, currently stands at 6-3 in Big West matches. Cal State Fullerton (5-4) and Northridge (5-5) sit in the middle of the pack, while UCSB (2-7), UC Riverside (1-7) and UC Davis (0-9) round out the conference standings.

• The Low-down On Lauren
Junior Lauren McLaughlin continues to lead the Gauchos with her 4.52 kills per game average, which ranks second in the Big West. The Torrance, Calif. native led the Gauchos for points during Saturday's contest at Cal State Northridge, she posted 20 kills with 18 digs and four block assists, marking her 15th double-double performance of the season. The previous night, McLaughlin struggled, like the rest of the Gauchos, against Long Beach State, hitting just .054 (9k, 7e, 37att.) and failing to deliver double-digit kills for just the second time this season. The outside hitter is just 100 kills away from 1,000 career kills. McLaughlin is ranked 10th amongst Big West players with her 3.14 digs per game. The junior, who earned the inaugural Big West Player of the Week honor of the 2007 season on Aug. 27, has been named to all-tournament teams on three occasions this year: at the SDSU Invitational, the LMU Four Points Sheraton LAX Classic, and the SCU Invitational.

• A Quick Look At Quirarte
Two-time All-Big West First Team selection Brett Quirarte continues to lead UCSB with her .323 season clip, which is also the fifth highest amongst Big West players. The Long Beach, Calif. native led the team in Friday evening's loss to the 49ers with nine kills, two block assists and two block solos. The following evening, she posted 11 kills, six digs, three solo blocks and two block assists. In the match against Cal State Northridge on Sept. 21, Quirarte surpassed 600 career kills and has now tallied 690 since joining the Gauchos in 2004. The senior also climbed her way onto the Gaucho all-time block assist list this season and after last weekend's showing, she currently ranks eighth with 256.

• Leigh-bero
Junior libero Leigh Stephenson, who currently ranks third in the Big West for digs per game, is currently averaging 5.04 scoops per game. During Friday's match at Long Beach, Stephenson led the team with 15 digs. She duplicated the previous night's effort on Saturday when she posted 15 digs against Cal State Northridge. Behind Stephenson and McLaughlin's efforts, UCSB currently ranks second in the Big West with its team average of 17.02 scoops per game. Stephenson has recorded a .944 reception percentage and has surpassed 20 digs on 11 occasions, including a career-high 30 scoops vs. Virginia on Sept. 8.

• The Saraceno Scoop
Rebecca Saraceno posted the 12th double-double of her sophomore season against Northridge on Saturday. The outside hitter had 16 kills and 10 digs in the loss. Saraceno ranks second amongst the Gauchos with 3.29 kills per game and first with 0.28 service aces per game. Five weeks ago she earned MVP honors at the SCU Invitational after helping the Gauchos to three consecutive wins, including an upset over then-ranked No. 22 Santa Clara. The same week she was also picked as the Santa Barbara News-Press Female Student-Athlete of the week.

• The Dana Dish
Freshman setter Dana Vargas is currently averaging 11.55 assists per game and ranks sixth amongst Big West setters. Additionally, she has posted a .383 clip with 0.59 kills per game and 2.04 digs per game. Last week, Vargas posted 31 assists against Long Beach, which she followed with a double-double performance at Northridge, handing out 43 assists and tallying 12 digs. She also notched three block assists in last week's action. Earlier this season, she picked up the first honor of her collegiate career with an all-tournament nod at the USD Invitational.

• The Freshman Factor
In the match against Long Beach, freshman middle blocker Stacey Schmidt posted eight kills while classmate, Kasey Kipp, had a team-leading .308 hitting percentage (7k, 3e, 13att.). Kipp also matched Vargas with a team-leading three block assists. On Saturday, Charlene DeHoog was the freshman that stepped-up, posting a team-best .233 clip (11k, 4e, 30att.).

• Gregory Confidential
Kathy Gregory is the only coach UCSB women's volleyball has ever known, guiding the program to a 791-342 (.698) record since accepting the reigns of the team in 1975. 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 can boast five NCAA Sweet 16 appearances in the past ten 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 five seasons. Gregory is currently just nine wins away from her 800th career victory and is one of only seven coaches in NCAA history to surpass the 700-win career mark.

• About The Aggies
First up for the Gauchos this week will be UC Davis, which will enter Friday's match with a 3-18 overall record and 0-9 Big West mark. The Aggies have had a rough couple of weeks, as three of their last four losses have been in five games, including a 3-2 loss to Long Beach on Oct. 13. Renee Ibekwe leads UCD with her 3.46 kills per game, while setter Carson Lowden averages 11.31 assists per game. Libero Avreeta Singh leads the team with 4.70 digs per game and 0.25 aces. The Gauchos posted their lone sweep of the season over the Aggies on Sept. 29 and own a 9-0 all-time series record against the team.

• Tiger Tales
Pacific enters this week with a 13-5 record and 6-3 Big West mark. The Tigers have won their last three matches including a pair of sweeps over Cal State Bakersfield and Fullerton last weekend. Alexa Anderson leads the team with 3.74 kills per game while setter Shannon Krug averages a conference-leading 13.42 assists per game. Libero Julie Magud is averaging 5.00 digs. During their last meeting, the Tigers swept UCSB on Sept. 28, marking their first win over the Gauchos since the 2004 season.

• Coming Soon
The Gauchos return to the road next week for a four-match road swing, which will begin with a non-conference match-up at Pepperdine on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. UCSB will resume Big West action at Cal State Fullerton on Friday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.