Nov. 2, 1999
The Schedule Friday, November 5, 1999 (Senior Night) vs. Pacific @ The Thunderdome, 7:00 p.m. Saturday, November 6, 1999 (Roberta Gehlke Jersey Retired) vs. Long Beach State @ The Thunderdome, 7:00 p.m.
Weissenborn Named Player Of The Week
Sophomore Jutta Weissenborn was named the Big West Player of the Week after playing an instrumental role in UCSB's two victories over Cal Poly and Idaho. The 6-2 middle blocker averaged 3.73 kills, 3.17 digs and 1.00 blocks per game while hitting a sizzling .512 (23-2-41) for the week. Weissenborn was strong in the Gauchos sweep of Cal Poly on Thursday, avenging a five-game loss to the Mustangs earlier in the month. She had nine kills and seven digs against the Mustangs, commiting no errors in 19 attacks. Without All-American Roberta Gehlke in the lineup, Weissenborn stepped up in the sweep of Idaho on Saturday. The native of Duesseldorf, Germany hit .545 with match-highs 14 kills, 12 digs and five blocks against the Vandals. Weissenborn is hitting .447 (129-23-237) in conference matches, second among all players. She also leads the conference in service aces and is among the leaders in blocks.
The Poll
The Gauchos remained ranked eighth in the nation this week in the AVCA/USA Today Coaches Poll after sweeping a pair of Big West Conference matches against Cal Poly and Idaho. The Gauchos have been ranked as high as seventh in the poll this season, after starting the year ranked 11th in the nation.
Big West Standings
Western Division W L Pct. Eastern Division W L Pct. Pacific 11 1 .917 Nevada 8 4 .667 Long Beach St. 11 1 .917 Utah State 8 4 .667 UCSB 10 2 .833 Idaho 5 7 .417 Cal Poly 9 3 .750 Boise State 4 8 .333 CS Fullerton 2 10 .167 New Mexico St. 3 9 .250 UC Irvine 1 11 .083 North Texas 0 12 .000
Probable Starters Notes #5 Brooke Rundle So. S Averaging 13.64 assists per game. #6 Roberta Gehlke Sr. OH Leads Big West in kills and digs per game. #8 Michelle Christ Sr. MB Hitting .339 on the season. #10 Jutta Weissenborn So. MB Leads Big West with 0.51 aces per game. #14 Charlene Conley Sr. OH Third on team with 2.89 kills per game. #16 Brooke Niles Fr. OH Third on team with .332 hitting pct. Reserves #3 Brieanna Lampe So. OH Averaging 1.71 kills and 1.37 digs per game. #20 Desireι Rook So. DS Had a career-best 16 digs vs. Florida. #2 Bridgett Geddes Fr. S/OH Team's back-up setter can also play outside. #7 Jill Grundstrom Fr. OH Has played in 19 games this season. #11 Sara Fredrickson Fr. MB Has 12 kills in 20 games played. #12 Danielle Bauer Fr. MB Had career-high 11 kills vs. North Texas #4 Deborah Samson Fr. DS Career best 10 digs at Idaho.
The Queen's Court
UC Santa Barbara head coach Kathy Gregory became the 14th Division I women's volleyball coach in history to record 600 career victories when the Gauchos defeated the University of Illinois in this season's opener. Currently the tenth-winningest active coach in the nation, Gregory enters this weekend's play with a career record of 619-266 (.699) and is in her 24th season of coaching Division I women's volleyball, all at Santa Barbara. Gregory has guided UCSB to all 18 NCAA Tournaments, one of only four schools (the others are Pacific, Penn State and Stanford) to compete in every postseason since 1981.
Scouting The Tigers
UOP enters Friday's match with a 21-2 overall record and 11-1 Big West mark. The Tigers are tied with Long Beach for first place in the Western Division. UOP's only two losses are to UCSB (a three-game sweep by the Gauchos in Stockton last month) and a five-game thriller at Stanford two weeks ago. Senior All-American Elsa Stegemann leads the Tigers with 5.03 kills per game, and Friday's match will pit the top two players in conference against each other when she takes the floor against Roberta Gehlke and the Gauchos. Pacific leads the all-time series with UCSB 39-13, but the Gaucho have won two of the last three meetings between the schools.
Scouting The 49ers
Long Beach State enters this weekend's play with a 19-2 overall record and 11-1 Big West mark. The 49ers will play at Cal Poly Friday evening before the match-up with the Gauchos on Saturday. The 49ers defeated the Gauchos in four games in Long Beach back in September. The Beach leads the all-time series 46-24, and has won the last nine meetings with the Gauchos.
G2K
With 391 kills already this season, senior outside hitter Roberta Gehlke now has 1,966 career kills, the most in Gaucho history and second most in the history of the Big West Conference. She recently passed Teee Williams-Sanders of the University of Hawaii, and needs only 34 more kills to become only the second player in the history of the Big West to accumulate over 2,000 kills. The Huntington Beach native has tallied double-digit kill totals in 21 of her 22 matches this season.
Twenty Spot
With the two victories the Gauchos claimed last weekend, UCSB has hit the twenty-win plateau for the 11th season in a row. In the 24 years of Gaucho women's volleyball, Kathy Gregory had guided the program to at least 20 victories 22 times, and 19 times over the past 20 seasons. UCSB has won 30 or more matches in a season four times in history, most recently in 1997 when the program won 32 matches and advanced to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament.
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