Nov. 8, 2006

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On The Schedule
Friday, Nov. 10 -
Match No. 26: UC Santa Barbara vs. Pacific, 7 p.m.
at UCSB's Rob Gym

Saturday, Nov. 11 -
Match No. 27: UC Santa Barbara vs. Cal State Northridge, 7 p.m.
at UCSB's Thunderdome

This Week
The UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team will host its final two home matches of the season this weekend when Big West opponent Pacific comes to town on Friday, Nov. 4 and Cal State Northridge visits on Saturday. Friday's match will be played in Robertson Gymnasium due to a conflicting men's basketball game in the Thunderdome. Saturday the Gauchos will return to the Thunderdome where they will honor seniors Jamie Garbisch, Emily Hendrickson and Olivia Waldowski prior to the match-up with the Matadors. First serve for both matches is scheduled for 7 p.m.

To Refresh Your Memory
UCSB swept UC Riverside on the road last Friday with game scores of 30-27, 30-17, 30-18, to extend its series record against the Highlanders to 18-0 and capture the second win of the season over the conference foe. Unfortunately, the Gauchos were unable to do the same the following night at Cal State Fullerton where they had their 25-season, 52-match win streak against the Titans broken by way of a 23-30, 30-25, 30-22, 19-30, 15-10 decision. With the split, the UCSB record currently stands at 14-11 overall and 6-6 in the Big West Conference.

Big West Bites
With their 6-6 conference mark, the Gauchos are currently fourth in the Big West standings and have fallen out of the running to capture their fifth consecutive conference title. In fact, this is the first season since 1989 that UCSB has lost six or more Big West contests, and during that season the conference consisted of 10 teams opposed to the current eight-team field. Since the Gauchos joined the Big West in 1984, the team has never finished a season with a conference record below .500. No. 17 Cal Poly continues to lead the conference with an 11-1 BWC mark and if the Mustangs can remain perfect in their remaining two conference matches, they will secure their first title since 1984. Defending conference co-champion Long Beach State is still in the running with its 8-2 record while Saturday's opponent Northridge (6-4) rounds out the top-three.

The Gregory Goods
Kathy Gregory is the only coach UCSB women's volleyball has ever known, guiding the program to a 779-327 record since accepting the reigns of the team in 1975. In her 31 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 eight 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 each of the past four seasons. Under her guidance, UCSB has been one of only three programs (joining Penn State and Stanford) in the nation that has made an appearance in all 25 NCAA Tournaments.

Let's Talk About The Tigers
Pacific is currently seventh in the Big West standings with its 3-7 mark in conference play; the Tigers have posted a 7-16 overall record. Last week the Pacific played only one match as they faced future conference member UC Davis at home. The Aggies gave Pacific a run for its money, but the Tigers prevailed taking the match in five games, 30-24, 28-30, 30-32, 30-14, 15-10.

Alexa Anderson leads the Tigers this season with 302 kills and ranks fifth in the conference with a 3.68 kills per game average. Setter Olivia Riley has recorded an average of 8.51 assists per game, good for seventh in conference, and Julie Magud is third in the Big West with her 5.2 dig per game average. In fact, Pacific ranks second as a team for digs per game with an average of 17.10. The Tigers lead the series with UCSB, 44-22 but the Gauchos have won the last four contests including a 3-0 sweep earlier this season on October 21.

Matador Mumblings: The Battle For Third In Conference
Cal State Northridge comes to Santa Barbara on Saturday for the Gauchos' final home match of the season. Northridge, as mentioned above, is third in conference with a 6-4 Big West record and has posted an overall record of 15-8. Last week the Matadors split a pair of matches, suffering a 1-3 loss to UC Irvine before coming back and taking 3-0 win over UC Davis November 4.

Darla Donaldson leads the Matador attack with an average of 3.27 kills per game and a .322 clip on the season. Setters Kayla Wright and Angela Hupp both rank in the conference top-ten for assists averaging 6.25 and 6.11 per game respectively. Kelley Hanson is tops amongst the Matadors with 4.26 digs per game. Northridge currently leads the conference in service aces with a 1.95 per game average and five players are ranked in the Big West top-ten in aces this season.

Though Northridge is ahead of UCSB in the conference standings, they still have four matches to play including Friday's match against No. 17 Cal Poly and pairings with Long Beach State and UC Irvine the following weekend - all teams they have lost to in the first meetings of the season. UCSB leads the series with Northridge 20-3, having won the last six matches including a 3-0 sweep on October 19.

Assisted Living
Freshman Stephanie Brandt tops the Big West in service aces for the fourth consecutive week with her .41 per game average, despite posting none last weekend. Brandt also ranks third for assists as she averages a team-leading 12.20 assists per game, helping the Gauchos to a collective 13.93 assist average, which is topped only by Long Beach in the BWC. This past week, the 5'9" setter surpassed 1,000 career assists (1,013) and also collected two double-doubles with 40 assists and 10 digs against Riverside followed by a 52 assist, 14 dig performance the next night versus Fullerton. Brandt has posted five double-doubles on the season.

Where Is Waldowski?
The answer to that question is at the top, as senior Olivia Waldowski continues to dominate the conference standings for hitting percentage with her .380 clip on the season and was also ranked 25th amongst Division I players last week. The Irvine, Calif. native did not have her most impressive showing last week, combining for a .271 percentage over the week's two matches, but she did tally 25 total kills helping her surpass 1,000 career kills during Saturday's match at Fullerton (1,010). In addition to her spot on the conference's hitting percentage list, the 6'3" middle blocker is also eighth for kills with a 3.33 per game average.

That's A First
For the first time since the season began, senior libero Emily Hendrickson is not at the top of the Big West leader board for digs per game. The Long Beach, Calif. native had led the conference for an impressive ten consecutive weeks and despite posting 41 digs over the weekend (including 29 against Fullerton) has fallen to the number two spot with her 5.3 dig per game average. The 2005 All-Big West Honorable Mention has helped pace the Gauchos defensively as they rank third as a team with 16.88 digs per game. Hendrickson currently ranks seventh on the Gauchos' all-time career digs list with 1,406 total in her time wearing the blue and gold.

Serial Killer
In both of last weekend's games, senior Jamie Garbisch led the Gauchos in kills with 18 against UC Riverside and a .432 clip on Friday followed by a double-double performance the next evening against Fullerton with a match-high 22 kills accompanied by 18 digs. Saturday's match marked the Anaheim, Calif. native's eleventh double-double performance of the season and her 18 digs were a season best. Garbisch continues to lead UCSB in kills per game with 3.87, ranking third in the BWC, and is second on the team with 2.56 digs per game.