Nov. 13, 2004

LONG BEACH, Calif. - A quartet of impressive streaks were extended Friday night as the 18th-ranked UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team defeated Long Beach State 27-30, 30-27, 30-22, 30-25 at the Pyramid in Long Beach.

Most importantly, the road victory clinched the Gauchos' third consecutive outright Big West Conference championship and fourth title overall, as they also shared the top spot in 1993. By improving to 20-3 overall and 14-2 in league play, UCSB extended its season-long winning streak to 10 straight matches, and surpassed its entire 2003 win total of 19. In addition, Friday night's victory was Santa Barbara's sixth straight over longtime rival LBSU, which fell to 18-5, 10-5 in the Big West.

Finally, the conference title earned UCSB an automatic berth in next month's NCAA Championship, meaning the school will maintain its streak of playing in the Big Dance every year since the tournament's inception in 1981.

For the first time in 2004, the Gauchos earned a victory after dropping the first game. The visitors actually out-hit Long Beach .208-.193 but committed four ball-handing errors during the first frame, and then found themselves deadlocked at 11-11 in game two before pulling ahead 15-12 and forcing the 49ers to call timeout. Santa Barbara never trailed the rest of the way, however the Beach remained within four points throughout and gave UCSB a late scare at 27-25. The Big West champs finally evened the score at one game apiece thanks to a kill from junior middle blocker Megan Blackshire.

After righting the ship in game two, the Gauchos hit just .111 in the third frame but limited the home team to a dismal -.022, partially due to their five team blocks. That helped UCSB open up a lead as wide as 21-11, and although the Beach rallied to within five points, the outcome was never really in doubt.

In game four Santa Barbara's offense finally kicked into high gear, racking up 18 team kills on 34 swings with only four errors for a .412 hitting percentage. The visitors never trailed, and clinched their third straight conference title when sophomore outside hitter Janine Sandell slammed home one of her match-high 21 kills off the 49ers' block.

Sandell also racked up 15 digs for her ninth career double-double, while senior libero Kristin Nelson led all players with 35 scoops to move within three digs of setting a new UCSB career record. Roberta Gehlke is currently tops in school history with 1,619.

Offensively, Blackshire pounded home 12 balls while sophomore Olivia Waldowski and freshman Bethany Johansen added nine put-aways. Johansen's came on 14 swings without an error for a sparkling .643 hitting percentage. Meanwhile senior setter Mari Bell entered late in game one and dished off 44 assists, while also notching six kills on seven errorless swings (.857). For the fourth straight match, UCSB recorded double-digit blocks, thwarting 13 LBSU attempts. Waldowski led the way with nine assisted stuffs.

Freshman middle blocker Alexis Crimes led a quartet of 49ers in double-figures with 18 put-aways. Long Beach trailed in every statistical category, including hitting percentage where the Gauchos owned a .222 to .148 advantage.

UCSB returns to action Saturday night for another Big West showdown at UC Irvine beginning at 7:00 p.m. The Gauchos will try to avenge last season's loss at UCI that snapped their 37-match winning streak over the Anteaters.