UC SANTA BARBARA OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

UCSB will face UC Irvine on Friday and return home Saturday to play UC Riverside.

Nov. 18, 2008

• The Schedule
Friday, Nov. 21, 2008
Match No. 26: UC Santa Barbara at UC Irvine, 7 p.m.
at Crawford Court (760)
Available on Gametracker
Live video stream on BigWest.tv

Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008
Match No. 27: UC Riverside at UC Santa Barbara, 7 p.m.
at The Thunderdome (6,000)
Available on Gametracker
Live video stream on BigWest.tv
Live audio broadcast on KCSB.org

• This Week In Gaucho Volleyball
The UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team will play its final two matches of the 2008 season this week as it travels to UC Irvine on Friday and then returns home for its final Big West contest against UC Riverside on Saturday. Both matches are slated for a 7 p.m. start and prior to Saturday's match, the Gaucho seniors will be honored.

• Weekend Rewind
Last weekend the Gauchos dropped a pair of Big West matches, falling in four games to Cal Poly on Thursday and UC Irvine on Saturday. UCSB won the second set of each match. The Mustangs posted a 25-15, 26-28, 25-21, 25-19 victory over the Gauchos to sweep the 2008 series with UCSB and collect their sixth straight win against the Gauchos. Irvine used 25-16, 19-25, 25-22, 25-17 set scores to take down UCSB and the win marked the Anteaters' fourth consecutive win over the Gauchos.

• For The Record
The Gauchos enter this weekend with a 10-15 overall record and a 6-8 Big West Conference record. UCSB is currently amidst a four-match losing skid, the second longest of the season - the Gauchos dropped five straight between Sept. 11 and Sept. 19. With last weekend's losses and only two matches left on the slate this season, the Gauchos are going to finish 2008 with a sub-.500 record for the second consecutive year and for just the second time in program history.

• How The Big West Was Won
With just one more week of conference play left, No. 23 Long Beach State has guaranteed itself at least a share of the 2008 Big West title with its 12-2 conference mark and has also secured the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Cal Poly and UC Irvine still have a chance of picking-up a share of the BWC title with 10-4 conference records. If one team is able to win their final two matches of the season (including a pairing with one another), they will share the top conference spot with the 49ers. Cal State Fullerton and Pacific are each 9-6 in Big West play, tying for fourth in conference. The Gauchos are in sixth (6-8), one spot above last season's seventh-place finish. The Gauchos have only posted two seasons with less than eight Big West victories: 2007 (6-10) and 1984 (4-4).

• A Break From Tradition
For just the second time since the NCAA Tournament's inception in 1981, UC Santa Barbara will most likely not be making an appearance in the championships' elite field. The Gauchos, who appeared in 26 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, are out of contention for the Big West's automatic bid into the field and in the NCAA's RPI (rating percentage index) list released on Oct. 27, the Gauchos ranked 117th amongst all Division I teams. RPI's help the NCAA selection committee determine which teams should earn at-large bids into the 64-team field. Prior to last season, UCSB was one of just three teams to attend the first 26 NCAA tournaments, along with top-ranked Penn State and Stanford.

• 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 808-361 (.691) 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.

• Leigh-bero
Senior libero Leigh Stephenson has climbed her way to the top of the Big West standings for digs per set with an average of 4.36. She has posted 20 or more digs during four of the past five contests, including 20 against Cal Poly and a match-high 23 against UC Irvine. For her career, she has totalled 1,266 digs, ranking her ninth amongst UCSB career digs leaders. Stephenson will end her four-year career with UCSB as the Big West's single season digs leader after collecting 650 in 2007.

• Moving On Up
Senior outside hitter Lauren McLaughlin moved to seventh-place on the all-time Gaucho career kills list after bringing her four-season total to 1,377 last week. She also ranks second for career kill attempts with 4,379. The senior tallied 19 kills in each of last week's contests and also collected double-digit digs with 14 in the match with Cal Poly and 12 against UCI. For the season, she has posted 10 double-double performances. She posted a collective .340 clip during the week and hit .386 against UC Irvine (19k, 2e, 44att), her fourth-best single match hitting percentage this season. For the season McLaughlin leads the Gauchos, and ranks fifth in the Big West, with her 3.55 kills per set average and she has averaged 4.04 kills per set during conference contests this season. Her current season hitting percentage of .228 is the highest single season clip of her four-year career at UCSB.

• The Outsiders
Sophomore outside hitter Charlene DeHoog turned in her second-best kill performance of the 2008 season on Thursday against Cal Poly. She tallied 17 kills, five-shy of her career and season-best. She also chipped in five digs, an ace and three block assists. This season the sophomore is second on the team for kills per set with 2.92 and is third for blocks with an average of 0.50 per set. Junior outside hitter Rebecca Saraceno chipped in her fourth double-double of the season on Thursday with 10 kills and a season-high 16 digs against the Mustangs. Against UCI, she chipped in another 10 kills. The junior has had double-digit kills in seven of the last nine contests. Saraceno is third on the team with an average of 2.23 kills per set.

• Setter Speak
Sophomore setter Dana Vargas posted a total of 51 assists in the loss to Cal Poly, her highest total in a four-set match this season and just two-assists shy of her season-high. This season, Vargas leads the team and ranks eighth in the Big West with an average of 8.47 assists per set. On Saturday, she dished out 28 assists against UC Irvine and also tallied a season-high three service aces for the third time this year. For the season she has posted a total of 26 aces, more than tripling her eight during her freshman campaign.

• Kipp, Kipp Hooray!
Sophomore middle blocker Kasey Kipp currently ranks third in the Big West for blocks per game with her 1.12 average. Last week, she posted a total of six blocks against Cal Poly (one solo, five assisted) and four block assists against Irvine. Her .230 hitting percentage leads the team and she is fourth on the squad with an average of 1.62 kills per set.

• Smokin' Aces
The Gauchos continue to rank second in the Big West with their 1.33 service aces per set average with two players - Dana Vargas and Rebecca Saraceno - ranking in the top-10 for aces per set. Saraceno is tenth with 0.28 and Vargas is ninth with 0.29. In addition to Vargas' season-high tying three aces against UC Irvine, Leigh Stephenson also tied her season-high with two aces against the Anteaters.

• About The Anteaters
UC Irvine enters the week with a 15-12 overall record and a 10-4 Big West mark. The Anteaters had a five-match win streak snapped last week when they dropped a match at Long Beach State in five sets. They resumed their winning ways the following day with a 3-1 victory against the Gauchos. The team is led by Kari Pestolesi, who averages 3.56 kills per set along with 3.17 digs per set. UC Irvine is amidst a four-match win streak against the Gauchos, but UCSB owns a 60-8 all-time series record over the Anteaters.

• Scouting The Highlanders
UC Riverside enters this week with an 8-21 overall record and a 3-11 mark in Big West contests. The Highlanders are currently amidst a five-match losing skid and will face Cal Poly on Friday before making the trip to Santa Barbara the following day. Kelly Fink leads the team with her 3.33 kills per set and also averages 2.46 digs per set. The last time the two teams met was on Oct. 18 when the Gauchos posted a 25-19, 25-18, 28-26 sweep over Riverside. UCSB owns a perfect 21-0 all-time series record against the Highlanders.