UC SANTA BARBARA OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Nov. 19, 2007

• The Schedule
Friday, Nov. 23, 2007
Match No. 30: UC Santa Barbara vs. Temple, 3 p.m.
at Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid (5,000)

Saturday, Nov. 24, 2007
Match No. 31: UC Santa Barbara vs. Yale, 12 p.m.
Match No. 32: UC Santa Barbara vs. Pittsburgh, 5 p.m.
at Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid (5,000)

• What's Ahead
After closing out its home and Big West Conference schedule this past weekend, the UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team will finish the season in Long Beach this week at the Baden Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Long Beach State. The Gauchos will face Temple, Yale and Pitt during the two-day event running Friday through Saturday, Nov. 23-24.

• For The Record
After splitting last week's pair of Big West match-ups, Santa Barbara now holds an overall record of 11-18 and finished seventh in conference with its 6-10 mark. This season is the first in program history that the Gauchos will finish with a record below .500. In fact, UCSB has never posted a Big West record below .500 and the Gauchos have only finished three seasons with fewer than 20-wins.

• The End Of An Era
As UCSB stands now, it is unlikely that the team will make a 27th consecutive trip to the NCAA 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 Division I women's volleyball Ratings Percentage Index on Nov. 4 and the Gauchos ranked 149th. 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 Split Final Home And Conference Matches Of The Season
On Friday evening, UCSB faced its second loss of the season and just seventh all-time to UC Irvine, dropping the match in three games, 30-26, 30-28, 30-26. The following evening, the Gauchos celebrated "Senior Night" with a three-game sweep over UC Riverside in their conference and home closer. UCSB posted a 30-23, 30-26, 30-20 win over the Highlanders.

• Cal Poly Takes Second Consecutive Conference Crown
With Big West play all wrapped up, No. 17 Cal Poly has captured its second consecutive conference title and automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Mustangs finished the conference season with a 15-1 mark. Long Beach State took second at 14-2 while UC Irvine finished third at 11-5. Pacific posted a 9-7 record while Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton tied for fifth at 7-9. UCSB took sixth at 6-10, marking its lowest conference finish in program history. UC Riverside (2-14) and UC Davis (1-15) round out the league standings.

• Captain's Log
Two-time All-Big West First Team selection and current Gaucho team captain Brett Quirarte continues to lead UCSB with her .331 season clip, which is also the fifth highest amongst Big West players. The Long Beach, Calif. native led the Gauchos in Saturday's win over UC Riverside, posting 16 kills on 24 attempts with just one error for a .625 clip. She also tallied three total blocks. The previous night, she notched seven kills with a .333 clip and four block assists in the loss to UC Irvine. The middle blocker currently leads the team with her 1.15 blocks per game and ranks ninth in the Big West. The senior, who will be playing in her last three matches of her career this weekend, currently ranks eighth in the UCSB record books for block assists (282) and tenth for total blocks (337). She is also on pace to finish in the Gaucho all-time top-10 for her career hitting percentage, she is sixth with her .310 four-year clip. In her time at UCSB, Quirarte helped the Gauchos to three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and two Big West titles.

• Ain't Life Grand?!?
Junior outside hitter Lauren McLaughlin reached 1,000 career kills during Saturday's match against UC Riverside and now has 1,005 during her time in the blue and gold. The Torrance, Calif. native continues to lead the Gauchos with her 4.33 kills per game average, which ranks fourth in the Big West. On Saturday, she tallied her 19th double-double of the season, notching 11 kills and 11 digs along with three total blocks. The previous night she struggled hitting, posting just nine kills and a .048 clip. McLaughlin has posted double-digit kills in 25 matches this season, including 11 contests with 20 or more kills. She is currently averaging 3.11 digs per game, good for second amongst the Gauchos. McLaughlin has found her way into the UCSB record books this season, ranking third for kill attempts in a single season (1,543) and tenth for her single season kill average (4.33).

• Leigh-bero
For the second consecutive week, junior libero Leigh Stephenson leads the Big West for digs per game with her average of 5.37. Stephenson posted 21 digs in each of last weekend's contests. The Nipomo, Calif. native has recorded a .949 reception percentage and has surpassed 20 digs on 17 occasions this season, including a career-high 31 scoops at Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 2. Stephenson, who has posted 601 digs this year, needs just 13 more scoops this season to set the UCSB record for single season digs.

• Becca Banter
Rebecca Saraceno continues to lead the Gauchos for aces per game with an average of 0.30 and is second on the team with 3.29 kills per game. The Redondo Beach, Calif. native led the team with 12 kills against UC Irvine. She posted a .296 clip, her highest of the season, and also posted two aces, six digs and three block assists. The following night, she tallied nine kills and seven digs and once again collected two aces for the Gauchos. She is third on the team with 2.46 digs per game.

• In Need Of Assistance?
Freshman setter Dana Vargas is currently averaging 11.29 assists per game and ranks sixth amongst Big West setters. Additionally, she has posted a .389 clip with 0.59 kills per game and 2.18 digs per game. Against UC Irvine on Friday, Vargas posted her 10th double-double of the season with 31 assists and 10 digs. She also tallied two block assists. The following evening, she posted 40 assists in the sweep of Riverside with eight digs, two block assists and a service ace.

• Gregory Confidential
Kathy Gregory is the only coach UCSB women's volleyball has ever known, guiding the program to a 795-346 (.696) 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 five wins away from her 800th career victory and is one of only seven coaches in NCAA history to surpass the 700-win career mark.

• Scouting the Owls
The Gauchos will face two first-time opponents at this weekend's tournament, including Temple on Friday. Temple enters the week with a 15-18 overall record. The Owls most recently fell to Dayton, 3-1, in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Yun Yi Zhang paces the team with 4.61 kills and 2.04 digs per game. Jackie Morrison averages 6.58 assists per game, while Caitlin Loudon averages 6.07. Ying Sun Ying averages 4.14 digs per game. UCSB and Temple will play at 3 p.m. on Friday.

• Bulldog Bites
First-time opponent Yale enters this weekend with a 16-7 overall record. The Bulldogs finished with a 10-4 Ivy League mark. Yale has gone 2-2 this month and most recently split a pair of four-gamers two weeks ago, defeating Penn on Nov. 9 before dropping a match to Princeton the following day. The Bulldogs are led by Alexis Crusey, who averages 4.14 kills per game. Setter Ally Mendenhall averages 12.16 assists while Kelly Ozurovich has 5.34 digs per game, on average. The Gauchos and Bulldogs with face-off on Saturday at noon.

• Catching Up With The Panthers
UC Santa Barbara will close out the season with a match against Pittsburgh at 5 p.m. Saturday evening. The last time these two teams met was over a decade ago when UCSB posted a 3-0 win over the Panthers on Nov. 25, 1995. The Gauchos lead the all-time series, 4-0. Pitt will carry a 15-14 overall mark into this weekend's action and they finished with an 8-6 record in the Big East. The Panthers have dropped four of their last five contests, most recently posting a 3-0 sweep of Rutgers on Nov. 11. Diana Andreyko leads the team with 4.13 kills per game while teammate Jessica Moses has posted a .371 clip. Emily Burke averages 11.23 assists per game, while Melissa Ferguson averages 5.04 digs.