Nov. 24, 2006

LONG BEACH, Calif. - In the first meeting between the UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team and non-conference opponent Albany, the Gauchos captured a 3-1 win Friday afternoon at the Baden Thanksgiving Classic being held in Long Beach, Calif. with game scores of 30-28, 25-30, 30-18, 30-25.

With the win, the UCSB record improves to 18-11 on the season while the Great Danes fall to 19-11.

Senior Olivia Waldowski led the Gauchos with 22.5 points in the match. The Irvine, Calif. native had 19 kill on 35 attempts with just two errors to post a .486 hitting percentage. Waldowski also put away two service aces and had a team-leading three block assists. Senior Jamie Garbisch had a match-high 22 kills accompanied by 12 digs for her fourteenth double-double performance of the season. Junior Brett Quirarte rounded out the double-digit kill performances for the Gauchos with 13 kills on 26 attempts with no errors for a team-leading .500 clip.

Freshman setter Stephanie Brandt posted 57 assists in the win while senior libero Emily Hendrickson recorded a match-high 23 digs.

Shelby Goldman led the Great Danes with 16 kills and 18 digs in the loss while teammate Ashley DeNeal also collected 18 scoops with 13 kills. Setter Blair Buchanan had 51 assists while Kamisha Kellam had seven blocks (two solo, five assisted) helping Albany outblock UCSB nine to five.

Despite being outhit .406 to .211 in game one, UCSB was able to overcome seven tied scores and four lead changes to capture the first frame, 30-28.

The Great Danes' hitting paid off in the second frame however and they earned the split heading into the locker rooms after outhitting UCSB .400 to .267 to take frame two at 30-25.

UCSB was able to seal up the match in four games after taking frames three and four to capture the overall 3-1 win.

The Gauchos will finish action at the Baden Thanksgiving Classic Friday with their second match of the day at 5 p.m. versus another first-time opponent, Western Michigan.