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Nov. 25, 2002

The Schedule
Match 30 * Tuesday, Nov. 26 * 7:00 p.m. * Santa Barbara, CA
No. 6 UC Santa Barbara vs. No. 1 USC - The Thunderdome (6,000)

2002 Gaucho Record
28-1 overall/18-0 Big West
10-1 home/12-0 away/6-0 neutral
AVCA/USA Today Ranking: 6th

Gregory Aims for Milestone Win as Respective Conference Champs Meet
Arguably the marquee matchup during the final week of regular season play in collegiate women's volleyball will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 26 in the Thunderdome as sixth-ranked UC Santa Barbara hosts No. 1 USC at 7:00 p.m. Both teams recently completed conference play as their respective league champions. The Gauchos, currently boasting the highest single-season winning percentage in school history at .966, captured their first outright Big West Conference title ever. A victory over the Pac-10 Champion Trojans (24-1 overall, 17-1 in league play), would give UCSB head coach Kathy Gregory the 700th win in her illustrious 28-year career at the school. Adding to Tuesday's intriguing plotlines are UCSB's Senior Night festivities, as Danielle Bauer, Courtney Guerra and Brooke Niles will all be honored prior to their final regular season home match.

Poll Position
The Gauchos jumped up one spot to No. 6 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches' Association/USA Today poll after spending two weeks as the nation's seventh-ranked team. Santa Barbara was ranked as high as No. 5 by the AVCA from Oct. 21-Nov. 3, and received one of the poll's 65 first-place votes on Nov. 4. In the preseason, UCSB was ranked 20th by the AVCA and 15th according to Volleyball Magazine, which has suspended publication and will not release another poll in 2002. In August the Big West coaches picked UCSB to finish third in the 10-team league, while Long Beach State was chosen to repeat as conference champion.

Gauchos Runthe Big West Table with Wins at Pacific, Northridge
UCSB completed its perfect conference season with a pair of road victories last week, but it was no easy task. On Thursday, Nov. 21, the Gauchos recorded a 33-31, 30-25, 32-30 victory at Pacific, overcoming UOP game points in both the first and third frames. Santa Barbara dug a season-high 83 balls during its 21st three-game sweep of 2002. Two days later a quintet of UCSB players reached double-digit kills in a 30-22, 30-26, 37-35, 30-21 win at Cal State Northridge. UCSB joins six previous undefeated Big West champions in the 19-year history of the league, five of which went on to play in the NCAA Final Four. The Gauchos are seeking their first-ever Final Four appearance, but are one of only four programs to qualify for every NCAA Tournament dating back to its inception in 1981.

Trojan Talk
Top-ramked USC completed its 17-1 Pac-10 Conference season by sweeping Arizona and Arizona State at home last weekend. The only blemish on the Trojans' 24-1 overall mark was a five-game loss to Stanford on Nov. 2. Southern California has an extremely balanced attack, with six players averaging over two kills per game, led by April Ross' 3.74 average. Tomi Anderson (8.56 assists per game) and Traci Lindquist (6.44 split the setting responsibilities. The Gauchos will be in search of vengeance after suffering a 3-0 defeat to USC last season in Los Angeles which raised the Trojans' record in the all-time series to 16-9.

Probable Starters			Notes
#4 * Kristin Nelson * So. * L	 	Third in Big West with 3.83 digs per game
#5 * Megan Blackshire * Fr. * Opp.	13-kill performnce in win over Northridge
#7 * Courtney Guerra * Sr. * OH		12 double-double performances in 2002
#8 * Erica Menzel * Jr. * OH		Second in league with 4.22 digs per game
#10 * Francina Edmonds * Jr. * Opp.	15 kills vs. Matadors, matching career best
#12 * Danielle Bauer * Sr. * MB/OH	Double-digit kills in all but two matches
#16 * Brooke Niles * Sr. * S		Career-highs of 61 assists and 25 digs at CSN

Reserves				Notes
#2 * Mari Bell * So. * S			12 assists in game three relief effort vs. UCI
#3 * Quinn Dibble * Fr. * S/L		Seven digs vs. Air Force were a career high
#9 * Geneva Lynn * Fr. * DS/L		Personal best five digs vs. UCR last Friday
#11 * Becky Twohey * RS-Fr. * S	12 assists, two kills in five games played
#13 * Linda Wang * Fr. * MB		Appeared in nine games on the year
#14 * Theresa Botsford * Fr. * MB	Has yet to take the court this season
#17 * Niki Carroll * So. * MB		Four kills, no errors in game two vs. CSF
#20 * Amy Sarkaria * So. * OH/MB	Three put-aways and a block in Fullerton win

The Gregory File
Kathy Gregory is the only coach UCSB women's volleyball has ever known, guiding the program to a 699-292 (.706) record since accepting the reigns of the team in 1975. In her 28 years at the helm of the Gauchos "The Queen" has guided Santa Barbara to 20 or more victories 24 times, while her teams have finished the season ranked amongst the nation's top-25 on 24 occasions. Gregory can boast three NCAA Elite Eight appearances in the past five years as well as National Coach of the Year honors in 1993. She is currently the sixth-winningest active coach in the Division I ranks and a member of the Volleyball Hall of Fame.

Amongst the Big West's - and Nation's - Bests
UCSB find itself amongst the national and Big West Conference leaders in a number of important team statistical categories. The Gauchos' 17.58 kills per game top the league and, not surprisingly, so does their hitting percentage of .299. Those two stats ranked fifth and sixth-best amongst all Division I squads, respectively, as of Nov. 19. Santa Barbara leads the Big West in digs per game at 19.48, a figure that ranks eighth nationally and is over three scoops better than second-place Idaho. UCSB can also be found at eighth on the NCAA leaderboard in assists per game at 15.80, and has regained the league lead in that category from UC Irvine. All of the aforementioned marks are higher than those posted by the 17-14 Gauchos of 2001.

Bauer of Power
Danielle Bauer went climbing last weekend, but not on a mountain or jungle gym. With her match-high 22 kills at Pacific and 19 at Cal State Northridge, the Santa Ana, Calif., native moved into third place on UCSB's all-time kills list, and now has 1,501 for her career. Those totals represent the 19th and 20th times she has led the Gauchos in put-aways in 2002, while she has failed to reach double-digits in kills just twice. Bauer has twice slammed home a season-best 23 balls - at UC Irvine and at Cal Poly - with the former performance leading to her second Big West Player of the Week award in 2002. The two-time first-team all-conference performer is well on her way to earning such honors again in 2002, ranking third in the league in kills per game (4.81) and sixth in hitting percentage (.335) as well as seventh in blocks per game (1.16). Thanks to a digs per game average of 2.94, Bauer can boast a total of 14 double-doubles on the season and 45 for her career.

The River Niles
Brooke Niles, who ranked third nationally in assists per game as of Nov. 19, staked her claim for Big West Player of the Year honors in her final league match by racking up career-bests of 61 helpers and 25 digs vs. the Matadors. That represents one of her 14 double-doubles in 2002, while her 53-assist performance at Pacific marked the ninth time she has eclipsed the half-century plateau in that category. During the sweep of rival UOP, Niles took over ninth place on Santa Barbara's single-season assist leaders list, and now has a total of 1,266 helpers this year (14.22 per game). In addiion, her 1,256 career digs tie her with current Gaucho assistant Liz Towne-Gilbert for fifth all-time at UCSB. One of the most versatile players in Santa Barbara history and a two-time All-Big West performer, the Woodland Hills, Calif., native is also averaging 3.36 digs per game to rank fifth in the conference.

What About Erica?
Excellent question...I'm glad I asked myself that. The simple answer is that Erica is playing very well, as evident by her team-leading 21 double-doubles, two of which came last week. The Santa Barbara native followed up her 13 kills and 16 digs vs. Pacific with a 10-kill, 19-put-away effort against the Matadors. Menzel earned her third career Big West Player of the Week award after matching her career best of 27 scoops - the second-highest total among conference players this season - in a Nov. 2 victory at Utah State, and amassed her personal best kill total of 24 in the following contest vs. No. 10 Pepperdine. Those totals have have propelled Menzel to second place in the Big West in digs per game at 4.22, and seventh on the conference leaderbord in kills at 3.79.

Courtney's Corner
Also boasting a pair of double-doubles from last week's road victories is Courtney Guerra. The senior outside hitter ranks sixth in the Big West at 3.35 per game, an average was bolstered by a career-high-tying 19 scoops at Cal Poly On Nov. 9. Perhaps not-so-coincidentally, her other 19-dig effort also came against the Mustangs in the Thunderdome earlier this year. Meanwhile Guerra's personal best of seven blocks - five of them solos - came in the home win on Oct. 25 over Long Beach State. The Simi Valley, Calif., native also amassed a season-best 17 kills against the 49ers for one of her 12 double-doubles in 2002.

Joining the Hit Parade
A pair of Gaucho opposite hitters are also capable of flexing their offensive muscle. Freshman Megan Blackshire racked up 13 kills in the four-game win at CSN - her second-highest total as a collegian - while her hitting percentage of .786 in the season opener vs. Florida International (11k, 0e, 14a) ranks as the 10th-most accurate single-game mark in school history. Meanwhile Francina Edmonds, who entered 2002 with just 31 career kills over two seasons, has met every expectation placed on her by the UCSB coaching staff, slamming home 234 balls thusfar and connecting at a robust .301 clip. The native of Jacksonville, Fla., matched her career best with 15 put-aways at Pacific, one of her 10 double-digit kill efforts in 2002.

Full Nelson
Finally space exists in this press release to lavish praise upon sophomore libero Kristin Nelson. Her career-high tying 21 digs at Cal State Northridge marked the 11th consecutiive match she has scooped over 10 balls. Nelson has achieved such a feat 25 times this season, while she is one of four Gauchos amongst the Big West's top-ten in digs per game, ranking third at 3.83.

Rouse to Redshirt in 2002
A herniated disk in her back suffered during preseason training will force junior outside hitter Cami Rouse to redshirt the 2002 season. A transfer from Fresno City College, Rouse was a Junior College All-American last season and helped the Rams win their first-ever Central Valley Conference title in 2000. She was a first team all-league honoree both seasons and prepped at Bullard High School.

Doozy of a Schedule
UCSB annually features one of the nation's most challenging schedules, and 2002 is certainly no exception. The Gauchos will play 13 matches against teams which joined them in last season's NCAA Tournament, seven of which are against fellow members of the AVCA preseason top-25. Unlike 2001, which saw the Gauchos play all 12 of their non-conference matches on the road mainly due to resurfacing of the Thunderdome court, UCSB has the luxury of facing regional rivals Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine and USC at home this season.

On the Horizon
The Gauchos will eagerly await the announcement of the 2002 NCAA Tournament brackets on Sunday, Dec. 1, and whether or not they will be one of the 16 host teams for first and second-round play. The selection show will be broadcast live on ESPNews beginning at 6:00 p.m. First-round tourney matches are scheduled for either Dec. 5, 6 or 7.