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Nov. 30, 2005

The Schedule
NCAA Tournament • Los Angeles, CA • Lyon Center (1,304)
First Round • Friday, Dec. 2, 2005
Match 1 • BYU (25-3) vs. Pepperdine (17-11) • 5:00 p.m.
Match 2 • UC Santa Barbara (21-8) at USC (16-10) • 7:00 p.m.
Second Round • Saturday, Dec. 3, 2005
Match 3 • Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2 • 7:30 p.m.

2005 Gaucho Record
21-8 overall/12-2 Big West Conference
8-0 home/8-5 away/5-3 neutral
USA Today/CSTV Ranking: RV
Volleyball magazine Ranking: NR

Gauchos Have Won Eight Straight Matches and 17 of 18 Entering Big Dance
For the third consecutive year, UC Santa Barbara will hit the road to participate in the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship, beginning tournament play on Friday, Dec. 2 at USC, which is seeded 12th in the 64-team field. The showdown between the unseeded Gauchos and Women of Troy will begin at approximately 7:00 p.m. in USC's Lyon Center, or 30 minutes following the conclusion of Friday's other opening round match between BYU and Pepperdine at 5:00 p.m. The winners of each contest will meet on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. for the right to advance to the Regional Semifinals, held the following weekend in Stanford, Calif. The Gauchos enter the NCAA's with a head of steam, having won eight straight matches and 17 of their last 18.

Poll Position
UCSB remains just outside the CSTV/AVCA Top-25 Coaches' Poll with 82 total points, a mere five behind No. 25 Wichita State. Santa Barbara opened the year tabbed 15th by the coaches and dropped steadily over the next two weeks before finding itself unranked in the last 11 polls. Meanwhile Big West Conference coaches correctly predicted that the Gauchos would win their fourth straight league title in 2005 as UCSB finished tied atop the league standings with Long Beach State.

Gauchos on the Air and Web
All of the Gauchos' NCAA Tournament matches will air live on KCSB 91.9FM in Santa Barbara with Rob Garcia, Jonathan Horn and Tiffany Polver calling the action. The station also provides a live webcast at www.kcsb.org.

NCAA Tournament Tradition
You'll hear this statistic mentioned quite often, because the Gauchos are quite proud of it. With its at-large berth this season, UCSB is now one of only three schools - along with Penn State and Stanford - to compete in all 25 NCAA Championships dating back to the tournament's inception in 1981. Santa Barbara has served as a host site 17 times - most recently in 2002 - while this year marks the first time since 1989 that the Gauchos will play an opening-round match against a team on its home court. Last season UCSB earned a No. 13 national seed in the Big Dance and was sent to Atlanta, Ga., where it swept Alabama A&M in the first round before suffering a similar fate at the hands of host Georgia Tech the following day. Most of Santa Barbara's NCAA tourney success has come in recent years, with three Elite Eight and two Sweet 16 appearances since 1997. In their 24 previous Big Dance appearances, the Gauchos have posted a collective 21-24 record.

Probable Starters	Notes
#5 • Megan Blackshire • Sr. • MB	Three-time First Team All-Big West performer
#7 • Olivia Waldowski • Jr. • MB	Reigning Big West Player of the Week
#8 • Brett Quirarte • So. • MB/Opp.	First team all-league nod was first award of career
#9 • Emily Hendrickson • Jr. • L	Ranks third in conference at 4.28 digs per game
#14 • Ashley Dutro • So. • S	66 assists vs. CSUN set new rally scoring school record
#17 • Janine Sandell • Jr. • OH	5.26 kills per game lead league, rank eighth nationally
#20 • Lauren McLaughlin  • Fr. • OH	Member of seven-player Big West All-Freshman Team
Reserves	Notes
#2 • Leigh Stephenson • Fr. • S/L	Dug 20-plus balls against both UC Davis, Utah State
#3 • Brittany San Jose • Fr. • L	Double-digit digs in four of first five matches this year
#4 • Jaimarie Sutherland • Fr. • OH	10 kills, 11 digs vs. SDSU shattered previous highs
#10 • Bethany Johansen • So. • MB/Opp.	Hit .538 with personal best 15 kills in reg. season finale
#11 • Dania Shoukair • Fr. • OH/L	Four-time all-league selection at Fullerton High
#12 • Kayce Matthess • So. • S	Backup setter had career-high 11 assists at Santa Clara
#13 • Jamie Garbisch • Jr. • OH	Serving specialist with 10 aces in last four matches
#16 • Katelyn Madsen • Fr. • MB	Walk-on attended UCSB last year but did not play volleyball
#18 • Michelle Meyer • Fr. • L	Santa Cruz, CA, native gives Gauchos depth at libero 

The Gregory File
Kathy Gregory is the only coach UCSB women's volleyball has ever known, guiding the program to a 765-315 (.708) record since accepting the reigns of the team in 1975. In her 31 years at the helm - the longest tenure of any coach in the history of Gaucho sports - "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 eight 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 each of the past four seasons.

Women of Troy Tidbts
On the heels of NCAA titles in 2002 and 2003 as well as a Final Four appearance last year, USC earned an at-large Big Dance berth this season thanks to a 16-10 overall record and fourth-place Pacific-10 Conference finish of 12-6. Seniors Bibiana Candelas and Stacy Venski pace the 12th-ranked Women of Troy offensively by averaging 4.91 and 4.36 kills per game, respectively. USC owns a 17-9 advantage in all-time series with Santa Barbara, winning the last three meetings including a 3-0 sweep in the Thunderdome on Nov. 26, 2002; the teams have never previously met in the postseason. In 2005 the Women of Troy posted a 3-4 record against common opponents with UCSB, while the Gauchos went 2-4.

Cougar Confidential
22nd-ranked BYU is 25-3 overall and captured the Mountain West Conference regular season title before being upset 3-1 by Utah in the league tourney championship match on Saturday. Leading a balanced Cougar attack is sophomore middle blocker Chelsea Goodman at 4.26 kills per game. BYU has won its last three matches against UCSB to improve to 6-4 all-time, most recently posting a 3-0 sweep in Provo, Utah on Sept. 26, 2001.

Wave Watch
Like BYU, Pepperdine is unseeded and earned an at-large NCAA berth, finishing regular season play at 17-11 overall and 10-4 in the West Coast Conference. One of the Waves' losses was a 3-0 sweep at home on Oct. 18 at the hands of the Gauchos, who got 14 kills from Janine Sandell. Freshman Julie Rubenstein tallied 12 put-aways vs. UCSB and averages 4.08 on the year. Santa Barbara owns a 27-16 advantage in its long-standing rivalry with Pepperdine.

Gauchos Earn Numerous All-Conference Awards
After capturing a share of its fourth consecutive conference championship, UCSB was justly rewarded with a bevy of all-league accolades, including Big West Player of the Year honors for junior outside hitter Janine Sandell. She is the third Gaucho to earn the award, following in the footsteps of Roberta Gehlke (1999) and Danielle Bauer (2002). Joining Sandell on the All-Big West First Team were senior middle blocker Megan Blackshire - her third such honor - and sophomore opposite hitter Brett Quirarte, garnering the first-ever accolade of her UCSB career. Also being recognized for the first time as a collegian was junior libero Emily Hendrickson, who received an honorable mention all-league nod along with junior middle blocker Olivia Waldowski. Earning a spot on the Big West All-Freshman Team was outside hitter Lauren McLaughlin, while Kathy Gregory was named Big West Coach of the Year for the fourth straight season and sitxth time overall in her illustrious career; she will share top honors in 2005 with Long Beach State's Brian Gimmillaro.

Home is Where the Wins Are
For the first time in program history, UCSB went undefeated at home, going 7-0 in the Thunderdome before winning its home finale in cozy Robertson Gymnasium. The Gauchos will carry a school-record 15-match home winning streak into next season, and have not lost in Santa Barbara since an Oct. 5, 2004 defeat by Loyola Marymount.

Home is Also Where the Hits Are
If you need any further proof that the Gauchos enjoy playing within the friendly confines of the Thunderdome, look no further than their attack percentages. All five of Santa Barbara's .300 or better hitting performances in 2005 have come at home, where they connected at a .284 clip. On the flipside, UCSB owns a meager .181 attacking mark during its 21 neutral and true road matches this season.

Conference Dominance
Since their current run of Big West titles began in 2002, the Gauchos can boast a sparkling 60-8 (.882) mark in conference play. Big West success is nothing new to UCSB, which has never posted a sub-.500 league record in 22 years of conference membership and has not lost back-to-back league matches since November of 1999. However, prior to 2002, Santa Barbara captured a Big West championship only once, sharing the top spot with Long Beach State in 1993.

Gauchos Close Regular Season With Trio of Road Wins
In their busiest week of action since September, the Gauchos captured a trio of non-conference road matches in Southern California to reach the 20-win plateau for the 26th time in program history. On Tuesday, Nov. 22, UCSB posted a 30-24, 16-30, 30-26, 30-26 victory at Loyola Marymount, ending a two-match losing streak at the hands of the Lions despite trailing in virtually every statistical category. Three days later, Santa Barbara posted a more convincing win over another NCAA-bound team, sweeping Florida A&M 30-19, 30-24, 30-27 during the Baden Thanksgiving Classic in Long Beach, Calif. On Saturday, Nov. 26, the Gauchos closed the regular season in Long Beach by rallying to defeat South Dakota State 28-30, 30-26, 30-24, 30-27. The Gauchos had never before faced the Rattlers or Jackrabbits.

Finding that Killer Instinct
After losing its only five-game match in all of 2004, UCSB posted a 5-3 record this season in contests which went the distance. The Gauchos twice rallied from two games down for victory, including the season opener on Sept. 2 vs. Missouri State when they staved off a trio of match points in the final frame. Santa Barbara fared better-than-average in games decided by the minimum margin of two points, going 12-7 in those nail-biters.

All Invited to the Block Party
The Gauchos instituted a new "swing blocking" scheme for 2005, which took some getting used to. Over the season's first 15 matches, UCSB was out-blocked 10 times, and by an average margin of 2.76 to 2.19 per game. However during their 14 most recent contests, Santa Barbara owns a 2.75 to 2.41 blocks per game average, and has posted nine of its 14 double-digit stuff performances. The Gauchos have only been out-blocked three times during that span.

Coming Up Aces
For the second straight season, UCSB can call itself the Big West's top serving team, boasting a league-leading 1.83 aces per game. The Gauchos have been doing even more damage from the back line down the stretch, upping their average to 2.65 over the last five matches, including a season-best 15 in the regular season finale vs. South Dakota State. Santa Barbara has served up 68 more aces than its opponents in 2005.

Queen Janine
Along with Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Laura Schlessinger, another Santa Barbara County resident making noise nationally is Gaucho junior outside hitter Janine Sandell, whose 5.26 kills per game lead the Big West and rank eighth among all Division I players. That puts her on pace for the second-highest single-season average in school history, while her 552 put-aways in 2005 are currently fourth-most in Gaucho annals. The reigning Big West Player of the Year can boast double-digit kills in every match this season - including 11 performances of 20 or more - while she has led or tied for the team lead in kills all but once. Thanks to a digs per game average 3.07, Sandell has also posted 15 of her 27 career double-doubles in 2005. She has earned Big West Player of the Week acclaim three times in 2005 - giving her four such awards as a Gaucho - and was nothing short of spectacular during the season-opening Aquafina Volleyball Invitational in Florida, recording a rally scoring school record 33 put-aways in a five-game win over Missouri State. That mark equaled the sixth-most kills ever by a UCSB player in a single match. Sandell - a 2004 AVCA All-West Region honorable mention recipient - earned all-tournament acclaim in the Sunshine State, and received similar honors each of the two following weekends.

Fade to Blackshire
Following a slow start to the 2005 campaign, middle blocker Megan Blackshire has regained her rightful spot as one of the Big West's most efficient attackers, with a .329 hitting percentage that ranks fourth in the league. The Gauchos' lone senior hit below .300 just once over the regular season's final eight matches, a run highlighted by 14 put-aways without an error on 20 swings for a sparkling .700 clip vs. UC Riverside. That was one of Blackshire's 12 double-digit kill performances on the season, helping her earn First Team All-Big West honors for a third straight year. The Capistrano Beach, Calif., native has positioned herself on two of UCSB's career top-10 lists, as her .346 hitting percentage over the past four years ranks third all-time, while she is sixth in Gaucho history with 379 total blocks. Blackshire has earned honorable mention AVCA All-West Region and Big West All-Academic acclaim each of the past two seasons.

Well Ain't that a Coincidence!
Earlier this year, Sandell and Blackshire both reached an important personal milestone within the same game of the same match. On Oct. 18 at Pepperdine, Sandell pounded home her 1,000th career kill midway through the first frame, while Blackshire did the same to set up game point.

Don't Brett on It
Sophomore opposite hitter Brett Quirarte earned her first honor as a collegian last week when she was named to the 16-player All-Big West First Team, and would also be a strong candidate for most improved player in the conference if such an award existed. The Long Beach, Calif., native entered 2005 with just seven kills and four blocks as a rookie, but surpassed those totals within the season's first week and will enter the Big Dance with averages of 1.30 put-aways and 0.85 stuffs per game. Quirarte's blocking mark ranks second among all Gauchos and was given a boost by her career-high eight stuffs as UCSB pulled out a five-game win at UCI on Oct. 28.

What About Emily?
Excellent question...I'm glad I asked myself that. The short answer is that UCSB junior libero Emily Hendrickson received honorable mention All-Big West honors after ranking third in the conference at 4.70 digs per game. She has amassed double-digit scoops 23 times this year, including 34 at UCI to equal the 10th-highest total ever by a Gaucho in a single contest. With 493 digs in 2005, the Long Beach, Calif., native currently ranks fifth on Santa Barbara's single-season chart. Hendrickson made the move to the back row in mid-September after starting the year at outside hitter, where she slammed home a personal-best 22 balls vs. Missouri State.

Olivia Twist
Last week was an award-laden one for Gaucho junior Olivia Waldowski, who followed up her honorable mention all-conference nod by earning Big West Player of the Week acclaim for the first time in her career. The middle blocker from Irvine, Calif., averaged 2.64 kills and 1.18 blocks per game while hitting an efficient .426 during Santa Barbara's trio of road wins. On Oct. 28 at UC Irvine she equaled a rally-scoring school record with 10 block assists, and now has 303 total stuffs to rank 10th all-time at UCSB.

Scorin' Lauren
Besides switching jerseys from No. 16 to No. 20 - complicating the job of her SID - the most exciting thing Gaucho outside hitter Lauren McLaughlin did last week was earn a spot on the seven-player Big West All-Freshman Team. Since assuming a starting role at the Stanford Invitational back in September, the native of Torrance, Calif., can boast 10 performances of 10 kills or more, with a career-high of 21 coming against Cal State Northridge on Oct. Those slams were accompanied by 18 digs for one of her five double-doubles as a rookie.

She's Dutr-astic!
Quarterbacking the Gaucho offense is sophomore Ashley Dutro, who owns an assists per game average of 11.90 that ranks fourth among all Big West setters. She has amassed 60-plus helpers on four occasions, including a rally scoring school-record 66 in only four games vs. Cal State Northridge on Oct. 14. The Sunnyvale, Calif., native also tallied 11 digs in that contest for one of her nine double-doubles in 2005.

Doozy of a Schedule
Kathy Gregory annually attempts to make UCSB's schedule one of the most challenging in the country, and she once again succeeded in 2005. The Gauchos played 13 matches against teams which joined them in the NCAA Tournament, going 6-7 in those contests. Three of Santa Barbara's losses came at the hands of squads currently ranked among the nation's top-six - No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Stanford and No. 6 Arizona.

On the Horizon
If the Gauchos win two games this weekend, they will advance to the NCAA Regional Semifinals in Stanford, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 9. UCSB last reached the Sweet 16 in 2002, when it hosted Regional play in the Thunderdome.

Waiting in the Wings
In mid-November UCSB signed two high school seniors to National Letters of Intent. Stephanie Brandt, a 5-9 setter from University High School in Irvine, Calif., and 6-2 outside hitter Rebecca Saraceno of Redondo Union High School in Redondo Beach, Calif., will join the Gauchos as true freshmen in 2006. Both prep standouts recently led their respective teams into the CIF Southern Section Division II Playoffs, and coincidentally faced each other in the second round. RUHS defeated University, with Saraceno tallying 20 kills.