Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Dec. 2, 2003

The Schedule
NCAA Tournament * Minneapolis, MN * Sports Pavilion (5,500)
First Round * Friday, December 5, 2003
Match 1 * UC Santa Barbara (19-8) vs. Northern Iowa (27-5) * 3:00 p.m. PST
Match 2 * Minnesota (22-10) vs. Wisconsin-Green Bay (23-10) * 5:00 p.m. PST
Second Round * Saturday, December 6, 2003
Match 3 * Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2 * 5:00 p.m. PST

2003 Gaucho Record
19-8 overall/14-4 Big West Conference
9-1 home/7-5 away/3-2 neutral
USA Today/AVCA Ranking: 20th
Volleyball magazine Ranking: 19th

Pair of Respective Conference Champions Clash in Opening Round
For the 23rd consecutive season, the UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team will compete in the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championships. In 2003, the 20th-ranked Gauchos have been sent to Minneapolis, Minn., for early-round tournament a action, where they will first face 16th-ranked Northern Iowa on Friday, Dec. 5 at 3:00 p.m. PST/5:00 CST. Both teams earned automatic berths into the NCAA field of 64, with UCSB capturing its second consecutive Big West Conference Championship and the Panthers winning the Missouri Valley Tournament title for a sixth straight year. Meanwhile host school Minnesota - ranked No. 17 nationally and seeded 13th in the NCAA Tournament - squares off with Wisconsin-Green Bay in Friday's other first round contest in the Sports Pavilion at 5:00 p.m. PST, or 30 minutes after the conclusion of UCSB vs. UNI. The winners of each match then play one another on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 5:00 p.m. PST, with the victor advancing to the NCAA Regional Semifinals in Long Beach, Calif., the following weekend.

Gauchos on the Air
KCSB, 91.9 FM in Santa Barbara, will broadcast all of the Gauchos' NCAA Tournament matches live, with Danny MacLeith and Mike Lipka traveling to Minneapolis this weekend to call the action. The broadcasts are also available through the station's website at www.kcsb.org.

NCAA Tournament Tradition
You'll hear this statistic mentioned often, because the Gauchos are quite proud of it. With its automatic berth this season, UCSB remains one of only four schools - along with Pacific, Penn State and Stanford - to compete in all 23 NCAA Championships dating back to the tournament's inception in 1981. Santa Barbara has served as a host site 17 times, while 2003 marks just the second year the Gauchos have been sent outside the Pacific Time Zone for early-round action. Most of the Gauchos' NCAA tourney success has come in recent years, with three Elite Eight and two Sweet 16 appearances since 1997. Last season UCSB hosted West Regional play for the first time ever, losing a 3-1 decision to Pepperdine in the round of 16. In its 22 previous NCAA appearances, Santa Barbara has posted a collective 20-22 record.

Probable Starters			Notes
#2 * Mari Bell * Jr. * S			UCSB's only Big West Player of the Week in 2003
#4 * Kristin Nelson * Jr. * L	 	40 digs at Idaho were one-shy of school record
#5 * Megan Blackshire * So. * MB	Double-digit kills in each of last 14 matches
#7 * Olivia Waldowski * RS-Fr. * MB	Big West leader with .380 hitting percentage
#8 * Erica Menzel * Sr. * OH		Team-leading 17 double-doubles on the season
#10 * Francina Edmonds * Sr. * Opp.	Averaging 2.20 kills, 0.75 blocks per game
#17 * Janine Sandell * Fr. * OH		Double-digit put-aways 13 times this season

Reserves				Notes
#3 * Baylee Hassett * Fr. * L		Played in 14 games over eight matches this year
#9 * Emily Hendrickson * Fr. * OH/L	2.35 digs per game are third-best on team
#11 * Taylor Whittell * Fr. * MB		Has yet to take the court this season
#12 * Kristy Sather * Fr. * OH		Pair of kills in Oct. 25 win at UC Riverside
#13 * Jamie Garbisch * Fr. * OH		Averaging 1.29 digs per game this season
#14 * Theresa Botsford * RS-Fr. * MB	Start vs. NMSU was first career match; two kills
#15 * Cami Rouse * RS-Jr. * OH		Will miss second straight season due to injury
#16 * Jackie Davis * Fr. * S/DS		Backup setter with 47 total assists in 2003
#20 * Amy Sarkaria * Jr. * OH		Career-high seven kills in Nov. 22 match vs. CP

The Gregory File
Kathy Gregory is the only coach UCSB women's volleyball has ever known, guiding the program to a 720-302 (.705) record since accepting the reigns of the team in 1975. In her 29 years at the helm of the Gauchos "The Queen" has guided Santa Barbara to 20 or more victories 25 times, while her teams have finished the season ranked amongst the nation's top-25 on 26 occasions. She can boast five NCAA Sweet 16 appearances in the past six 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 active coach in the Division I ranks, coached the 1,000th match of her UCSB career on Sept. 12 against American University.

Scouting the Panthers
Northern Iowa punched its ticket to the Big Dance with a 30-21, 17-30, 30-25, 30-25 victory over Southwest Missouri State in the MVC Tournament championship game on Nov. 29. Senior middle blocker Molly O'Brien - a three-time league player of the year - leads a balanced Panther attack with 3.97 kills per game. This will be the first-ever meeting between the Gauchos and UNI (27-5 overall, 16-2 in league play). The two first-round foes have no common opponents this season.

Gopher Gossip
Minnesota finished the 2003 regular season at 22-10 overall and 15-5 in the Big 10 Conference, good for a second-place tie. Pacing the Golden Gopher offense with 4.71 kills per game is senior opposite hitter Cassie Bussie, the Big 10 Player of the Year. UCSB is 3-2 all-time vs. UM, winning the last meeting 3-1 during the 2000 NCAA Sweet 16 in Honolulu, Hawai'i.

Phoenix Factoids
Champions of the Horizon League, Wisconsin-Green Bay (23-10, 10-4 in conference) is making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Phoenix upset top seeded Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the league championship match in five games to earn a berth in the field of 64. With an average of 4.72 kills per game, senior outside hitter leads UWGB. Santa Barbara and Wisconsin-Green Bay have never met in women's volleyball.

Gauchos Earn Numerous All-Conference Awards
After capturing its second consecutive Big West title, UCSB was justly rewarded with a number of all-conference honors. Kathy Gregory repeated as Big West Coach of the Year, the fourth such award of her Gaucho career. Three Gauchos landed on the All-Big West First Team, led by repeat performer Erica Menzel who became just the third player in school history to earn postseason acclaim from the league for four straight years. Sophomore middle blocker Megan Blackshire was a first-time honoree, as was junior libero Kristin Nelson, the first player at her position to garner All-Big West accolades. Meanwhile middle blocker Olivia Waldowski became the fifth Gaucho in the past eight seasons to be named the Big West Freshman of the Year. She was joined on the league's all-freshman team by outside hitter Janine Sandell.

Poll Position
With their sweep of Arizona last week, the Gauchos improved two spots to No. 20 in the latest USA Today/American Volleyball Coaches' Association Top-25 Poll. Meanwhile the staff of Volleyball magazine tabbed UCSB 19th in its weekly rankings, up one place from the previous poll. Santa Barbara opened the season at No. 9 according to both the Volleyball and the AVCA, reaching a high of seventh in the latter poll on Sept. 1. Finally, back in August the ten Big West Conference coaches correctly predicted that Santa Barbara would defend its league championship in 2003.

Doozy of a Schedule
Another season, another incredibly challenging schedule for UCSB women's volleyball. The Gauchos played 18 matches against fellow NCAA Tournament teams - including third-seeded Florida and No. 4 Pepperdine - posting a solid 11-7 record in those contests. Santa Barbara finished atop the Big West Conference, which sent six teams to the Big Dance, equaling the second-most by any league in the country.

Going the Distance
Before the start of the 2003 season, Kathy Gregory stated that her Gauchos needed to be well-conditioned, since they would be involved in numerous four- and five-game battles. Well, Gregory has proven to be a clairvoyant, as 15 of UCSB's 27 contests extended past the minimum three frames. Santa Barbara has shown its resiliency by going 9-6 in those contests. Adding to the dramatics, the Gauchos have been involved in 14 different games extending past the minimum 30 points. As a comparison, UCSB played 10 four and five-game matches, and lasted longer than 30 points just three times in all of 2002, when the squad posted a 30-3 overall record.

Home is Where the Hits Are
The Gauchos played their best volleyball of the season in the Thunderdome, where they went 9-1 and just missed the first perfect home record in school history. UCSB's six highest single-match hitting percentages in 2003 all came in the friendly confines of the 'Dome, including a .468 mark in a Sept 27 victory over Cal State Fullerton that equaled the 10th-most efficient performance ever by a Gaucho squad.

Big West Rank and File
At the conclusion of the 2003 regular season, the Gauchos find themselves among the Big West Conference leaders in a number of important statistical categories. After ranking dead last in hitting percentage through the first month of the season, UCSB can call itself the league's third-most efficient attacking team, connecting at a .250 clip. That currently ranks as the ninth-best single-season hitting percentage in school history. In addition to ranking second among all Big West squads with 17.40 digs per game, Santa Barbara's averages in kills (16.22) and service aces (1.59) are both fifth-best in the conference.

Waiting in the Wings
During the Fall Early Signing Period, UCSB inked three high school seniors to National Letters of Intent. Ashley Dutro (Mountain View, Calif.), Bethany Johansen (Los Gatos, Calif.) and Brett Quirarte (Long Beach, Calif.) will all join the Gauchos as freshmen for the 2004 season. Dutro is a 5'7" starting setter for St. Francis High School, which has captured the past three CIF Division III State titles. She is ranked 87th nationally on PrepVolleyball.com's list of "Senior Aces". Meanwhile Johansen - a 6'3" middle blocker from Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, Calif. - checked in at No. 34 according to PrepVolleyball.com. Like Dutro, her squad is currently playing in the state tournament. Another 6'3" middle blocker who has committed to the UCSB program is Quirarte, a senior at Wilson High School where she was a teammate of current Gaucho freshman Emily Hendrickson.

On the Horizon
Should the Gauchos emerge victorious in Minneapolis, they will advance to the West Regional Semifinals on Dec. 12 in Long Beach, Calif. Fourth-seeded Pepperdine looms as a potential Sweet 16 opponent for UCSB.