Women's Volleyball:

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Sept. 29, 2008

UCI ENTERTAINS MATADORS, TITANS: UC Irvine (6-8 overall, 1-0 Big West) returns to Crawford Court to host Cal State Northridge Friday (Oct. 3) and Cal State Fullerton Saturday (Oct. 4) in a pair of Big West Conference matches. Both matches are slated for 7:00 p.m. starts.

GAMETRACKER AVAILABLE FOR HOME MATCHES: Gametracker will be available for all of UC Irvine home matches. Gametracker is accessible through the UC Irvine Athletics site at ucirvinesports.com.

HOMAN ON BLUE AND GOLD REPORT: Senior Shannan Homan (Placentia/Wake Forest) will be a guest on the first Blue and Gold Report of the 2008-09 year.

The show, which airs Tuesdays at 5:00 p.m. on KUCI 88.9 FM is hosted by Mark Roberts, play-by-play announcer for men’s basketball and baseball. Homan is joined on the show by soccer players Mike Willrich and Kate Berrini.

Homan, a middle blocker, is tied for second on the team with 32 total blocks on 29 block assists and three solo stuffs. She is averaging .73 blocks per set and is third with 2.39 kills per set.

KELLERMAN PACES ANTEATERS PAST HIGHLANDERS: Senior Lauren Kellerman (Escondido/HS) led UC Irvine with her second double-double of the season, recording a team-high 15 kills with 12 digs as the Anteaters swept UC Riverside in their Big West Conference opener.

Kellerman is averaging 3.11 kills per set and is second with 143 and 10 service aces. She is just the third Anteater to reach 1300 career kills (1,378).

PESTOLESI HITS SEASON-HIGH: Sophomore Kari Pestolesi (Huntington Beach/Edison HS) registered a .324 hitting percentage against UC Riverside for a season-high. The outside hitter posted 14 kills on 34 attempts with just three errors.

Pestolesi leads the team with 156 kills and a 3.55 per set average. She also is first with 13 service aces and second with 130 digs.

KELLERMAN EYEING No. 2 SPOT IN CAREER RECORDS: Lauren Kellerman has amassed 4,002 career attempts and is 12 away from surpassing former Anteater Popi Edwards who logged 4,013 attempts from 1992-95. Kellerman is the third Anteater to reach the 4K benchmark.

CROPPER MAKING AN IMPACT: Sophomore Riley Cropper (Seal Beach/Los Alamitos HS) recorded her second-best hitting percentage against UC Riverside. The middle blocker put away six of 13 attempts with two errors for a .308 average. Cropper also matched a season-best with two block assists.

KEEPING UP WITH CSUN: Cal State Northridge is 5-9 overall and 0-2 in conference matches. The Matadors will look to snap a six-match losing streak Friday against UC Irvine, suffering close losses to UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly last weekend.

The team is led by Brittany Williams, who holds a 2.61 kill average. Angela Hupp is first in kills with 129 while Kelley Hanson tops the squad with 176 digs. Sam Orlandini is averaging 10.32 assists per set while Lynda Morales holds the team-high in total blocks with 49.

THE SERIES: UC Irvine trails 19-16 in the all-time series against Cal State Northridge. The Anteaters have won the last three matches against the Matadors.

TITAN TIDBITS: Cal State Fullerton is 6-10 overall and 0-2 in the Big West after registering losses to Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara in the opening week of conference play.

The team is led by Erin Saddler, who is averaging 2.98 kills per set. Genie Francisco tops the team with a 9.57 assist per set average while Cami Croteau holds the team-high with 203 digs.

THE SERIES: The Anteaters hold a 38-21 series advantage over Cal State Fullerton and split a pair of 3-1 decisions in 2007.

ANTEATERS IN THE NCAA: Taryn Robertson (Valencia/HS) climbed from 24th to 19th among the NCAA’s top setters with an 11.04 average. Devon Sutherland is now 56th in dig average at 4.41 and Kari Pestolesi is 95th in kills per set. As a team, UCI jumped from 20th to 11th in kills per set (14.24), is 14th in assists per set (13.17), and 49th in dig average (15.48).

ANTEATERS IN THE BIG WEST: Chelsea Ellis climbed another spot from fifth to fourth in the Big West in hitting percentage (.311) while Homan rose from 10th to ninth with a .261 clip.

Taryn Robertson (Valencia/HS) tops the conference in assist average (11.04) while Devon Sutherland (Corona/Santiago HS) also remains the league leader with a 4.41 dig average. Kari Pestolesi remains in fifth in kills per set (3.55) while Lauren Kellerman went from ninth to eighth with a 3.11 per set average. Pestolesi remains seventh in service aces at .30.

As a team, UCI is first in kills (14.24), assists (13.17) and digs (15.48) and second in hitting percentage at .224.

ANTEATER ALUMNAE ON KARCH’S KRONICLES: Former Anteaters Ashlie Hain, Whitney Pavlik and Kelly Wing will appear on "Karch's Khronicles" on FOX SPORTS WEST and PRIME TICKET. In the two-minute segments designed to enhance Pac-10 volleyball coverage, Olympic Gold medalist Karch Kiraly will explain offensive systems, defensive coverage and coaching strategies using former players from UC Irvine and Irvine Valley College to demonstrate the drills. Please check the local listings for more information.

WEEKEND WRAPUP: UC Irvine opened Big West action with a 3-0 win over UC Riverside in its lone match last week.

The Anteaters were paced by Kellerman’s 15 kills while Pestolesi added 14. Robertson posted 38 assists and Sutherland led the team with 13 digs.

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