|
Women's Volleyball:
UC Irvine Travels to Pacific, UC Davis
Oct. 6, 2008 ANTEATERS ON THE ROAD TO PACIFIC, DAVIS: UC Irvine (7-9 overall, 2-1 Big West) travels to Pacific Friday (Oct. 10) and UC Davis (Oct. 11) Saturday. First serve for both matches is 7:00 p.m. PESTOLESI PACES ANTEATERS OVER WEEKEND: Sophomore Kari Pestolesi (Huntington Beach/Edison HS) led UC Irvine in both matches last week putting up 16 kills apiece against Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton. Pestolesi registered her eighth and ninth double-doubles with team-highs of 13 and 17 digs, respectively. The 17 digs were a season-high for the outside hitter and Pestolesi also matched a season-best with four block assists against the Titans. CROPPER PUTS UP CAREER-HIGH: Sophomore Riley Cropper (Seal Beach/Los Alamitos HS) also logged a career-high, recording seven block assists against the Matadors. Cropper, whose previous best was two block assists against Liberty and UC Riverside, also hit .400 in the match, putting away five of 10 attempts with just one error. Cropper has recorded 14 total blocks on the season while totaling 23 kills and four service aces on the offensive end. KELLERMAN HITS .400 AGAINST CSUN: Senior Lauren Kellerman (Escondido/HS) belted a .400 hitting percentage against the Matadors in action last week. The outside hitter totaled 16 kills on 35 attempts with two errors while falling a dig shy of a double-double. Kellerman also posted her second-best effort of the season with three block assists. Kellerman is second on the team with 165 kills and a 3.06 per-set average. Kellerman is also second with 11 service aces and tied for third with 122 digs. ROBERTSON TOPS TEAM IN BLOCKS: Setter Taryn Robertson (Valencia/HS), who leads the team with 590 assists, is also the team`s top blocker with 39 total blocks.
Robertson has 35 block assists and four solo stuffs for the Anteaters this season. The junior is tied for third with 122 digs and has put away 59 kills. PESTOLESI INCREASES EFFICIENCY: Sophomore Kari Pestolesi (Huntington Beach/Edison HS) is off to a fast start in Big West Conference matches. The outside hitter has hit over .300 in two of three matches and holds a .294 in league play. On the season Pestolesi holds the team high in kills with 188, service aces with 16 and is second with 160 digs. CROPPER PUTS UP SEASON`S SECOND-BEST EFFORT: Riley Cropper followed up a .400 hitting performance against CSUN by hitting .417 against the Titans for her second-highest hitting percentage this season. The middle blocker posted her second consecutive one-error match, totaling six kills in 12 swings. Cropper's career-high is a .444 average, which she posted against San Diego State. FILKINS RECORDS CAREER-HIGH: Alexandra Filkins (Seal Beach/Los Alamitos HS) posted a career-high as the junior outside hitter picked up 11 digs against the Matadors. Filkins had a solid match, recording three block assists while chipping in five kills on 14 attempts. HAUSER PUTS UP ERROR-FREE MATCHES: Another middle blocker who has been producing is redshirt freshman Alexandra Hauser (Chino Hills/Ayala HS). Hauser did not have an error against the Matadors, putting away two of five balls for a .400 average and then went errorless against the Titans, connecting on six of nine attempts for a .667 clip. Hauser is hitting .276 on the season with 48 kills and 30 total blocks. TEAM BLOCKS SEASON-HIGH: UC Irvine registered a season-high 22 block assists against Cal State Northridge last week. The Anteaters out-blocked the Matadors 13-8.5 and were led by Cropper`s seven block assists. Taryn Robertson also logged a personal-best with five block assists while Shannan Homan (Placentia/Wake Forest), Alexandra Filkins and Lauren Kellerman added three apiece. TIGER TIPS: Pacific is 3-9 overall and 3-1 in the Big West. The Tigers opened the season with an eight-match losing streak but won their first three conference matches, defeating UC Davis, Long each State and UC Santa Barbara before falling to Cal Poly. The team is led by Mallori Gibson who is averaging 3.53 kills per set. Masha Vaysburg holds the team-high in blocks with 35 while Shannon Krug is posting a 10.19 assist-per-set average. Kara Uhl tops the team with 131 digs. THE SERIES: Pacific has dominated the series against UC Irvine and holds a 47-6 series lead. AGGIE ACTION: UC Davis is 8-9 overall and 0-4 in the Big West. The Aggies will look to snap a four-match losing streak this week. Renee Ibekwe paces the team with 244 kills and a 3.94 average. Carson Lowden has 484 assists for a team-high while Julie King has logged 53 total blocks. Avreeta Singh has picked up 245 digs for a team-high and is averaging 3.77 per set. THE SERIES: UC Irvine is undefeated against UC Davis and is 8-0 in the series against the Aggies. ANTEATERS IN THE NCAA: Taryn Robertson (Valencia/HS) sits at No. 24 in the NCAA rankings with a 10.93 assist average. Devon Sutherland is 79th in dig average at 4.24 while Kari Pestolesi vaulted from 95th to 77th in kill average. As a team, UCI is 15th in kills per set (14.11), 17th in assist average (13.06), 67th in dig average (15.24) and 79th in hitting percentage (.230). ANTEATERS IN THE BIG WEST: Taryn Robertson remains the conference leader in assists-per-set at 10.93 while Devon Sutherland is the Big West`s top libero with a 4.24 dig-per-set average. Chelsea Ellis holds steady in forth in hitting percentage (.321) while Homan climbed another spot to eighth with a .270 average. Kari Pestolesi remains from fifth to third in kills per set (3.62) while Lauren Kellerman fell a spot to 10th in kills at 3.06. Pestolesi is sixth in the conference with a .31 service-ace average. As a team, UCI is first in kills (14.11), assists (13.06) and digs (15.24) and is second in hitting percentage at .230. 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 improved to 2-0 with a 3-1 win over Cal State Northridge but followed with a 3-1 loss to Cal State Fullerton in Big West action last week. Against the Matadors, Pestolesi and Kellerman had 16 kills piece and UCI posted a .301 hitting percentage. The Anteaters out-dug CSUN 59-48 with Pestolesi, Sutherland and Filkins each reaching double-digits. Pestolesi led UCI with 16 kills and 17 digs against the Titans. Four Anteaters added six kills apiece while Sutherland totaled 14 digs. Robertson handed out 41 assists and came away with nine digs. |
