Oct. 13, 2008

UCI FACES 49ERS, MUSTANGS: UC Irvine (8-10 overall, 3-2 Big West) hosts 24th-ranked Long Beach State Thursday (Oct. 16) and travels to Cal Poly Saturday (Oct. 18) in Big West action. Both matches are slated for 7:00 p.m. starts.

THE STANDINGS: The Anteaters hope to gain some ground in the conference race this week as both Long Beach State and Cal Poly are tied for second at 4-1. Pacific tops the league at 5-1. UCI sits in a three-way tie for fourth with Cal State Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara at 3-2.

FILKINS LOGS CAREER-BESTS: Alexandra Filkins (Seal Beach/Los Alamitos HS) recorded several career-bests over the weekend. The outside hitter totaled a personal-high 11 kills against Pacific Friday and went errorless in the match for a .688 hitting clip, also a career-high. Saturday, Filkins scooped up 13 digs for another record performance for the junior.

In action last week, Filkins hit a combined .583 with 16 kills and 17 digs. She also added three total blocks and handed out four assists.

PESTOLESI PUTS UP DOUBLE-DOUBLES: Sophomore Kari Pestolesi (Huntington Beach/Edison HS) posted her 10th and 11th double-doubles of the season against Pacific and UC Davis. Against the Tigers, Pestolesi led the team with 13 kills and 10 digs while adding a solo block. The outside hitter followd that performance with 12 kills and 10 digs against UC Davis. Pestolesi committed just one error in 23 attempts for a career-high .478 percentage.

Pestolesi tops the Anteaters with 213 kills and a 3.67 average. She also holds the team-high in service aces with 17 and is second with 180 digs.

CAREER-BEST FOR CROPPER: Sophomore Riley Cropper (Seal Beach/Los Alamitos HS) continued the trend of personal-bests with an errorless performance against UC Davis. The middle blocker put away eight of 14 attempts to log a career-high .571 percentage. Cropper also topped the team in both matches, registering three block assists against the Tigers and four against the Aggies.

ALL OR NOTHING ANTEATERS: In eight of the last 10 matches the Anteaters have exhibited an all-or-nothing trend, either sweeping their opponent or losing in straight sets. Seven of their eight victories have been 3-0 victories with Cal State Northridge capturing a set in a 3-1 loss to UCI. In the program's loss to Cal State Fullerton, the Anteaters managed a win in set No. 3 to avoid the sweep.

49ER FODDER: No. 24 Long Beach State is 14-3 overall and 4-1 in the Big West. The Beach is riding a four-match win streak, defeating Cal State Northridge, Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara in action last week.

LBSU is led by Caitlin Ledoux, who has 208 kills and a 3.15 average. Ledoux also shares the team-high with 14 service aces. Iris Murray tops the team with 260 digs while Nicole Vargas is averaging 10.08 assists per set. Naomi Washington is the team's top blocker with 69 and a 1.05 per-set average.

THE SERIES: Long Beach State owns a 56-6 all-time series lead against UCI and captured two wins against the Anteaters in 2007.

MUSTANG MUSCLE: Cal Poly is 9-7 overall and 4-1 in league action. The Mustangs saw a four-match win streak snapped with a 3-2 loss against Long Beach State last weekend.

The team is led by Kylie Atherstone, who has 226 kills and a 3.65 average. Atherstone has also fired 30 service aces while putting up 40 total blocks. Alison Mort holds the team-high with 205 digs while Jaclyn Houston has 75 total blocks to pace the Mustangs.

THE SERIES: Cal Poly leads UCI 34-15 in the series marks. UCI suffered a pair of losses against the Mustangs last season.

ANTEATERS IN THE NCAA: Taryn Robertson (Valencia/HS) climbed two spots to 22nd in the country in assist average at 11.05 while Kari Pestolesi is 72nd in kills per set at 3.67 As a team, UCI is 13th in assists per set (13.08) and 15th in kill average (14.17). The team is 54th in hitting percentage at .238.

ANTEATERS IN THE BIG WEST: Robertson is the league leader in assist average while Devon Sutherland (Corona/Santiago HS) holds the top spot with a 4.10 dig average. Pestolesi climbed from third to second with a 3.68 kill average and remains sixth in service aces at .29. Alexandra Hauser (China Hills/Ayala HS) is fifth in hitting percentage at 2.80 while Shannan Homan (Placentia/Wake Forest) is 10th at .261.

As a team, UCI is first in kills (14.17), assists (13.08) and is second in digs (15.39) and hitting percentage at .238.

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: The Anteaters recorded a 1-1 record on the road last week, losing to Pacific, 3-0 and defeating UC Davis in straight sets.

Pestolesi led the team with 13 kills while Filkins chipped in 11. Pestolesi led all players with 10 digs while Robertson recorded 33 assists.

Against UC Davis, Lauren Kellerman (Escondido/HS) led all players with 15 kills while Filkins and Sutherland shared the team-high with 13 digs apiece. Robertson had 40 assists in the winning effort.

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