No. 23 UC Irvine Travels to UC Davis, Pacific
Oct. 26, 2009
UCI BATTLES FOR FIRST PLACE AGAIN: No. 23 UC Irvine (17-4, 7-2 Big West) and UC Davis, both 7-2 Big West Conference matches, square off this Friday (Oct. 31) in a battle for first place in the Big West. UCI then tackles Pacific, which is 5-4 to sit in fifth place in the conference.
UCI IN THE POLLS: UCI fell four spots from 19th and is ranked 23rd in the AVCA Coaches poll this week.
ANTEATERS IN THE STANDINGS: Sitting one win behind UCI and UC Davis is Long Beach State, currently in third place at 6-2. UC Santa Barbara is fourth at 6-3 and is followed by Pacific (5-4). Cal State Fullerton holds a 3-5 mark while Cal State Northridge upset Pacific last weekend to improve to 3-6. Cal Poly (2-8) and UC Riverside (1-8) are in eighth and ninth place, respectively.
WINKLER RECORDS CAREER-HIGH: Libero Kristin Winkler (Los Altos/St. Francis HS) recorded a career-high 26 digs against UC Santa Barbara last week. Winkler then scooped up 24 digs in the win against Cal Poly to post her fourth match with 20 or more digs. The freshman tops the team with 310 digs and a 3.78 average. She is also third on the team with 22 aces.
HAUSER BLOCKS PERSONAL BEST: Alexandra Hauser (Chino Hills/Ayala HS) keyed the Anteater defense, recording a combined 13 blocks in two matches last weekend. Hauser tied a career-high with six block assists against UC Santa Barbara while adding six kills and then set a new personal best with seven blocks against Cal Poly the next night. Offensively, Hauser recorded the 10th-best hitting percentage in the UCI match records, pounding a .727 clip by knocking down eight of 11 attempts with no errors. It is the seventh time this season that Hauser has recorded an errorless performance for UCI.
Hauser holds the team-high in blocks with 77 and a 0.93 average and is 10 blocks away from breaking into the season records. Former Anteater Kris Roberts is 10th on the list with 87 block assists registered in 1986.
PIGGOTT FIRES FOUR ACES FOR CAREER-HIGH: Juliane Piggott (Newport Beach/UCLA) was the third Anteater to record a new personal-best over the weekend as the outside hitter fired off four aces against the Gauchos. Piggott has 17 aces on the season and a 0.21 average to sit fourth on the team. The outside hitter is also second in kills with 238 and a 2.97 average and fourth in blocks with 36.
ROBERTSON KNOCKS DOWN NEW HIGH: Taryn Robertson (Valencia/HS) totaled 10 kills in the win against Cal Poly to record a personal-high for the senior. Robertson hit .438 in the match, committing three errors in 16 attempts while posting 46 assists for her sixth double-double match of the season. She fell just two digs shy of a triple double with eight digs and also added an ace and a block for the Anteaters.
Robertson is fifth on the team with 101 kills and holds a 9.77 assist average. She is also second in aces with 24 and third at the net in blocks with 40.
FILKINS, NORDYKE CHIP IN SEASON BESTS: Alexandra Filkins (Seal Beach/Los Alamitos HS) and Larissa Nordyke (Honolulu, HI/Punahou HS) sparked the Anteaters Saturday as the duo recorded season highs. Filkins put away a season-high 10 kills. Filkins had just two errors in 16 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage while adding six digs and a block.
Nordyke picked up 13 digs, a personal-high this season for the junior outside hitter. She also added 11 kills for her first double-double of the season.
Filkins has recorded 45 kills and three service aces for UCI and Nordyke has amassed 74 kills in 57 sets played.
AND THE DIGS KEEP COMING: The Anteater streak of registering a team-best in digs extended to five weeks as UCI logged 94 against UC Santa Barbara. Five Anteaters had double-figure digs with Winkler's 26 leading the team. Kari Pestolesi (Huntington Beach/Edison HS) added 20 while Piggott put in 16. Nordyke's 13 scoops were followed by Robertson, who posted 11.
PESTOLESI NEARING No. 8 SPOT: Pestolesi, who has a team-high 31 aces on the season, is one shy of tying the No. 8 spot in the UCI career records. The outside hitter is currently ninth with 106 and needs one service winner to move into eighth with alumna Brooke Witt, who totaled 107 from 1997-2000. Pestolesi is averaging 0.39 aces per set.
The junior also tops the team in kills with 303 and a 3.79 average.
PESTOLESI CLOSING IN ON 1000 DIGS: Pestolesi, second on the team with 299 digs this season, is four digs shy of becoming the ninth Anteater to reach a 1000 career digs. The junior has amassed 996 in three seasons and averages 3.74 per set. Scotleen Risley posted 1000 digs from 1989-1992 and currently sits eighth. Devon Sutherland (2005-08) is the current record holder with 1756.
ALL ABOUT THE AGGIES: UC Davis is 16-7 overall and 7-2 in the Big West. The Aggies sport a four-match win streak and are 3-1 at home. UCD swept Cal State Northridge in its lone match last week. The team is led by Allison Whitson, who has 289 kills and a 3.44 average. Betsy Sedlak tops the team with 16 solo blocks and 77 block assists for a total of 93 blocks while Avreeta Singh holds the team-high in digs with 318. Carson Lowden owns a 10.19 assist average while Melanie Adams has 23 aces for the team-high.
HOW THEY MATCH UP: The two teams are similar in the kill category with UCI averaging 12.9 and the Aggies with a 12.6 average and both share a 1.4 service ace average. The Anteaters hold the edge in digs at 15.17 to UCD's 14.10 but Davis owns a 2.40 block advantage while UCI is averaging 1.92.
THE SERIES: UCI is 11-0 against UC Davis following the Anteaters' 3-1 win against the Aggies earlier this season.
ABOUT THE TIGERS: Pacific is 15-5 overall and 5-4 in the Big West. The Tigers fell in five sets against Cal State Northridge last week but have won four of their last six contests.
The team is led by Svenja Englehardt, who has 250 kills, a 3.33 average and 33 aces. Mallori Gibson tops the team with a 0.68 blocking average while Dancyne Kama holds the team-lead in digs with 301. Olivia Riley has 812 assists to lead Pacific.
HOW THEY MATCH UP: Pacific is averaging 13.27 kills per set and 12.2 assists. UCI holds an edge in digs (15.17 - 12.91) while the Tigers have the advantage in aces (1.67-1.49) and blocks (2.03-1.92).
THE SERIES: Pacific boasts a 48-8 all-time series lead against UCI. The Anteaters defeated Pacific 3-1 earlier in the season.
UCI IN THE BIG WEST: UC Irvine is second in aces at 1.49 and third in hitting percentage (.239). The team is third in digs (15.17), fifth in assists (12.06) and seventh in blocks at 1.92.
Hauser remains in third in hitting at .338 while Riley Cropper (Seal Beach/Los Alamitos HS) holds steady in fourth at .328. Pestolesi is in third in aces at 0.39, fifth in kills (3.79) and ninth in digs at 3.74. Robertson is sixth in assists (9.77) and seventh in aces at 0.30. Winkler moved to seventh in digs at 3.78.
ANTEATERS IN THE NATION: The Anteaters are 22nd in the nation with a .810 win-loss percentage. UCI is 55th in hitting percentage, 70th in aces per set and 86th in assists.
Pestolesi is ranked 50th in points average (4.46), 66th in aces per set and 73rd in kill average.
WEEKLY WRAPUP: UCI suffered its first home loss of the season and had a five-match win streak snapped in a 3-2 loss to UC Santa Barbara Friday. Pestolesi led UCI with 22 kills and totaled 20 digs for her 15th double-double match of the season while Piggott added 16 kills and a career-high four aces. Robertson notched a double-double with 44 assists and 11 digs while Hauser tied for the match-high with six block assists.
Wearing pink for the fight against breast cancer, the Anteaters held off Cal Poly in five sets Saturday. Four Anteaters reached double-figure kills with Piggott leading the way with 15. Winkler topped the Anteaters with 24 digs while Hauser registered a career-high with seven block assists. Robertson also had a career-high with 10 kills while dealing 46 assists in the win.
