Anteaters on the Road To Cal State Fullerton, UC Riverside

Nov. 9, 2009

ANTEATERS MEET TITANS, HIGHLANDERS: UC Irvine (19-6, 8-4 Big West) travels to Cal State Fullerton Friday (Nov. 13) and UC Riverside Saturday (Nov. 14) in a pair of Big West Conference matches. First serve for both matches is 7:00 p.m.

ANTEATERS IN THE STANDINGS: UCI remains in fourth place in the conference race at 8-4. Long Beach State leads the league at 9-3 while UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis share second place at 9-4. Cal State Fullerton is fifth at 6-6 with Pacific in sixth (6-7). Cal State Northridge and UC Riverside are tied for seventh at 3-9 and Cal Poly sits in eighth with a 3-10 mark.

UCI ON THE AIR: Public address announcer Rob Espero will broadcast the UC Irvine-Cal State Fullerton contest on the Internet. Click on the Listen Live page at ucirvinesports.com to access the webcast.

PIGGOTT ON THE BLUE AND GOLD: Juliane Piggott (Newport Beach/UCLA) will be a guest on this week's Blue and Gold Report. Men's water polo player Tom Kruip is also a guest on the show which airs Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. on KUCI 88.9 FM.

WEISHOFF LOOKS FOR WIN No. 20: UC Irvine head coach Paula Weishoff looks for her 20th win this Friday against the Titans. Weishoff, with a 19-6 record, is the first UCI women's volleyball coach to lead the program to a winning season in her first year at the helm since 1977 when Shar Wallander's Anteaters recorded a 9-7 overall mark. A victory this week against the Titans or the Highlanders would give UCI its fifth 20-win season.

PESTOLESI RECORDS SEASON-HIGH DIGS: Kari Pestolesi (Huntington Beach/Edison HS), donning the libero jersey for the first time this season, recorded a season-high 26 digs in the sweep against Seattle. It is the highest number of digs recorded in a three-set match by an Anteater this season and is the outside hitter's fourth match with 20 or more digs.

Pestolesi leads UCI with 348 kills and is second in digs with 349. She is also the team leader with 34 aces and has 38 blocks on the season.

PESTOLESI IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Following a 32-dig effort in two matches last week, Pestolesi leapt from eighth to fifth in the UCI career dig records with 1,046. She shares the spot with alumna Keegan Featherstone, who registered the mark from 2002-05.

MILLER KNOCKS DOWN SEASON-HIGH IN WIN AGAINST SEATTLE: McCall Miller (Laguna Beach/Mater Dei HS) recorded a season-high 18 kills to lead the Anteaters to a sweep over Seattle. The senior hit .343 (18-6-35), also a season-high, while picking up 11 digs for her first double-double match of the season. Miller chipped in a kill and six digs in the win over Cal State Northridge and currently has 28 kills and 108 digs for the team this season.

HAUSER HITS .500: Alexandra Hauser (Chino Hills/Ayala HS) registered her ninth errorless match of the season, hitting .500 (6 for 12) against Seattle. Hauser then put away four kills in the sweep against the Matadors, committing just one error in nine swings for a .333 clip.

HAUSER ATOP BIG WEST IN HITTING: Making a steady climb through the Big West leaders for several weeks, Hauser reached the top of the conference in hitting this week with a .349 percentage. The sophomore has hit .300 or better in 14 matches this season.

HAUSER STREAK SNAPPED: Hauser went without a block against Seattle, snapping a nine-match streak with at least one block. The last time the sophomore did not record a block was against UC Santa Barbara (Sept. 26). It is only the third time this season the middle blocker has put up a zero in the block column and she rebounded with a four-block effort to lead the Anteaters against Cal State Northridge.

PIGGOTT PACES ANTEATERS PAST MATADORS: Junior Juliane Piggott (Newport Beach/UCLA) pounded 18 kills to lead UCI to a sweep over Cal State Northridge. The outside hitter hit .359 for the match, the second consecutive match she has hit .300 or better. Against Seattle last Tuesday, Piggott hit .304, putting away eight kills in 23 attempts with one error.

She is second on the team in kills (287) and fourth in blocks (45), aces (20) and digs (160).

NORDYKE SOLID AGAINST MATADORS: Junior Larissa Nordyke (Honolulu, HI/Punahou HS) recorded her second-best effort of the season with a .370 hitting percentage against Cal State Northridge. The opposite totaled 11 kills in 27 attempts with one error as the Anteaters swept the Matadors for the first time since 2005. Nordyke also picked up five digs and had two blocks in the win.

She currently has 97 kills and is averaging 1.41 per set.

MOELLER, ALVAREZ MAKE FIRST STARTS: Courtney Moeller (Anaheim/Canyon HS) made her first start for the Anteaters against Seattle and put in an error-free effort, knocking down four kills in 12 attempts for a .333 hitting percentage. The freshman also had three digs and fired a team-high two service aces in the win. Moeller then put away a pair of kills and recorded a season-high four blocks in the win against Cal State Northridge.

Marissa Alvarez (Redwood City/Sacred Heart Prep HS) also saw her first start for the Anteaters against Seattle and dished out 39 assists to go along with eight digs. The freshman also did not commit an error on the offensive end, putting away four of 10 attempts for a .400 clip.

TITAN TIPS: Cal State Fullerton is 15-10 overall and 6-6 in the Big West. The Titans have won three straight conference matches and are led by Erin Saddler, who has 403 kills and 27 aces. Cami Croteau tops the team in digs with 479 while Kayla Neto is the team's top blocker with 93 on the season.

THE SERIES: UCI leads the Titans 39-22 in the all-time series and split a pair of matches last season. The Anteaters will face their cross-county foes on back-to-back weekends with CSF making the return trip to the Bren Center Nov. 20.

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS: UC Riverside is 6-17 overall and 3-9 in the Big West. The Highlanders have won three of their last four matches are led by Dominique Cowling, who has 311 kills and a 3.75 average. Bianca Endersby, who owns the second-best blocking average in the conference, tops the team with 91 blocks and a 1.15 per-set average while Cowling also leads the team with 231 digs. Brittney Murrey has 727 assists for the team-high.

THE SERIES: UCI holds a 21-10 series lead against UC Riverside. The Anteaters have won seven straight against UCR.

UCI IN THE BIG WEST: UC Irvine is second in aces (1.42) and third in hitting percentage (.239). The team is also third in digs (15.56), fourth in assists (12.36) and sixth in blocks at 1.94.

Hauser is first in hitting in the Big West at .349 while Riley Cropper (Seal Beach/Los Alamitos HS) is sixth at .321. Pestolesi is fourth in aces (0.36), fifth in kills (3.70) and eighth in digs (3.71). Taryn Robertson (Valencia/HS) is sixth in assists (9.93) and moved up one spot to ninth in aces at 0.27. Kristin Winkler (Los Altos/St. Francis HS) is fifth in digs with a .4.00 per-set average.

ANTEATERS IN THE NATION: The Anteaters jumped to 34th in the country with a .760 win-loss percentage. UCI is 55th in hitting percentage, 68th in assists, 81st in aces and 80th in kills.

Pestolesi is ranked 69th in points average (4.32), 86th in kill average and 90th in aces per set.

WEEKLY WRAPUP: UC Irvine went 2-0 in action last week, recording a pair of sweeps against Seattle and Cal State Northridge. McCall Miller led the team with 18 kills and added 11 digs against the Redhawks while Kari Pestolesi recorded a team-high 26 digs.

Against the Matadors Piggott paced the Anteater attack with 18 kills while Robertson dished out 38 assists to go with 12 digs, four kills and a service ace. Nordyke added 11 kills while Winkler picked up 18 digs. Hauser and Moeller led the defensive effort with four block assists apiece as UCI out-blocked CSUN 8-5.