UC Irvine Hosts Cal State Fullerton, Travels to Long Beach State
Nov. 16, 2009
ANTEATERS MEET TITANS, 49ERS: UC Irvine (21-6, 10-4 Big West) hosts Cal State Fullerton Friday (Nov. 20) to close out the home portion of the schedule and then travels to Long Beach State Saturday (Nov. 21). First serve for both matches is 7:00 p.m. Friday's match will be played in the Bren Events Center. UCI takes on the 49ers at the Pyramid Saturday.
SENIOR DAY: UCI will honor its four seniors, Taryn Robertson (Valencia/HS), McCall Miller (Laguna Beach/Mater Dei HS), Alexandra Filkins (Seal Beach/Los Alamitos HS) and Lauren Souto (Huntington Beach/Mater Dei HS) in a brief pre-match ceremony Friday prior to first serve.
ANTEATERS IN THE STANDINGS: The Anteaters went 2-0 on the road last week to jump from fourth in the Big West to a tie for first with Long Beach State at 10-4. UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis are tied for third at 10-5 while Cal State Fullerton is fifth at 7-7. Pacific is sixth (7-8) while Cal State Northridge moved into seventh at 4-10. Cal Poly (4-11) and UC Riverside (3-11) round out the standings at eighth and ninth, respectively.
UCI TIES SECOND-HIGHEST WIN MARK: With 21 wins on the season, the Anteaters have tied the second-highest win mark in program history. The program has registered 21 wins three times in its history and has passed 20 wins four times. UCI's record mark is 24 wins, recorded in 2003.
PESTOLESI LEADS ANTEATERS TO FIRST-PLACE TIE: Kari Pestolesi (Huntington Beach/Edison HS) posted a pair of double-doubles to lead UC Irvine to a 2-0 road record last weekend. The junior standout led the team with 13 kills against Cal State Fullerton while adding 21 digs for her fourth 20-plus dig match of the season. Pestolesi also had a pair of aces in the win.
Against UC Riverside, Pestolesi posted 18 kills and 15 digs with two aces as the Anteaters handled the Highlanders, 3-1. The outside hitter hit .310, committing five errors in 42 attempts for her fourth-best hitting percentage of the season.
Pestolesi leads the team with 379 kills and a 3.75 per-set average. She also tops the team with 38 aces and is second in digs with 385.
HAUSER NEARING 100-BLOCK MARK: Alexandra Hauser (Chino Hills/Ayala HS) posted five block assists over the weekend to increase her total to 93 on the season. Currently tied for eighth with Anteater alumna Amanda Vazquez who posted 93 in 2004 and 2005, Hauser is five blocks shy of moving into the No. 7 spot currently owned by Kris Roberts (1987), who had 98.
The sophomore middle blocker posted six kills apiece against the Titans and the Highlanders. Hauser tops the team with 99 blocks and is fourth on the team with 145 kills. She remains the team and Big West leader in hitting percentage for the second straight week, boasting a .342 clip.
WINKLER RECORDS PAIR OF 20+DIG MATCHES: Freshman Kristin Winkler (Los Altos/St. Francis HS) totaled more than 20 digs on consecutive nights to lead the Anteater defense. The libero picked up 23 against Cal State Fullerton and then tied her second-best mark with 24 scoops against the Highlanders. It is the second time this season Winkler has reached the 20-dig mark on back-to-back nights and she now has registered seven matches with 20 or more digs.
Winkler leads the team with 427 digs and a 4.19 average. She is currently sixth in the UCI season records in digs and needs just 11 to move into the No. 5 spot, currently owned by Keegan Feathestone, who posted 438 in 2004.
ROBERTSON HANDS OUT 50 FOR THIRD TIME: Setter Taryn Robertson dealt out 52 assists in the win against UC Riverside for her third match of the season with 50 or more assists. The senior narrowly missed a double-double with nine digs against the Highlanders but fired a pair of aces in the winning effort.
Robertson totaled 30 assists in the win against Cal State Fullerton while adding five kills and eight digs.
Robertson has 996 assists on the season, just four shy from reaching the 1000-assist plateau. She is averaging 10.06 per set and is second on the team with 27 aces. Robertson is third with 203 digs to go along with 125 kills.
CROPPER MAKES A COMEBACK: After sitting out a week due to a sprained ankle, middle blocker Riley Cropper (Seal Beach/Los Alamitos HS) got back into the swing of things with a near-perfect weekend. The junior had just one error against the Titans, putting away four of nine attempts for a .333 average and tied for the team-high with three block assists. Cropper then put away five of 14 attempts with no miscues for a .357 clip against UC Riverside and led the team with three blocks.
Cropper, who is hitting .323 on the season, is fourth on the team with 148 kills and is second with 61 blocks.
NORDYKE KNOCKS DOWN A DOZEN: Junior Larissa Nordyke (Honolulu, HI/Punahou HS) knocked down 12 kills in the win against UC Riverside to help the Anteaters to a 3-1 win. The effort marks the fifth time this season she has reached double-digit kills and Nordyke just missed a double-double with eight digs. The right-side hitter also posted a pair of block assists, her third straight match of two blocks for the team.
On the previous night, Nordyke totaled six kills and a 10 digs with two blocks. She is currently third with 115 kills and is averaging 1.51 per set.
TITAN REMATCH: Cal State Fullerton, 16-11 overall and 7-7 in the Big West, makes its return trip to UC Irvine this Friday at the Bren Events Center. The Titans have won four of their last five matches and are led by Erin Saddler's 417 kills. Andrea Ragan tops the team with 1104 assists and Cami Croteau is the team's dig leader with 514. Kayla Neto holds the team-high in blocks with 88 and is second in kills with 273.
THE SERIES: UCI took a 3-0 win from CSF last week and holds a 40-22 advantage in the all-time series. The two programs have been evenly matched the last several years with the teams sharing a split the last five seasons.
ABOUT LONG BEACH STATE: Long Beach State is 17-7 overall (10-4 Big West) and boasts a 9-2 home record. The Beach is led by Naomi Washington, who has 344 kills and a 4.05 per-set average. Caitlin Ledoux is second with 321 kills while Michelle Osunbor tops the team with 90 blocks. Ashley Lee owns a 10.58 assist average and Lauren Minkel leads the team with 362 digs.
THE SERIES: LBSU controls the all-time series record at 57-8. UCI captured a 3-2 win earlier this season at Crawford Court. The duo of Ledoux and Washington totaled 13 kills apiece in the evenly-played match while Pestolesi had a match-high 23 kills. The Beach out-blocked and out-dug the Anteaters but UCI took the advantage in aces and kills.
UCI IN THE BIG WEST: UC Irvine leads the Big West in opponent hitting percentage (.175) and remains second in aces (1.43). The Anteaters are also second in digs at 15.95 and fourth in hitting percentage at .238, kills (13.36) and assists (12.45).
Hauser is first in hitting in the Big West at .342 while Cropper is sixth with a .323 clip. Pestolesi jumped up on spot to third in aces (0.38) and remains fifth in kills (3.75). She also climbed two spots to sixth in digs (3.81). Robertson holds steady in sixth in assists (10.06) and jumped up to eighth in aces at 0.27. Winkler also climbed a spot, moving up to fourth in digs with a 4.19 per-set average.
ANTEATERS IN THE NATION: The Anteaters is 32nd in the country with a .778 win-loss percentage. UCI is 59th in hitting percentage, 63rd in assists, 67th in digs, 73rd in kills and 78th in aces.
Pestolesi is ranked 65th in points average (4.37), 64th in aces (0.38) and 82nd in kill average. Robertson is 92nd in assist average.
WEEKLY WRAPUP: The Anteaters posted wins against Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside and have now won four straight contests. Pestolesi and Juliane Piggott (Newport Beach/UCLA) reached double-digits to lead the Anteaters in the sweep over the Titans with 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Winkler's 23 digs topped the Anteaters while Hauser, Robertson and Cropper led the team to a 12-2 edge in block assists with three apiece.
Against the Highlanders, Pestolesi led a trio of Anteaters in double-figure kills with 18 while Piggott and Nordyke had 12 apiece. Winkler posted 24 digs while Robertson totaled 52 assists and nine digs. Cropper led the team with three blocks.
