Women's Volleyball:

Nov. 30, 2009

ANTEATERS REACH 20 WINS FOR FIFTH TIME: UC Irvine (22-8, 11-5 Big West) ended the season at 22-8 overall and 11-5 in the Big West Conference, finishing tied for second in the league standings.

UCI RECORDS FEWEST LOSSES SINCE 1978: UCI's eight losses are the fewest in program history since the 1978 Anteaters went 12-5 under former coach Shar Wallander.

WEISHOFF'S WIN PERCENTAGE BEST IN UCI ANNALS: Head coach Paula Weishoff, in her first season at the helm of the women's volleyball program, led the Anteaters to a program-best .733 win-loss percentage. The previous high was recorded in 1978 when UCI posted a .706 (12-5) percentage.

FIRST SEASON STELLAR FOR WEISHOFF: The Anteaters' bid for their first Big West title came down to the final conference match of the season against champion Long Beach State. Falling 3-2 in a thrilling match, UCI finished second in the conference for the third time in program history and has now finished third or higher in the Big West three straight seasons.

Weishoff led UCI to its fourth 20-win season and posted the second-highest win total in the program records with 22. Weishoff is also the first coach since Wallander to lead the Anteaters to a winning season in her first year with the program. Wallander led the first UCI team to a 9-7 mark in 1977.

Weishoff mentored four All-Big West honorees, including three All-Big West first-team choices.

PESTOLESI LEADS UCI IN LOSS TO TCU: Kari Pestolesi (Huntington Beach/Edison HS) registered a match-high 22 kills in the loss to TCU last Saturday. The three-time All-Big West first team selection notched her 23rd double-double of the season with a team-high 18 digs.

Pestolesi ends the season as the team leader in kills with 437 and aces with 41. The outside hitter also was second in digs with 442 while adding 42 blocks for the team.

NORDYKE TIES SEASON-HIGH: Larissa Nordyke (Honolulu, HI/Punahou HS) tied a season-high with 13 digs against TCU last week. The junior outside hitter just fell shy of a double-double, chipping in nine kills, four assists and a pair of blocks.

Nordyke finished fifth on the team with 128 kills while averaging 1.45 per set. She also totaled seven aces and 145 digs for the Anteaters.

ROBERTSON IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Setter Taryn Robertson (Valencia/HS) handed out 49 assists against the Horned Frogs to finish the season with 1,144 assists. Robertson concludes her collegiate career with 4900 assists to sit second in the UCI records.

Robertson, who was named to the All-Big West first team this season, also recorded 140 kills and hit .370 while finishing second on the team with 28 aces and third with 60 blocks and 234 digs.

Robertson had a career-high 63 assists in the Big West title match against Long Beach State and a personal-best 10 kills in the win against Cal Poly.

PESTOLESI DOTS SEASON, CAREER ANNALS: Pestolesi is scattered throughout the UCI season and career annals. She recorded the eighth-best mark in the season record in kills and tied for ninth in aces. Pestolesi also finished sixth in digs and eighth in attack attempts (1243). In the career records, Pestolesi is fourth in kills with 1,301 and fourth in attack attempts with 3,558. With 116 career service winners, Pestolesi moves to sixth and she is also fifth in digs with 1,139.

WINKLER PICKS UP RECORD-SETTING DIG MARK: Libero Kristin Winkler (Los Altos/St. Francis HS) scooped up a team-leading 479 digs to claim the No. 4 spot in the season records, surpassing alumna Devon Sutherland, who posted 454 in 2008. Winkler also finished second with 30 aces to go along with 85 assists.

HAUSER REACHES 100-BLOCK MARK: Sophomore Alexandra Hauser (Chino Hills/Ayala HS) became the seventh Anteater to record 100 block assists in a season to claim the spot previously held by Kris Roberts, who had 98 in 1987.

Hauser, who ended the season with seven straight matches with at least two block assists, recorded a career-high eight in the win against Pacific earlier this season. She had 168 kills and hit a team-best .344 while putting up 106 total blocks.

PIGGOTT MAKES IMMEDIATE IMPACT: Juliane Piggott (Newport Beach/UCLA) proved to be an immediate asset in her first year at UCI. The transfer from UCLA was voted to the All-Big West first team after finishing second with 353 kills and a 3.15 hitting percentage. The outside hitter was fourth with 26 aces and 198 digs and also finished fourth in blocks with 52.

She recorded a career-high 27 kills in the losing effort against Long Beach State and a personal-best 16 digs twice this season against UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara. Piggott also had four aces against the Gauchos while putting up a season-high five block assists against the Aggies.

UCI IN THE BIG WEST: The Anteaters moved to first in opponent hitting percentage at .182 and are second in digs at 16.21. The team is third in hitting percentage (.238), assists (12.61) and aces (1.38) and fourth in kills (13.58).

Hauser dropped out of the top spot for the first time in three week to sit second in the Big West in hitting at .344. Cropper moved two spots to eighth at .309. Robertson is fifth in assists (10.31) and Winkler remains in fourth in digs (4.20) and holds on to the No. 10 spot in aces at 0.26. Pestolesi is fourth in kills at 3.87, third in aces at 0.36 and sixth in digs at 3.91. Piggott holds steady in 10th with a 3.15 kill average.

WEEKLY WRAPUP: The Anteaters fell to TCU, 3-1, in their final match of the season. UCI was paced by Pestolesi's 22 kills and 18 digs while Robertson totaled 49 assists and nine digs. Riley Cropper (Seal Beach/Los Alamitos HS) had a team-high three block assists while Nordyke had nine kills and 13 digs. Hauser led the team with a .312 hitting percentage, putting away seven kills to go with a pair of block assists.

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