Volleyball Starts Second Half Of League Play Friday With Three-Match Homestand

Riverside, CA—The UC Riverside Volleyball Team opens the second half of Big West Conference play this weekend with matches against Pacific and UC Davis. The Highlanders square off against the Tigers on Friday at 7 pm PT, with a 7 pm match against the Aggies on Saturday.

UCR is still searching for its first league win of the season, having most recently dropped a 3-1 decision at UC Santa Barbara on October 20 (box score/recap), and a 3-2 heart breaker at Cal Poly on October 19 (box score/recap). The Highlanders have been competitive in their losses, falling to Big West opponents in five sets in three of nine matches so far this season, and in four sets on three occasions.

UC Riverside faced both Pacific and UC Davis earlier this season, with the Tigers winning 3-0 on September 29 (box score/recap), and the Aggies holding on for the 3-2 win on September 28 (box score/recap).

Pacific has gone 2-4 since sweeping the Highlanders, including losing three straight matches, while UCD has gone 2-5 since playing UC Riverside.

The Tigers own the all-time record against UCR, 22-1-1, while the Highlanders take a 32-13-2 record against the Aggies into Saturday's match.

Highlanders vs Pacific & UC Davis Match Capsules
	UC Riverside	Pacific	UC Davis
2012 Record & Stats	5-17, 0-9	16-6, 4-5	10-12, 4-5
	Roster	Roster	Roster
	Schedule	Schedule	Schedule
Conference	Big West
Current Streak	L 9	L 3	L 2
Most Recent Box Score	L, 3-1 at UCSB	L, 3-2 at Hawai'i	L, 3-1 at CS Northridge
Next Opponent	11/2 vs CSU Bakersfield	11/2 vs Long Beach State	11/2 vs UC Irvine
Top Attacker	Amanda Vialpando Sr. 270 K, 3.46 K/S .202 Pct.	Megan Birch Jr. 294 K, 3.54 K/S .224 Pct.	Allison Whitson Sr. 308 K, 3.67 K/S .158 Pct.
Top Setter	Emily Borges Fr. 832 A 10.53 A/S	Hannah Clancy Sr. 660 A 10.31 A/S	Jenny Woolway Jr. 689 A 8.20 A/S
Top Blocker	Megan Reza So. 53 TB 0.77 B/S	Gillian Howard So. 106 TB 1.25 B/S	Victoria Lee So. 102 TB 1.23 B/S
Record vs.		1-22-1 Results	32-13-2 Results
Current Streak vs.		L 5	L 1

GAME NOTES
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR
Even though UC Riverside is 0-9 in Big West play, they have taken opponents to four or five sets in six of the nine league matches so far this season.

CONFERENCE LEADERS
Several Highlanders are ranked among the league's best in multiple statistical categories in conference-only matches: freshman setter Emily Borges leads all players averaging 10.92 assists per set; Megan Reza leads the league with 0.39 services aces a set; and Ashley Cox and Amanda Vialpando are third and fourth in kills per set with 4.14 and 3.72.

IN THE BEGINNING ...
The Highlanders started the year with a 3-1 record, tying the program's Division I-era record for best start through four matches. The 2005 UCR squad went on to start the year 11-1.

CHIMNEY SWEEP
UC Riverside defeated Fairleigh Dickinson and Providence in straight sets to open the 2012 campaign. The last time the Highlanders swept non-conference opponents in back-to-back matches was against Loyola Marymount and CSU Bakersfield on September 16, 2011.

KILLER ATTACK
The Highlanders hit .375 as a team against Providence on August 25—the second-best hitting percentage in a single match in the team's Division I history.

.406	vs. Southern Illinois	Sept. 2, 2005
.375	vs. Providence	Aug. 25, 2012
.365	vs. Liberty	Setp. 3, 2005

WRONG WAY STREAK
The Highlanders dropped nine straight matches to open Big West play this season—the most since the 2010 squad went without a win in leauge play.

RECORD SETTERS
The 2011 Highlanders won four Big West matches tying the school record originally set by the 2003 squad, and later tied by the 2005 version.

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER
UC Riverside won seven matches in 2011 which is five more wins than the 2010 team recorded.

KILLER DUO
UCR's Vialpando and Shelby LeDuff averaged 3.87 and 3.23 kills per set respectively one year ago, marking the first time since the 2004 season that two Highlanders players averaged at least 3.00 kills per set. This year, the pair are joined by Ashley Cox, and each of the three players are averaging above three kills per set.

ALL-CONFERENCE
Three UC Riverside players garnered All-Big West Conference accolades in 2011 as outside hitters Amanda Vialpando and Shelby LeDuff were each selected to the First-Team, while Megan Reza was selected to the All-Freshman Team.

Volleyball Starts Second Half Of League Play Friday With Three-Match Homestand

Next Event

Footer

Volleyball Starts Second Half Of League Play Friday With Three-Match Homestand

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos

Footer