Volleyball Looks To Get Back On Track At ASU Sheraton Invitational

Friday, September 14

Tempe, AZ

2:30 pm

UC Riverside

Florida Atlantic

Photo by: Gabriel L. Acosta

Volleyball Looks To Get Back On Track At ASU Sheraton Invitational

9/11/2012 11:48:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Live Stats

Tempe, AZ—The UC Riverside Volleyball Team concludes the tournament portion of its 2012 schedule this Friday-Saturday at the ASU Sheraton Invitational. The Highlanders are looking to snap a five-match skid with contests against Florida Atlantic (Friday at 2:30 pm), the host Sun Devils (Friday at 8 pm), Gonzaga (Saturday at 12 pm), and Villanova (Saturday at 5 pm).

UCR squared off against Gonzaga earlier this season at the Gonzaga Invitational, where the Zags won a 3-0 battle 25-22, 25-19, and 25-21 on September 1 (box score/recap).

The Highlanders are 1-5-1 all-time against Arizona State, and will face FAU and Villanova for the first time in program history.

Highlanders at ASU Sheraton Invitational Match Capsules
	UC Riverside	Florida Atlantic	Arizona State	Gonzaga	Villanova
2012 Record & Stats	3-6	1-3	7-2	5-4	5-4
	Roster	Roster	Roster	Roster	Roster
	Schedule	Schedule	Schedule	Schedule	Schedule
	Big West	Sun Belt	Pac-12	West Coast	Big East
Current Streak	L 5	L 2	W 1	L 1	W 1
Most Recent Box Score	L, 3-0 vs Penn	L, 3-0 vs Central Arkansas	W, 3-0 vs College of Charleston	L, 3-1 at UNLV	W, 3-0 vs Brown
Next Opponent	9/21 vs #8 Hawai'i	9/21 vs Arkansas State	9/18 at Arizona	9/20 at Santa Clara	9/21 at Connecticut
Top Attacker	Shelby LeDuff Sr. 91 K 3.37 K/S .188 Pct.	Alessia Pizzocheri So. 49 K 2.88 K/S .097 Pct.	Macey Gardner Fr. 174 K 483 K/S .221 Pct.	Savannah Blinn RS Fr. 110 K 3.55 K/S .252 Pct.	Lauren Carpenter Fr. 93 K 2.82 K/S .142 Pct.
Top Setter	Emily Borges Fr. 299 A 10.68 A/S	Jelena Jovanovic Fr. 158 A 9.29 A/S	Allison Palmer Fr. 438 A 12.17 A/S	Lauren Joseph Fr. 175 A 5.47 A/S	Emma Pettit Fr. 182 A 7.91 A/S
Top Blocker	Annishia McKoy Jr. 18 TB 0.64 B/S	Sara Stoll RS Jr. 9 TB 0.75 B/S	Alexis Pinson Jr. 43 TB 1.19 B/S	Meredith Crenshaw Jr. 39 TB 1.22 B/S	CeCe Twitty Sr. 26 TB 0.96 B/S
Record vs.		0-0 First Meeting	1-5-1 Results	1-1 Results	0-0 First Meeting
Current Streak vs.		NA	L 5	L 1	NA

GAME NOTES
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.

WRONG WAY STREAK
Since the 3-1 mark to start the year, however, the Highlanders have dropped five straight. It is the longest skid since the 2011 squad lost six consecutive from September 2-10.

NATIONALLY RANKED
UCR leads the conference and is ranked 15th in the nation in service aces, averaging 1.75 per set. Individually, Amanda Vialpando is 43rd nationally while Emily Borges is 51st.

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

TOURNEY TEAM
Amanda Vialpando was named to the Hofstra Asics Invitational All-Tournament Team on August 25 after averaging 4.11 kills per set with a .350 hitting percentage in three matches. The senior outside hitter was then named to the Gonzaga Invitational All-Tournament Team after averaging 3.56 kills per set while hitting .216. She also averaged 2.00 digs per set and had five service aces in three matches.

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, after their 3-1 victory over UCI on November 9, 2011.

STREAK REMOVERS
UCR upset Long Beach State by the score of 3-2 on October 1, 2011, snapping a 15-match skid against the 49ers in the process. The last time the Highlanders defeated the Beach was back on September 19, 2003, and at the time, LBSU was ranked 23rd in the country.

Four matches later, the Highlanders rallied back from a 2-0 deficit to win the final three sets and defeat UC Santa Barbara 3-2 on October 15, 2011. The win snapped a 29-match skid against the Gauchos and marked the first win over UCSB in the program's Division I history.

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.

MEAT IN THE SEATS
The UC Riverside volleyball team opened Big West Conference play last season in front of a record crowd of 745 fans at the SRC Arena. The attendance shattered the previous UCR volleyball home attendance record of 625 set on October 27, 2001.

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.