Volleyball Returns Home For Matches Against Irvine And Fullerton On Friday And Saturday

Friday, October 17

Riverside, CA

7:30 pm

UC Riverside

UC Irvine

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Photo by: Carlos Puma

Volleyball Returns Home For Matches Against Irvine And Fullerton On Friday And Saturday

10/14/2014 11:58:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Highlanders vs UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton

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Riverside, CA—The UC Riverside Volleyball Team returns home to the SRC Arena for a pair of matches on October 17-18 hosting UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton respectively. Friday's match against the Anteaters gets underway at 7:30 pm PT, while Saturday's contest vs. the Titans starts at 7 pm.

The Highlanders fell to 0-4 in Big West play this past weekend after dropping a 3-0 decision at UC Davis (box score/recap).

After losing its first three league matches, UCI rebounded with a pair of victories over UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly to improve to 12-7 overall and 2-3 in BWC play. The Anteaters are 30-14-2 all-time against the Highlanders, but over the past few seasons the teams' have gone back-and-forth with the 'Eaters winning three matches and UC Riverside two (view all-time results).

Cal State Fullerton is winless in conference play following losses to the Gauchos and Mustangs this past weekend. The Titans own the all-time series mark against UCR, 29-13-1, including winning the last 18 straight contests (all-time results).

Highlanders vs UC Irvine & Cal State Fullerton
	UC Riverside	UC Irvine	Cal State Fullerton
2014 Record & Stats	2-14, 0-4	12-7, 2-3	6-12. 0-5
	Roster	Roster	Roster
	Schedule	Schedule	Schedule
Conference	Big West
Current Streak	L 10	W 2	L 6
Most Recent Box Score	L, 3-0 at UC Davis	W, 3-0 vs. Cal Poly	L, 3-1 vs. UC Santa Barbara
Next Opponent	Oct. 24 at Long Beach State	Oct. 24 vs. Cal State Fullerton	Oct. 24 at UC Irvine
Top Attacker	Ashley Cox Junior 128 K, 2.98 K/S, .132 Pct.	Marisa Bubica Junior 261 K, 4.08 K/S .300 Pct.	Niki Withers Freshman 244 K, 3.70 K/S .148 Pct.
Top Setter	Amanda Press Freshman 370 A, 7.55 A/S	Shelley Anderson Sophomore 718 A, 11.05 A/S	Mackenzie Olsen Junior 624 A, 9.60 A/S
Top Blocker	Alex Gresham Freshman 42 TB, 0.70 B/S	Allison Lee Senior 39 TB, 0.54 B/S	Stephanie Buss Freshman 59 TB, 0.89 B/S
Record vs.		14-30-2 (results)	13-29-1 (results)
Current Streak vs.		L 2	L 18

GAME NOTES
KILLER INSTINCT
Junior Ashley Cox finished the 2013 season ranked eighth in the Big West Conference in kills per set at 3.07. This season, Cox leads the squad with a k/s average of 2.98, but in conference-only matches, ranks third in the league at 3.73.

(ALMOST) OVER THE RAINBOW
UC Riverside nearly pulled off an upset in the second set over #25 Hawai'i on September 27. The Rainbow Wahine eventually won, 29-27, but it was the first time the Highlanders forced a set past the regular winning mark of 25 against UH in program history. Had UCR escaped with the second set victory, it would have been the first over the 'Bows since the 1980's—a span of six matches.

SWEPT UP
The Highlanders three-set win over Savannah State on September 6 (box score/recap) is the first sweep for UC Riverside since a 3-0 victory over Villanova on September 15, 2012 (box score/recap).

ALREADY THERE
UC Riverside's two wins so far in 2014 already match its win total from all of 2013.

FOURTH AND FIFTH
The Highlanders have played to four or five sets in nine of 16 matches this season, already surpassing the total from last season. The 2004, 2007 and 2012 squads all played 15 matches to four or five sets to claim the UCR DI mark.

ALL-TOURNAMENT
Senior Tyler Dorsey was named to the UNLV Invitational All-Tournament Team on August 31 after recording a career-high of 15 kills against the Rebels on August 30, and posting a 2.67 K/S mark during those three contests (story).

Freshman Alex Gresham and senior Megan Reza earned all-tournament honors at the SUU Tournament on September 6 after leading UCR to a pair of wins (story).

Gresham earned her second straight all-tournament nod after being named to the Lumberjack Classic All-Tournament Team on September 13 (story). She averaged 2.77 kills per set while hitting a team-best .310 during the Highlanders three matches.

Bri Holmes was named to the La Quinta Inn & Suites Invitational All-Tournament Team on September 20 after leading the Highlanders with 3.55 kills per set while posting back-to-back matches with double-figure kills, including a career-high 23 against Idaho State (story).

BLUE AND GOLD DIGGER
Sophomore Maddie Hubbell ranked fourth in the Big West in digs per set last season with 3.93. After seven weeks of action in 2014, the libero is averaging a team-best 3.77 D/S—good enough for eighth in the league. The Highlanders also rank second in the league in digs per set and 86th in the country in that category.

SWITZERLAND
UCR is 0-8 in road matches this season, but 2-5 in neutral site contests.

LET THERE BE HEIGHT!
Of the seven newcomers to the Highlanders 2014 squad, three are taller than 6-feet, pushing UCR's roster to seven girls above 5-10.

GENERAL PATTON
UC Riverside is in its second season under new head coach Michelle Patton. Patton comes to the Highlanders following five seasons at San Francisco State, where she took over a program that lay dormant for four years (2004-07). The Gators advanced to two NCAA Tournaments during Patton's tenure including a 21-9 mark in 2012 which included a program-record 16 conference victories.

ROAD DIVAS
UCR played its first 13 matches on the road in 2013, tying Cal Poly for most road matches to start the season amongst the leagues' schools. This year, the Highlanders were away from the SRC Arena for their first 12 matches.