Riverside—The UC Riverside Volleyball Team gets the 2016 season underway in the Cal Molten Classic August 26-27 in Berkeley, CA. They will open the season Friday evening versus Southern Utah at 7 pm and will take on the Thunderbirds a second time at noon on Saturday, before finishing the tournament against host California at 7 pm. view complete schedule
Last year's team won the most regular season games since 2005 (10), the previous two seasons (13,14) they won a combined four games. The 2015 Highlanders set the school record for most Big West wins (5) since joining the conference in 2002. They also had several other notable achievements:
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- 2 Sweeps of Big West Opponents-Tied for UCR DI record
- 4 Sweeps on the season- Most since 2005
- 1 Player of Week Award-Helena Peric
- 2 Defensive Player of the Week Awards-Maddie Hubbell
The 2016 Highlanders return five starters, First Team All-Conference libero Maddie Hubbell, All-Conference Freshman Team setter Chelsea Doyle, outside hitters Fabiana Rosas and Cristina Maietta, and middle blocker Meg Graham. They were picked to finish eighth in the Big West Preseason poll, and will welcome 11 newcomers to the team, nine freshman and two transfers. Meet this year's team: 2016 VB Media Guide
"I'm really excited to get the season started, we've been going hard for a few weeks in the preseason ... it'll be nice to go up against somebody else on the other side of the net.", said Head Coach Michelle Patton. On this weekend's tournament Patton said, "It will be good for us to measure where we're at and identify what we're good at and what we need to improve on".
Southern Utah Thunderbirds
Southern Utah tied a school record last season with 15 wins and had a fourth place finish in the Big Sky South. The Thunderbirds were picked to finish 10th in the Big Sky Preseason Poll and are led by and middle blocker Ann Clappier ranked 13th nationally last season in blocks (1.49/set)
2015 Overall Record, 15-15
2015 Big Sky South, 6-10 (4th)
Letter Winners Returning/ Newcomers-6/4
Big Sky Preseason Poll-10th
The Thunderbirds won the only meeting between the schools, a sweep in 2014, but the Highlanders can re-take the overall lead in the newly established series with victories in both matches this weekend. box score/recap
California Golden Bears
Cal returns starters Alyssa Jensen at setter, Maddy Kerr at libero, Christine Alftin at outside hitter and Jenelle Jordan at middle blocker. They'll look to build off their last place finish in the conference with contributions from freshmen outside hitters Maddie Haynes and Bailee Huizenga. The Bears will also see the return of former Prep All-American Ashten Smith-Gooden, who sat out last season with an injury. In the Pac-12 Preseason Poll, the Bears were picked to improve to 10th over last year's finish in 12th.
2015 Overall Record, 9-22
2015 Pac-12 Record, 3-17 (12th)
Starters Returning/Lost, 5/2
2016 Pac-12 Preseason Poll-10th
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The Highlanders are 5-6 all-time against the Golden Bears and fell in straight sets in their meeting back in 2012. box score/recap
GAME NOTES
TWO YEARS IN ONE
Last season; the Highlanders surpassed their combined win total from the previous two seasons in just their 11th (5-6) match of the year (2-26 in 2014, 2-26 in 2013).
RECORD BREAKERS, HISTORY MAKERS
The Highlanders had five wins in conference play last year, besting the 2003, 2005 and 2011 squads for the most Big West victories in program history.
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| Year |
W |
L |
Pct |
| 2015 |
5 |
11 |
.313 |
| 2005 |
4 |
10 |
.286 |
| 2011 |
4 |
12 |
.250 |
| 2003 |
4 |
14 |
.222 |
THE COMEBACK KIDS
UC Riverside trailed two sets to one at San Jose State on August 28, but battled back to win the match, three sets to two. That marked the first time the Highlanders had come back from that kind of deficit to win since September 14, 2012 vs. Florida Atlantic.
On September 25, the Highlanders again roared back from a two-sets-to-one deficit, but this time they also trailed in the fourth vs. Cal State Fullerton, 19-12. They took the fourth set 31-29 and won the fifth, 15-10.
GETTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT
The Highlanders won their Big West Conference opening match of the season last year for the first time since 2005, with a 3-2 victory over Cal State Fullerton on September 25. The 2002 and 2003 UCR squads also won their first conference matches of the year, but the Highlanders have never begun Big West play with victories in their first two matches.
INDY 500
The Highlanders 3-2 victory over Cal State Fullerton on September 25, 2015 was witnessed by 510 rabid UC Riverside fans—the ninth highest attended match in the Division I history of the program ... or rather the 10th highest, as 629 fans attended the team's match against #10 Hawai'i on October 3.
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| Date |
Opponent |
Att. |
| September 24, 2011 |
CSUN |
745 |
| September 27, 2014 |
Hawai'i (#25) |
731 |
| October 3, 2015 |
Hawai'i (#10) |
629 |
| October 27, 2001 |
Long Beach State |
625 |
| September 21, 2012 |
Hawai'i (#7) |
594 |
| October 4, 2002 |
Long Beach State |
586 |
| October 26, 2001 |
UC Irvine |
575 |
| September 3, 2008 |
UCLA (#6) |
535 |
| November 17, 2001 |
Cal State Fullerton |
513 |
| September 25, 2015 |
Cal State Fullerton |
510 |
AND NEW ...
The Highlanders welcome 11 new players to the fold, 9 freshman and 2 transfers. The 2016 squad returns 7 letter winners and five starters, led by All-Conference honorees Maddie Hubbell and Chelsea Doyle along with Fabiana Rosas, Meg Graham and Cristina Maietta.
BLUE AND GOLD DIGGER
As a sophomore, Maddie Hubbell ranked eighth in the Big West in digs per set with 3.59, last season she led the conference in total digs (525) and in digs per set (4.91), earning her First Team All-Conference honors.
Should Hubbell maintain her digs per set average she will rank fourth in single-season digs per set in the program's Division I history.
She was twice named Big West Defensive Player of the Week, August 31-September 6 and November 7-13.
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| Digs Per Set (min. 100) |
| Sheryl Benson |
5.7 |
1988 |
| Leanna Clark |
5.1 |
1988 |
| Melanie Jones |
5.0 |
1987 |
| Maddie Hubbell |
4.91 |
2015 |
| Janna Stern |
4.5 |
1998 |
ALL-TOURNEY TEAMS
The Highlanders recorded five All-Tournament caliber performances during the non-conference portion of their schedule. Chelsea Doyle, Alex Greshman and Fabiana Rosas opened the 2015 season by being named to the San Jose State All-Tournament Team (
story). Maddie Hubbell earned All-Tournament honors at the Bulldog Showdown (
story). Helena Peric was named to the Grand Canyon Invitational All-Tournament Team (
story).
SWEPT UP
Last season, UCR had four victories by way of the 3-0 sweep, September 4th vs. Grand Canyon, September 12th vs Central Michigan, November 7th at Cal State Fullerton, and November 14th at home against UC Santa Barbara. The 2005 squad set the DI mark with nine victories in three frames.
see results
PLEADING THE FOURTH AND FIFTH
The Highlanders played to four or five sets in 13 of 28 matches last season. The 2004, 2007 and 2012 squads all played 15 matches to four or five sets to claim the UCR Division I mark.
LET THERE BE HEIGHT!
Of the 11 newcomers to the Highlanders 2016 squad, five are taller than 6-0, giving UC Riverside six 6-footers overall, which matches last season's total.
(ALMOST) OVER THE RAINBOW
UC Riverside took the first set from nationally ranked Hawai'i in the last match of the 2014 season, 25-19. It marked the first time the Highlanders had won a set against the Rainbow Wahine since 1984, spanning 20 sets. UCR also nearly topped Hawai'i in the second set of their September 27, 2014 meeting, but the Rainbow Wahine eked out a 29-27 victory.
On October 30th, 2015 the Highlanders took the third set from #6 ranked Hawai'i 25-18, and narrowly lost the decisive fourth set 25-23.
GENERAL PATTON-(COLEMAN)
UC Riverside Volleyball it's the fourth season under head coach Michelle Patton-Coleman. Patton-Coleman came 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 her tenure including a 21-9 mark in 2012 which included a program-record 16 conference victories.
