Riverside—The UC Riverside Volleyball Team prepares to travel to Logan, UT for the Utah State Invitational September 8-9. Thursday at 11 am PT they'll take on host Utah State, before the inaugural match in the series with Southeastern Louisiana at 3:30 pm and will conclude the tournament Friday at 10 am PT versus Portland State.
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The Highlanders enter the week at .500 with a 3-3 record, after a pair of wins over Southern Utah (3-0, 3-1) in the Cal Molten Classic and a come from behind victory over Middle Tennessee State (3-1) on Saturday.
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UC Riverside's 13.55 assists per set ranks 23rd in the NCAA, their 14.45 kills per set is 22nd, while their 42.20 attacks per set is third. In Saturday's win, they had a season-high 10 aces and four players with double digit digs, both 2016 firsts. They are 18th nationally in digs per set with 18.05.
The Blue and Gold's attack is led by freshman outside hitter Mickayla Sherman with a team-high 74 kills, and Meg Graham, who has 48 kills as the team's most efficient hitter with a .321 percentage—sixth best in the Big West. The Highlanders have hit .184 (291-135-846) through six matches this season.
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Chelsea Doyle, who had her second double-double of the year with 23 assists and 13 digs in her last match, directs the attack with 214 total assists, an average of 9.30 per set—four and sixth in the conference respectively.
Maddie Hubbell steadies the UC Riverside back row with 101 digs, averaging 4.39 per set, while freshman middle blocker Yuliya Ushakova leads the Highlander defense at the net with 21 blocks, three solo and 18 assisted. Opponents have hit .175 (273-129-821) so far this season.
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UTAH STATE
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The Aggies enter the week with a 2-4 record after going 2-1 at the Pioneer Invitational last weekend. Utah State is led by outside hitter Lauren Anderson, who leads the team with 78 kills, averaging 3.71 per set. As a team, Utah State is hitting .227 (266-105-708).
Libero Hannah Gleason leads the team with 91 digs, averaging 4.33 per set, while middle blocker Carly Lenzen leads the Aggie defense at the net with 17 block assists on the year.
Utah State leads the all-time series 4-9-1. The squads last tangled in the 2010 Utah State Invitational, a 3-1 victory for the Aggies.
All-time results
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SE LOUISIANA
Southeastern Louisiana is 1-5, and just picked up its lone victory of the season, a 3-1 win over Southern.
The Lions have hit .139 (277-153-894) on the year and are led by redshirt-freshman Elyssa Purcell with 52 kills, averaging 2.17 per set. Purcell is also second on the team in assists, totaling 98 on the year, second to setter Haley Baker with a team-best 125.
Defensively, sophomore libero Monica Ramon leads the Lions back row with 97 digs, averaging 3.88 per set, while senior middle blocker Rachael Bunn leads the SLU block with 11. Opponents have hit .196 (281-118-830) against the Lions this season.
The match on Thursday afternoon will be the first meeting between the two schools on the volleyball court.
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PORTLAND STATE
Portland State enters the week 4-2, after going 2-1 in each of its two tournaments this season.
The Vikings are hitting .214 (357-162-910) as a team and are led by outside hitter Pati Anae's 131 kills, 5.04 per set. Juniors Erin Clark and Kylie Copple share the setting duties for Portland State, compiling 175 and 120 assists this season, respectively.
On the defense, the Vikings are led by junior libero Tasha Bojanica, who has a team-best 92 digs, 3.54 per set. Sophomore middle blockers Katy Wilson and Mikaelyn Sych protect the net with 18 and 17 blocks respectively. Overall, teams have hit .258 (322-115-803) against the Vikings this season.
The Highlanders trail in the all-time series 3-11. The last meeting took place in 2008, when the Vikings posted a 3-1 victory in Portland.
All-time results
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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 seven 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
In 2014 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 Gresham 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).
This year Fabiana Rosas and Maddie Hubbell were to the Cal Molten Classic 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
The Highlanders opened 2016 with a sweep of Southern Utah, their only one thus far.
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.
2016-Four Sets 2-1, Five Sets, 0-1
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.
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