Riverside, CA—The UC Riverside Volleyball Team (9-8, 1-4) looks to move up the Big West standings this week, hosting UC Davis (9-9, 1-4) Friday, October 13 , and traveling to UC Irvine (15-2, 3-1) Saturday, October 14. Both matches begin at 7 pm PT.
GAME NOTES
OUT OF THE GATES
The Highlanders have won nine of their seventeen matches this season, which is the second-best start to a season in their Division I history.
|
Thru Match 17 |
Result In Match |
| Year |
W-L |
18 |
19 |
20 |
| 2005 |
12-5 |
W |
L |
L |
| 2017 |
9-8 |
|
|
|
| 2004 |
9-8 |
L |
L |
W |
| 2001 |
8-9 |
L |
L |
L |
ROLLING DOUBLES
With one more victory, the Highlanders will reach double-digit wins for the Xth time in their Division I history.
| Year |
W-L |
| 2005 |
16-11 |
| 2004 |
11-18 |
| 2001 |
10-17 |
| 2015 |
10-19 |
| 2017 |
9-8 |
LENDING A HELPING HAND
As of October 8, Chelsea Doyle ranks fourth in the Big West in assists per set this season, with an average of 10.18. She came into the season ranked seventh on the Highlanders' career list, and has already passed Tiffany Brooks's 2,157 ('04) in sixth place. Last weekend, she established a new career-high of 60 assists in a 3-1 victory over Cal State Fullerton on October 7 (
box score/
recap). She now has 2,456 for her career, and trails Laura Ratto ('01) by 107 for fifth place on the Highlanders' career list.
| UC Riverside Career Assist Leaders |
| Pos |
Student-Athlete |
Years |
Assists |
| 1 |
Regina Carbajal |
1987-90 |
4,492 |
| 2 |
Brittney Murrey |
2006-09 |
3,502 |
| 3 |
Kym Murphy |
2002-04 |
3,407 |
| 4 |
Christi Karsten |
1990-93 |
2,608 |
| 5 |
Laura Ratto |
1997-2000 |
2,563 |
| 6 |
Chelsea Doyle |
2015-present |
2,456 |
SET 'EM UP
The Highlanders rank second in the Big West in assists per set at 12.75, trailing Cal Poly with 14.19.
DIG 'EM
Nicole Rodriguez is fourth in the Big West with 4.10 digs per set. As a team, UC Riverside continues to rank first in the conference in digs per set (16.69).
EXTERMINATE!
As of October 8, the Highlanders rank third in the Big West in kills per set at 13.28. Individually, they boast five of the top 31 attackers in the conference as ranked by kills per set—Ahuna (6th, 3.45), Sherman (11th, 3.12), Callahan (18th, 2.45), Grove (26th, 2.09), Rosas (31st, 1.91).
CHIMNEY SWEEP
The Highlanders have four, 3-0 sweeps in 2017. They only had three, 3-0 sweeps throughout the entirety of the 2016 campaign.
BACK FOR THE ATTACK
The Highlanders return five of their top six attacking players from last season. Mickayla Sherman led the squad with 312 kills, followed by Meg Graham's 206, Brooke Callahan's 179, Chelsea Doyle's 82, and Fabiana Rosas' 57.
FRESH FROSH
In 2016, outside hitter Mickayla Sherman was named to the
All-Conference Freshman Team, and was also the first player in the history of the program to win Big West Freshman of the Week (
story). Yuliya Ushakova joined Sherman as Highlanders with conference freshman of the week honors on their résumés when she garnered the award on September 4 of this year (
story). Nicole Rodriguez did likewise on September 19 (
story).
DOING IT WITH DEFENSE
Freshman Nicole Rodriguez earned Big West Defensive Player of the Week honors in the season's first week after being named to the 2017 Titan All-Tournament Team, averaging a league-best 5.80 digs per set (
story).
ALL-TOURNEY TEAMS
Nicole Rodriguez and Meg Graham each were named to the Titan All-Tournament Team in the season's opening weekend. Kaiulani Ahuna and Fabiana Rosas were likewise honored for their performance at Texas Tech's Red Raider Classic in the third weekend of the season (
story).
