Riverside, CA—The UC Riverside Volleyball Team (8-8, 0-4) continues Big West play this weekend, hosting Cal State Fullerton (4-12, 0-4) Saturday, October 7 at 4 pm PT.
GAME NOTES
OUT OF THE GATES
The Highlanders have won eight of their first sixteen matches of the season, already equaling their 2016 total season wins. It is the third-fastest 16-match start in the program's 17-year Division I history.
|
Thru Match 16 |
Result In Match |
| Year |
W-L |
17 |
18 |
19 |
| 2005 |
12-4 |
L |
W |
L |
| 2004 |
9-7 |
L |
L |
L |
| 2017 |
8-8 |
|
|
|
| 2001 |
8-8 |
L |
L |
L |
LENDING A HELPING HAND
As of October 1, Chelsea Doyle ranks fifth in the Big West in assists per set this season, with an average of 9.84. 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. This year, she established a new career-high of 57 assists in a 3-1 victory over Drake on August 26 (box score/recap).
| 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 |
2,396 |
SET 'EM UP
The Highlanders rank third in the Big West in assists per set at 12.42.
DIG 'EM
Nicole Rodriguez is fourth in the Big West with 4.07 digs per set. As a team, UC Riverside ranks first in the conference in both digs per set (16.72) and digs (953).
EXTERMINATE!
As of October 1, the Highlanders rank fifth in the Big West in kills per set at 12.96. Individually, they boast five of the top 26 attackers in the conference as ranked by kills per set—Ahuna (8th, 3.27), Sherman (14th, 2.70), Callahan (18th, 2.39), Grove (25nd, 2.09), Rosas (26th, 2.06). Kaiulani Ahuna recorded a career-high 21 kills in last Saturday's match against Hawai'i (box score/recap).
CHIMNEY SWEEP
The Highlanders have four, 3-0 sweeps to their credit through sixteen matches 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).
