Riverside–The UC Riverside Volleyball team gets the 2017 season started this Friday, August 25 against Fairleigh Dickinson in the Titan Tournament in Fullerton at 5 pm. Saturday, the Highlanders take on Bryant at 11 am, before wrapping-up the season-opening event versus Drake at 7:30 pm.
Expected on the court for UCR this weekend is redshirt senior
Fabiana Rosas, who had a stellar opening weekend last season, before going down with a season-ending knee injury. She averaged 14.10 attacks per set, which was tops in the nation, while posting 5.70 kills and 6.07 points per set–second and fourth in the NCAA respectively. She also chipped in on the defensive side of the net, averaging 11.7 digs per match.
"For every setback, God provides you with a major comeback," said Rosas.
GAME NOTES
RETURN OF THE ATTACK
The Highlanders return four of their top five attacking players from last season.
Mickayla Sherman led the squad with 312 kills, followed by
Meg Graham's 206, and
Brooke Callahan's 179. Rosas' 57 kills in 10 sets were fourth.
THE SET UP
Junior setter
Chelsea Doyle logged 895 assists in 2016, and 940 during the 2015 campaign–those totals are the highest since Coach Patton-Coleman's arrival in 2013.
In a match versus CSUN last year, then freshman
Angela Gonzalez racked-up a career-high 29 assists.
NEUTRAL SITES SET HIGH
The Highlanders went 5-3 in neutral site matches last year, the best record during the Patton-Coleman era. This season they'll play seven neutral site matches, three in California, and two each in Texas and Colorado.
FRESH AS SHERMAN IS
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 UCR Volleyball program to win Big West Freshman of the Week.
Sherman won for her play October 10-16, when she had a career-high 26 kills and 11 digs in the Highlanders' win over UCSB on Friday, October 14th (
story). Her 26 kills matched the team's season-high set by Fabiana Rosas in the season's opening weekend against Southern Utah (
box score/
recap).
FIRST THINGS FIRST
UCR took the first set in six of 16 contests during Big West Conference play last season, including five of eight while in the friendly confines of the SRC Arena.
INDY 500
Last season, 676 blue and gold faithful supporters saw the Highlanders take on the Rainbow Wahine in the newly renovated SRC Arena.
| Date |
Opponent |
Att. |
| September 24, 2011 |
CSUN |
745 |
| September 27, 2014 |
Hawai'i (#25) |
731 |
| October 28, 2016 |
Hawai'i (#14) |
676 |
| 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 |
AND NEW ...
The Highlanders welcome seven new players to the fold—five freshmen and two transfers. The 2017 squad returns 10 letter winners and four starters.
ALL-TOURNEY TEAMS
In 2016, Fabiana Rosas and Maddie Hubbell were named to the Cal Molten Classic All-Tournament Team (
story), Chelsea Doyle was named to the All-Tournament in Utah State Invitational
(story), and Meg Graham was selected to the Roadrunner Classic All-Tournament Team (
story).
SWEPT UP
Last season, UCR had a pair of victories by way of the 3-0 sweep—the August 26th season opener vs. Southern Utah, and September 9th vs. Southeastern Louisiana. 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 14 of 28 matches last season, including eight of their 16 Big West matches. The 2004, 2007 and 2012 squads all played 15 matches to four or five sets to claim the UCR Division I mark.
SHE CAN DIG IT
With 17 digs at UC Davis on October 20, 2016, Maddie Hubbell ('13-16) became the UC Riverside Volleyball program's all-time digs leader, surpassing 2015 UCR Athletics Hall of Fame Inductee and Two-Time All-American Sheryl Benson-Rawlins' (84, 86, 88-89) mark of 1,556 (
all-time list).
Hubbell finished her career with 1695 digs, and is eighth on the Big West all-time digs list.
Big West Volleyball Record Book
LET THERE BE HEIGHT!
Of the seven newcomers to the Highlanders 2017 squad, five are taller than 6-0, giving UC Riverside eight 6-footers overall, which is more than last season's total (6).
(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 is in it's the fifth 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.
