RIVERSIDE, Calif.— The UC Riverside Women's Volleyball Team will open its Big West home schedule this weekend as the Highlanders are set to host UC Santa Barbara Friday night and No. 15 Cal Poly on Saturday. Both matches will begin at 7:00 PM at the SRC Arena and tickets can be purchased at gohighlanders.com/tickets.

SCOUTING THE GAUCHOS
UC Santa Barbara enters Friday's matchup with an 8-5 record after falling 3-1 to UC Irvine in the Gauchos' first conference matchup. The team is led by junior outside-hitter Lindsey Ruddins, whose 5.58 kills p/set tops the Big West and is good for 2nd in the nation.

SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
No. 15 Cal Poly comes into the weekend leading the Big West with a 10-1 record and are coming off a 3-0 sweep of UC Davis. The team's only loss of the season came on the road in its 2nd match where the Mustangs fell 3-1 to the then No. 20 Pittsburgh Panthers. The Mustangs will face Cal State Fullerton Friday night before coming to the SRC Arena.

FRESHMAN ON FIRE
Freshman outside-hitter Nailah Jones has been a true offensive force in her first year as a Highlander as she has posted double-digit kills in each of her last six matches. This includes two career-high matches where she posted 15 kills over Nevada and San Francisco.

COUNT ON CHELSEA
Senior setter Chelsea Doyle has been crucial to the Highlander offense, setting up her teammates at every opportunity. Her 10 assists p/set average currently ranks 3rd in the Big West and her 460 total assists rank 2nd.

KAI DON'T LIE
Senior outside hitter Kaiulani Ahuna has been nothing short of spectacular so far in the 2018 season. Opening weekend, Ahuna broke two program records notching 30 kills (Rally-Scoring Era Record) in a win over Montana and then smashing 33 more (DI Record) on Eastern Washington to become the first Highlander to ever put up 30+ on back-to-back days. Following this weekend, Ahuna led the NCAA in total kills and kills p/set and was awarded Player of the Week Awards from the Big West Conference, VolleyMob, and the AVCA.

On September 14th, Ahuna would again make the Highlander history book breaking her own personal record and UCR's Division I record with a 34 kill performance against Idaho. She now has recorded three of UCR's top-six single match performances.

Her 5.07 kills p/set average currently ranks 4th in the nation and her 213 total kills rank 14th.

SWEEPING AWAY THE COMPETITION
The Highlanders have earned two of their five wins in sweeping fashion topping both UMASS Lowell and Idaho State 3-0.