Dec. 2, 2005

Box Score

LOS ANGELES - After entering the NCAA Tournament a perfect 16-0 when winning game one, the UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team picked a bad time to see that streak end, falling 27-30, 30-22, 30-24, 30-22 to USC in a first round match Friday night in the Lyon Center.

The Gauchos end their season at 21-9 overall, halting an eight-match winning streak in the process. Meanwhile the 12th-seeded Women of Troy improved to 17-10 and advance to face Pepperdine in the second round of the Big Dance on Saturday. Conversely, USC had a 1-6 record after losing the first game prior to Friday's match.

"I give `SC a lot of credit, they're a great, physical team," UCSB head coach Kathy Gregory said. "If you're going to beat a team like them, you have to be strong on the outside, and we struggled a bit there tonight. Our gameplan was solid, and we gave it our all, and that's all you can ask for."

The Gaucho gameplan was right on the money in game one. The visitors began the match with a step-out spike from senior middle blocker Megan Blackshire, and then won three of the next four points before USC caught up at 5-5. Santa Barbara then reeled off a 4-0 run ignited by Bethany Johansen's spike down the line, and would not trail again. Leading just 26-23, Johansen again found paydirt before Blackshire and sophomore setter Ashley Dutro teamed up for a block, and although All-American Staci Venski tried to keep the home team in the game with a pair of late kills, all the momentum was in UCSB's favor when freshman Lauren McLaughlin secured victory with a put-away from the back row. Johansen and Blackshire tallied eight and seven kills, respectively, in game one as the Gauchos did not allow a single USC block.

"Game one was one of our best all year; they saw how quick we can be in transition," Gregory stated.

Santa Barbara's hitting percentage dropped from .245 to just .087 in the second frame as the Women of Troy led from wire-to-wire. Their cushion grew as wide as 13-4, but the visitors crept back within 19-16 following a big slam from junior outside hitter Janine Sandell. Trojan All-American middle blocker Bibliana Candelas answered right back, and a big USC block halted the Gauchos' comeback bid.

Undeterred, UCSB came out of the intermission with a 4-0 run to open game three, as Blackshire and fellow middle Olivia Waldowski began the scoring frenzy with back-to-back kills. The Gauchos led until USC used a string of four unanswered points to pull ahead 11-9. The home team then gave itself some breathing room with another 4-0 spurt that Gregory's timeout couldn't halt, and by the time the dust had settled the scoreboard read 23-15 in favor of the Women of Troy. Santa Barbara was able to battle back as close as 24-02 on a nice block by Blackshire and sophomore Brett Quirarte, but eventually ran out of time.

The Trojans - who can boast two NCAA titles and another Final Four appearance in the last three years - played their best volleyball in the fourth frame. An early string of six unanswered points - including a pair of Candelas kills from the back row - gave the home team a 10-3 advantage. From that point UCSB could not trim its deficit any closer than five points, although the Gauchos showed some pride when a late 4-0 one run brought them back within 26-21 and forced USC to call timeout. The Women of Troy's .400 hitting percentage in game four was their highest of the match.

For the 29th time this season, Sandell paced Santa Barbara offensively with 20 kills, 16 of which came after the second game. The London, England, native added 21 digs for her 16th double-double of 2005, but did not have an efficient evening with an .076 hitting percentage. For the second straight match Johansen established a new career high, amassing 16 put-aways while connecting at a .370 clip, while Blackshire shined in her final collegiate match, pounding home 14 balls with only one error on 20 swings to hit a sparkling .433. The duo each tallied four blocks as well.

On the other side of the net, Venski led all players with 21 kills, followed by Candelas with 18 and 15 courtesy of sophomore Diane Copenhagen. She also added 24 digs, while USC libero Deborah Seilhamer was all over the court with a match-high 27 scoops. While the two teams each racked up 67 kills on the night, The Trojans did so more effectively, .272 to .156.