Nov. 30, 2006
Box Score
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -
The No. 22 ranked BYU women's volleyball team came back from a two game deficit to capture a 27-30, 30-32, 30-27, 30-21, 15-12 victory over UC Santa Barbara in the opening round of the 26th NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament.
With the loss the Gauchos end the season with a 19-12 overall record while the Cougars' record is lifted to 25-5 overall and they advance to the second round of the tournament. This is the second consecutive year the Gauchos have been ousted in the first round of the tournament at USC. UCSB now holds a 21-26 record between its 26 NCAA tournament appearances.
Five Gauchos posted double-digit kills in the loss with senior Jamie Garbisch collecting a team-leading 18 kills with 12 digs for her 16th double-double performance of the season. The outside hitter also had a season-best five service aces. Rebecca Saraceno led the team with a .269 clip with 12 kills and four blocks and sophomore Lauren McLaughlin also collected a double-double with 12 kills and 14 digs.
Freshman Stephanie Brandt had 58 assists in the match while senior libero Emily Hendrickson had 32 digs.
Chelsea Goodman led BYU with 26 kills on 62 attempts with seven errors for a .306 clip. Goodman also recorded 15 digs and five blocks. Amy Schlauder had a match-leading 62 assists along with 15 digs while Annie Pinegar led all players with 42 digs.
BYU took the early lead in game one before UCSB was able to catch them tying the game 7-7 before Brett Quirarte put a kill away to grab the first Gaucho advantage of the evening. The Cougars posted a 4-0 run to regain the lead at 11-9, but UCSB continued to fight as it traded several ties with BYU. With the frame tied up at 20-20, the Gauchos posted a 5-1 run featuring two kills by Saraceno and a kill and an ace from Garbisch to jump ahead 25-21. BYU responded with a three-point run that the Gauchos mirrored to bring the score to 28-24. Waldowski landed a kill to reach game point, and after BYU posted two more points, she was able to grab the frame for the Gauchos on another kill, 30-27.
The second frame looked similar to the first, the Cougars scored the first point but with three straight points, UCSB took the first advantage at 3-1. Several ties ensued until, with the score at 17-17, BYU went on a 3-0 run to grab the first substantial lead of the match. The Gauchos pushed back and tied things yet again at 26-26. UCSB reached match-point first, but three straight Cougar kills gave BYU the 30-29 advantage. A kill from Saraceno was sandwiched by a Quirarte kill and block grabbing the second frame for UCSB at 32-30.
BYU came out of the locker rooms fighting, as they broke through four tied scores and four lead changes to take the third frame at 30-27. Garbisch led all players with six kills in the frame, but four kills apiece by Erica Lott and Lindsy Hartsock along with three aces by Janvier Beaumont helped the Cougars to the win. BYU outhit the Gauchos .184 to .102 in the game.
The Cougar momentum continued in the fourth game as they battled through eight early ties to post a 5-0 run taking the lead at 18-13. UCSB was unable to recover as they were outhit .298 to .068 and BYU captured game four with a score of 30-21. Goodman led all players with nine kills in the frame.
The final frame opened with a 6-0 lead by the Cougars. UCSB fought back and two back-to-back errors by BYU brought the Gauchos within one at 10-9. BYU outscored the Gauchos 5-3 to win the frame at 15-12 and took the 3-2 match win.
"I thought we made a great comeback (in game five) but some errors cost us," said head coach Kathy Gregory, "It is a heartbreak loss for Santa Barbara and our seniors. I think the biggest turning point was when we were ahead 11-7 (in game three) and then we were aced three or four times, the momentum shifted to them and we could never get it back."
"It was intense that we won the first two games. They got hot and started playing at a higher level," said Hendrickson.
"The most important thing is they fought hard and never gave up," said Gregory.
