Sept. 14, 2006

Final Stats

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team was defeated in three games by host San Diego in the opening game of the USD Invitational, 31-29, 30-22, 30-28, Thursday evening. The game, which served as the home opener for the Toreros, was the first of four to be played by the Gauchos this weekend at San Diego's Jenny Craig Pavilion.

With the loss the Gauchos fall to 3-4 on the season while the Torero record is lifted to 8-3.

Senior Jamie Garbisch was the only UCSB player to post double-digit kills on Thursday with 10 total and no errors. Garbisch also had two service aces, seven digs and two blocks. Team kills leader freshman Rebecca Saraceno added nine kills and two service aces in the loss.

Freshman Stephanie Brandt tallied 28 assists and senior Emily Hendrickson led with 19 digs.

Kristen Carlson, who had 20 kills and 12 digs in the win, led the Toreros. Carlson was not the only San Diego player to accumulate a double-double, Christie Dawson was second on the team with 17 kills and 11 digs in addition to a match-high three aces.

Jessica Nyrop led all setters with 54 assists in the match while Kayleen Webster posted 20 assists. The Toreros outhit the Gauchos .275 to .217 on the match and posted 64 kills, 28 more than UCSB.

In game one, UCSB took the early lead but when the Gauchos were ahead 16-12, the Toreros went on a 4-0 run to tie the game at 16-16 with a kill by Laurel Abrahamson. Santa Barbara quickly regained the lead but with the score at 26-22, San Diego once again posted four unanswered points to tie the game, 26-26. Each team traded a trio of points before the Toreros capitalized on a kill followed by a block to seal the 31-29 win.

Game two saw several ties early on, but with the score at 4-4, the Gauchos grabbed a lead on a San Diego service error. Santa Barbara held the lead for a while but USD chipped away and tied things up at 15-15. The Toreros got the advantage on one of Dawson's aces and did not relinquish the lead taking the game at 30-22.

The Toreros held the lead for the majority of the final game. The Gauchos slowly fought their way back and found themselves trailing at 29-28 before San Diego put away the final point with a kill by Abrahamson.

UCSB will continue action at the USD Invitational with two matches on Friday. The Gauchos will face No. 11 Wisconsin at noon followed by a 4 p.m. match-up with Brown.