Oct. 13, 2007

Box Score

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball picked up its second conference win of the season with a 30-24, 30-25, 25-30, 30-19 victory over Big West foe UC Riverside Saturday evening at the Highlander's Student Recreation Center.

With the win, the Gauchos improve to 7-12 overall and 2-5 in conference matches. Riverside falls to 5-13 overall and 1-6 in the Big West.

Junior Lauren McLaughlin led the Gauchos with 22 kills in the match and also added six digs and four block assists. Sophomore Rebecca Saraceno tallied 13 kills and nine digs in the win, while freshman Charlene DeHoog chipped in a .370 clip with 11 kills on 27 attempts with just one error.

Freshman setter Dana Vargas posted 49 assists in the win with three kills and 12 digs. Junior libero Leigh Stephenson tallied 28 digs while freshman Caitlin Saxton collected 19 scoops.

Kelly Fink led the Highlanders with 15 kills and eight digs while Angie Mitchell notched 13 kills. Dominique Cowling had a double-double with 10 kills and 15 digs for UC Riverside.

Setter Britney Murrey had 56 assists and 12 digs while Kimberly McNeal notched 20 digs in the loss.

In game one, the Gauchos jumped out to an early 13-9 lead, but the Highlanders came back to tie the match at 17-17. UCR took a 23-20 lead, but UCSB outscored the Highlanders 10-1 down the stretch to post a 30-24 win.

The Gaucho momentum kept going in game two as they jumped out to a 10-1 lead. The Highlanders attempted to chip away at the UCSB lead and managed to come within five at 27-23, but would not get any closer as UCSB captured the 30-25 win to take a 2-0 advantage heading into the locker rooms.

UCR and UCSB battled to a 19-19 tie in game three before the Highlanders scored three straight points to gain a 21-19 advantage. The Highlanders built the margin to five at 28-23. The teams traded points before a kill by Amy Read sealed the 30-25 win for Riverside.

The game three win would be the only win of the night for the Highlanders as the Gauchos came back with a vengeance and hit an evening best .378 on their way to a 30-19 game four win.

Santa Barbara will continue Big West action on the road next week when they travel to Long Beach State on Friday, Oct. 19 followed by a Saturday match-up at Cal State Northridge. Both matches are slated for a 7 p.m. first serve.