Schedule
Friday, October 7
vs UC Riverside (3-12, 1-5) - 7 PM
Thunderdome – Santa Barbara, Calif.
ESPNU
Saturday, October 8
vs UC Davis (8-8, 3-3) – 7 PM
Thunderdome – Santa Barbara, Calif.
ESPNU
Gauchos on the Air
Both matches in The Thunderdome will be aired live on ESPN+. Gaucho great Max Kelton and volleyball world champion Katie Spieler will be on the call for both matches. Links can be found above and on the schedule page. Live stats will also be available for both matches.
Last Time Out
UCSB is coming off of a split weekend on the road where the Gauchos saw their six-match win streak and undefeated Big West record come to the end at the hands of Long Beach State. The Beach, who haven't lost to the Gauchos in the Pyramid since 2011, kept that streak alive with a four-set win. Less than 24 hours later UCSB took out its frustrations on the Titans of Cal State Fullerton sweeping them in three quick sets to get back in the win column.
Scouting the Competition
UC Riverside comes into the weekend with a 3-12 overall record and just one win in The Big West. The Highlanders ride a three-match losing streak and have not won a set since their five-set winner over UC San Diego on Sept. 29.
UC Davis sits in the middle of the pack in The Big West with an even 8-8 overall record and an even 3-3 conference mark. The Aggies spent last weekend on the road and will do so this weekend as well for a rare four-math road streak during conference play. They took two three-set losses at CSU Bakersfield and Cal Poly last weekend and will face CSUN Friday night before heading to the Thunderdome.
ROOF!
The Gauchos are one of the top blocking teams in The Big West as they currently pace the conference with 250 block assists and 155 total blocks, while ranking 2.58 blocks per set. Much of this success can be attributed to Deni Wilson (1.18 b/s) and Niableu Correal (1.14 b/s) who rank fourth and fifth in the conference, respectively.
Ohwobete Bringing the Heat
The reigning Big West Freshman of the Year, Michelle Ohwobete, has picked up right where she left off last season once again proving to be an effective all-around player at the outside hitter position. She currently leads the team with a 2.83 kills per set average and is second behind only starting libero Macall Peed with a 2.43 digs per set average. She is also tasked with a bulk of the team's passing duties and does so brilliantly as she only has seven receiving errors this season on 312 attempts for a .978 percentage. If that weren't enough, Ohwobete also leads the team with 24 total aces and is second with a 0.40 per set average.
Froley is Feeling It
Tallulah Froley has been effective and efficient from the right side this year as she currently ranks eighth in The Big West with a .280 hitting percentage and is the only player in the top-10 that isn't a middle blocker. She ranks second on the team with a 2.78 kills per set average, has collected double-digit kills on nine occasions, and has hit above .300 on six occasions.
Peed Plays D
2021 First Team All-Conference selection Macall Peed is once again getting it done on the defensive end for the Gauchos leading the team with a 4.03 digs per set average, which ranks third in The Big West. She has notched double-digit digs on 12 occasions already including a career-high 30 against UC San Diego, which is the second-best performance by any player in the conference this season. In situations that call for it, she has also been a reliable setter tallying 1.12 assists per set.
Dishing It Up
Early on this season the Gauchos have filled their setter needs by committee in their 6-2 offense as Mehana Ma'a and Megan Shimoda have shared the duties so far. After missing the first weekend of competition, Ma'a came on strong at the Pepperdine Asics Tournament putting together a 6.20 assist per set mark which now paces the team and ranks ninth in The Big West despite playing in a 6-2. Shimoda, who has played the most sets (59) ranks second with a 4.36 average.
Froley and Peed Earn Big West Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week Awards
The Big West announced its weekly awards on Monday, Sept. 26 tabbing Tallulah Froley and Macall Peed the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week. The honors come after a 2-0 start for the Gauchos where Froley and Peed led the team to two five-set wins on the road over UC San Diego and UC Irvine.
Froley was incredible from the right side as she tied her career-high twice with 18 kills in back-to-back matches for a k/s average of .360 on a .360 hitting percentage. On Friday she led all players with her 18 kills vs. UCSD and did so on an efficient .455 clip (18-3-33), while adding three blocks and a dig. On Saturday, she led the Gauchos to a reverse sweep over UC Irvine and handed the Anteaters their first home loss of the season with 18 more on a .286 clip (18-6-42) to go with three digs and two blocks.
Peed was dynamic defensively as she averaged 4.90 digs per set on the weekend and was perfect as a passer posting a 1.000 serve reception percentage on 47 attempts. In Friday's conference opener Peed posted a career-high 30 digs and added an ace and five assists as well against the Tritons. The next night she scooped 19 more digs to neutralize the conference's hitting percentage and kills per set leader, UC Irvine. The Anteaters were held to nearly .100 less than their season average.
This is Froley's second time winning the award and first since 2019. It is also Peed's second honor with her first coming last season.
Gauchos Tabbed to Place Second in Preseason Coaches' Poll
The Big West Conference announced its 2022 Preseason Women's Volleyball Coaches' Poll tabbing UC Santa Barbara to finish second this season in the conference race. The Preseason Coaches' Team was also announced with senior middle blocker Deni Wilson representing the Gauchos.
UCSB earned 94 total points in the poll and five first-place votes, and was only edged out by reigning champion Hawai'i, which garnered 96 points and six first-place votes. This is the highest finish for the Gauchos since the poll began in 2015 and the most first-place votes they have earned. The team was selected third in each of the last two seasons.
Last season the Gauchos finished second in the Big West with a 17-3 conference record and handed both losses to the 18-2 Rainbow Wahine. One was a sweep a home and the other a five-set thriller on the island to close out the season.
Making her first ever preseason team was Wilson, who comes into the season as one of the leaders of the team and is looking to follow up a 2021 campaign that saw her named First Team All-Conference and AVCA All-Region. During that year she topped the Big West with 26 solo blocks and ranked 22nd in the nation with a .391 hitting percentage.
UCSB Earns Eighth Straight USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award
The United State Marine Corps (USMC) and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced its yearly USMC/AVCA Team Academic Awards, naming the UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team to its ranks for the eighth consecutive year. A total of 1,213 programs were honored across all levels of the sport from high school to Division I.
UCSB is one of just 38 DI programs to have made the list the last eight years in a row and are the sole Big West team to make the list eight times.
The award honors volleyball programs that maintain a year-long grade-point average (GPA) of 3.30 on a 4.0 scale, or 4.10 on a 5.0 scale. The Gauchos posted a 3.525 this past Spring Quarter.
