Titans Fall to No. 24 Santa Barbara in Three Straight Oct. 12, 2001 – Santa Barbara, Calif. Box Score
OCT. 12, 2001 – The 24th-ranked UC Santa Barbara
women's volleyball team, behind a season-best .433 collective hitting
percentage, handily defeated Big West Conference rival Cal State Fullerton
30-15, 30-23, 30-22 in the Thunderdome Friday night.
It was the Gauchos first home match of the season after 13 straight road
contests to start the season, and the first athletic event staged on the
newly refinished and repainted Thunderdome floor. Santa Barbara remained
hot in Big West play, running its league record to 5-1, 7-7 overall.
Junior outside hitter Courtney Guerra had a season-high
18 kills for the home team, and connected at a stellar .533 clip. The
Simi Valley, Calif., native was on fire in game one with seven kills and
scored three of UCSB's first six points as it built a 6-3 lead and never
looked back. The Gauchos also had three aces in the opening frame and
did not commit a service error.
Game two was a much closer affair, as the two teams were tied at 15 apiece.
At that point, however, Santa Barbara went on a 7-1 run to break things
open. Sophomore outside hitter Erica Menzel tallied four kills and an
ace in the second game, while Guerra had the final put-away.
Junior Danielle Bauer got UCSB off to a rousing start in the third game,
slamming home three of her squad1s first four points. The middle blocker
from Santa Ana, Calif., notched 11 kills and 11 assists for her ninth
double-double of the season. Senior outside hitter Brie Lampe was another
Gaucho standout, notching 11 put-aways without a single error on 15 attempts
for a dazzling .733 hitting percentage. As a team, Santa Barbara committed
just two hitting errors in final game and eight for the match.
On the other side of the net, senior outside hitter Megan Sabo had a team-best
11 kills, while sophomore setter Kim Levey had a busy night with 34 assists
and a match-high 16 digs. The Titans hit a respectable .239 on the evening,
but saw their record drop to 7-6, 3-4 in league play.
