League Leaders, UC Irvine & UC Davis, Face Off This Weekend

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09 VB Release-Week 10

UC Davis welcomes No. 23 UC Irvine to Upper Hickey Gym Friday evening with the winner taking over the top spot in the Big West standings.

League Leaders, UC Irvine & UC Davis, Face Off This Weekend
UC Davis collected its fourth straight victory to improve to 7-2 in conference, tying nationally-ranked UC Irvine for the top spot in the Big West. The Anteaters went 1-1 last week, downing Cal Poly and falling to UC Santa Barbara. This week the top two teams square off Friday at Upper Hickey Gym with the winner gaining sole possession of the coveted top spot. The Anteaters won the previous meeting on Oct. 3, 3-1, in the comforts of their home court - Crawford Gym. UC Davis, who is 3-1 at home this season, has been playing its home contests away from their normal facility - The Pavilion - due to renovations.

UCR Records First Big West 'W'
UC Riverside entered last week as the lone Big West team unable to post a victory in conference play. The Highlanders' exited the week with their first league win of the season after downing Cal Poly, 3-2, Friday evening at the Student Recreation Center. Unfortunately they couldn't keep the streak going and fell to UC Santa Barbara, 3-0 the following evening. UC Riverside now owns a 1-8 Big West mark.

UC Davis On The Rise
In UC Davis' first two seasons competing in the Big West Conference (2007, 2008) the Aggies combined for a total of eight conference wins. So far in 2009, UC Davis has tallied seven league victories, and is currently tied with UC Irvine for the top spot in the league. UC Davis has also surpassed its highest overall win total of 12 in 2008, already posting a 16-7 record with one month of competition remaining. Leading the charge is head coach Jamie Holmes, who has made an impact on the UC Davis women's volleyball program in just her second season.

Pacific's Tomaszewska Leading The Way
Natalia Tomaszewska continues to pace the Tigers' squad and the Big West Conference with an impressive .386 hitting percentage. Her offensive output has also helped her maintain a top 25 ranking among the nation's best for most of the season. If the senior middle blocker continues to occupy the top spot in the league for the remainder of the year, she will become the first Pacific to lead the conference since Jennifer Joines concluded the 2000 season with a league-high .402 clip.

Anteaters Home Streak Snapped
Nationally-ranked UC Irvine saw its six-match home win streak snapped Friday, Oct. 23 when the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos knocked off the Anteaters, 3-2, at Crawford Gym. The loss was UC Irvine's first home defeat of the season. The following evening UC Irvine rebounded and improved its home mark to 7-1 with a win over Cal Poly.

Matadors Finding Success Late In The Season
After dropping five straight contests between Sept. 25 and Oct. 9, Cal State Northridge has won three of the last five contests, including a five-set victory over Pacific last weekend. The win over the Tigers was the Matadors first five-set decision since they defeated Northern Arizona on Aug. 29. Cal State Northridge looks to notch another victory this Friday when they take a break from conference play to host Cal State Bakersfield.

Fullerton's Road Woes
Cal State Fullerton owns an impressive 9-2 mark when playing in front of its hometown fans at Titan Gym. But everything changes when they hit the road. In the six road matches played so far, the Titans have been unable to register a victory. Cal State Fullerton looks to notch its first road win of the season this weekend when it closes out a three-match roadtrip in the central coast facing UC Santa Barbara Friday and Cal Poly Saturday.

UCSB's Gregory Reaches 600-Win Milestone In Big West
Kathy Gregory, the only coach UC Santa Barbara has known, eclipsed the 600-win milestone last weekend after going 2-0. Since competing in the Big West Conference, she has posted a 600-262 overall record. Gregory has coached the Gauchos squad since 1975, but UC Santa Barbara has only been a member of the Big West Conference since 1984. Gregory, who holds an overall win total of 825 while at UCSB, ranks in the top five in that nation among active coaches. The only other coach to reach the aforementioned milestone is current Long Beach State head coach Brian Gimmilaro, who currently has 668 wins.

Struggles In San Luis Obispo
A year removed from back-to-back Big West championships, Cal Poly finds themselves in eighth place in the conference standings with a 2-8 conference record. Part of the reason for the struggles this year is the amount of youth on the Mustangs squad. They lost four starters and five letterwinners in the offseason and now feature a lineup that consists primarily of underclassmen. In fact, four of Cal Poly's top-five hitters are freshmen. Although the Mustangs haven't gone down without a fight. In fact, the last five Cal Poly losses were determined in the fifth and final set. They look to snap a five-match skid this weekend when the Mustangs welcome Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton to Mott Gym.

Big West On Twitter
The Big West Conference is excited to bring Big West Live to Twitter, a Twitter feed designed to give fans an in-the-stands view of select Big West Events. Bringing near-instantaneous photos, commentary, and updates, Big West Live is the first feed of its kind. Moving beyond the scores and stats, Big West Live delivers the color of Big West events.

49ers Return To The Court As Conference Favorite
The Long Beach State women's volleyball team was selected to win its second straight, 10th overall, Big West Championship after receiving four first-place votes and 75 total points, according to the conference coaches in the annual Big West women's volleyball preseason coaches poll. The 49ers, looking to secure a 23rd consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2009, entered the season as defending Big West champions after capturing their ninth title a season ago with a 13-3 conference mark.

A Win For The Ages
Both Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State notched a W against then-No. 7 UCLA at the Brea Embassy Suites Fullerton Classic (Sept. 18-19), an impressive feat for both teams. The Titans opened their home event with a 3-2 victory over the Bruins, marking their first win over a ranked team in program history and the first over UCLA in 14 matches dating back to 1980. With the momentum carrying over from the following night, the 49ers swept the Bruins for their first regular-season win over UCLA since the last time the teams met in 1996.

Also registering its first win over a Top 10 program this season is UC Irvine, who kicked off the 2009 with an upset win over No. 6 California at the Nevada Marriott Courtyard/Fairfield Invitational.

Crowning The Champion
Of the nine current members in the Big West, four of them have captured at least one Big West title- Cal Poly, Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara and Pacific. Long Beach State leads the quartet with nine conference championships, followed by UC Santa Barbara and Pacific with five apiece. The Mustangs round out the field with three titles.

Fullerton's Zimmerman Captures 100th Career Win
Current head coach Carolyn Zimmerman, the all-time winningest coach in Cal State Fullerton history, collected her 100th career win after the Titans swept Cal Poly Friday, Oct. 2. The win also marked the first time Cal State Fullerton defeated Cal Poly since 2004 and just the second time in their last 24 meetings. Currently in her eighth year at the helm of the Cal State Fullerton program, Zimmerman has guided the Titans to a .500-or-better overall record four of the last five seasons.

Trio Of Coaches Make Big West Debut In 2009
UC Irvine, UC Riverside and Pacific all feature a new face at the helm of their respective programs. Three-time Olympian Paula Weishoff was named head coach of the UC Irvine women's volleyball program last December to succeed Charlie Brande, who retired after nine seasons as the Anteaters' head coach. Weishoff served the past five seasons as head coach at Concordia University, Irvine.

UC Riverside hired Ron Larsen as the second head women's volleyball coach in the program's history. He joins the Highlanders after four years as the top assistant coach for the USA Men's National Volleyball Team.

David Johnson was named interim head coach of the Pacific womens program after former head coach Charlie Wade resigned from his position to take over Hawaiis mens program. Johnson has spent the last seven seasons as an assistant coach at Pacific.