Nov. 10, 2005

Box Score

Stockton, Calif. - The Pacific women's volleyball team fell in five games to Big West Conference rival, UC Santa Barbara, on Thursday, November 10. With the loss the Tigers fell to 14-11 overall and 6-5 in conference play while the Gauchos improved to 16-8 overall and 11-2 in the Big West.

Game scores for the match were 25-30, 25-30, 30-24, 30-22, and 16-14.

Pacific raced out to an 8-1 lead in game one as the Tigers forced UCSB into four errors and Pacific seniors Sidney Bennett (Louisville, Ky.) and Ashley Groothuis (Aurora, Neb.) each had two early kills. The Gauchos pulled within one point at 20-19, but Pacific rattled off five straight points to take a 25-19 lead. The Tigers went on to claim game one, 30-25.

Leading 21-20 in game two, Pacific once again took control with a burst as the Tigers scored four straight points on a kill from Groothuis and three UCSB errors. Leading 25-20, Pacific cruised to a 30-25 win to take a 2-0 lead into the break.

The Gauchos rallied in games three and four, holding the Tigers to a hitting percentage of just .040 in the two games as UCSB tied the match with a 30-24 win in game three and a 30-22 win in game four.

The fifth and deciding game saw the two teams battle back and forth with nine ties and six lead changes. The Gauchos, however, held a 14-12 lead before back-to-back kills from Groothuis tied the game at 14-14. Following a UCSB timeout, the Gauchos scored consecutive points to take the match with a 16-14 win in game five.

Groothuis finished with a match-high 27 kills, tying her career-high for kills in a match. She also nabbed 23 digs to set a new career-high. UCSB's Janine Sandell led the Gauchos with 26 kills on 89 swings.

Pacific will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 12 as the Tigers' host Cal Poly at 7 p.m.