Back where they belong.
The UC Santa Barbara women’s volleyball team was selected to play in the 2009 NCAA Tournament after a 22-7 overall season, putting the Gauchos in the tournament for the 27th time in the program’s history and the first time since the 2006 season. UCSB, which had made 26 consecutive tournaments, missed out the past two seasons.
However, led by Big West Player of the Year Rebecca Saraceno and All-Big West First Team players Dana Vargas and Stacey Schmidt, the Gauchos will play West Coast Conference champion St. Mary’s on Friday on Stanford’s campus. Game time is 5 p.m.
“With how many teams were left out, we feel honored to be part of this tournament,” said UCSB head coach Kathy Gregory, the co-Big West Coach of the Year. “UC Irvine (tied with UCSB for second place in the Big West) was left out. This is a really tough tournament.
“We feel fortunate we’re in California because people can see us play at Stanford.”
UCSB was one of only two Big West teams selected for the tournament. Conference champ Long Beach State will play eighth-ranked UCLA in the first round.
Should the Gauchos win the first round match, they would play the winner of the Stanford-Long Island match. Stanford is the tournament’s fourth-ranked team.
UCSB has been knocked out of the first round in their previous two tournament matches, losing to BYU in five sets in 2006 and dropping a four-set match to USC in 2005. UCSB’s overall record in the tournament is 21-26.
St. Mary’s, 22-4, captured its first-ever conference championship this season, earning head coach Rob Browning Coach of the Year honors while senior libero Alita Fisher was tabbed Defensive Player of the Year. Seven other Gaels also earned all-conference honors.
“St. Mary’s is a very good team,” Gregory said. “They are well-skilled and a good team, but we feel we match up well with them. It’s a good match-up. They had an outstanding year. They run a very quick attack.”
