GOING BACK TO CALI: In September, before school started, the Seattle University volleyball team took a ten-day trip to California, earning victories over UC Riverside and Army at the Pepperdine Asics Classic. The Redhawks head back to California for the final road trip of the season, starting with back-to-back matches against fellow independent school Cal State Bakersfield. The team closes out the road portion of the 2009 season with a match at nationally-ranked UC Irvine, a team that has already matched its win total from all of last season.
SCOUTING CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD: The Roadrunners enter Friday night's match at Cal State Northridge with a 10-13 record, having lost three straight home matches. Lindy DeGeare leads the team with 323 kills and also has 35 service aces. Alysia Baker has contributed 211 kills, 47 total blocks, and a team-high 38 service aces. Barbie Unfried has accumulated 790 assists, 31 service aces, 136 digs, and 42 total blocks. Defensively, Kelsey Mills leads the team at the net with 53 total blocks, while Kayla Williamson has paced the team with 522 defensive digs.
SCOUTING UC IRVINE: The Anteaters, ranked 23rd in the latest AVCA coaches poll, bring a 17-4 overall record into this weekend's Big West matches at UC Davis and Pacific. Kari Pestolesi leads the team offensively with 303 kills and 38 service aces, plus she has accumulated 298 digs and 35 total blocks. Juliane Piggott has contributed 238 kills, 17 service aces, 145 digs, and 36 total blocks. Setter Taryn Robertson has collected 791 assists along with 24 aces, 160 digs, and 40 total blocks. Alexandra Hauser leads the team with 77 total blocks, and Kristin Winkler has a team-high 310 digs along with 22 service aces.
ON THE DEFENSIVE: Emily Deleissegues has been the team's leader in digs all season long, coming into the three-match California road trip with 315 digs, averaging 3.94 digs per set. She is fourth among players from independent schools in digs and third in digs per set. She already has the tenth-most digs in a single season in school history and is on pace to at least move into seventh place on that list. Deleissegues was named Division I Independent Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 19 after notching 33 digs in matches at Idaho State and Weber State, averaging 5.5 digs per set. She needs 22 digs to move into sixth place on the SeattleU all-time digs list. Deleissegues is also a solid performer in the classroom, earning the Featured Student-Athlete of the Week honor on Sept. 15.