Big West At A Glance
• Hawai’i (26-2) is headed to Seattle, Wash., for the first & second rounds of the 2012 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship. This marks the 20th consecutive trip, 31st overall, to the postseason for Hawai’i.
The Rainbow Wahine take on Santa Clara (20-11), a West Coast Conference at-large selection, Friday, Nov. 30 in first round action. Host and 13th-seeded Washington (23-6) faces Southland Conference Regular Season and Tournament Champion Central Arkansas (30-4) in the second contest of the day. The winners face-off in second round play on Saturday, Dec. 1 for a chance to advance to the Omaha Regional.
The Rainbow Wahine earned the Big West’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament after capturing their sixth league title with a perfect 18-0 record. Hawai’i became the first Big West team to run the table since UC Santa Barbara in 2002.
• Hawai’i, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara received top honors with the announcement of the 2012 Big West Conference women’s volleyball annual awards. The Rainbow Wahine are represented by Big West Volleyball Player of the Year Emily Hartong and Big West Co-Coach of the Year Dave Shoji, while 49ers skipper Brian Gimmillaro was named Big West Co-Coach of the Year and Gaucho Taylor Formico collected Big West Freshman of the Year accolades.
• UC Santa Barbara’s Leah Sully hit a career-high 31 kills against Long Beach State last week. Sully’s 31-kill output was the most by a Gaucho since 2006.
• Hawai’i posted a perfect 18-0 Big West Conference record en route to its sixth conference championship. UCSB was the last team to reach perfection, tallying an 18-0 mark in 2002. Hawai’i was flawless in its last season in the Big West, registering an 18-0 mark back in 1995.
• Cal State Northridge concluded the 2012 season with a 21-10 record, marking its first 20-plus win season since 1996.
• Kristin Winkler ends her four-year career with UC Irvine with 2,260 scoops, setting a new Big West record. The senior libero surpassed the mark of 2,194 held by former Cal State Fullerton libero Cami Croteau (2007-10).
• Head Coach Dave Shoji currently owns 1,102 career wins and four more victories will tie him with UCLA’s Andy Banachowski for first in the nation in career wins with a minimum 10 years as a Division I head coach since 1982.
• UC Santa Barbara freshman Taylor Formico owns the top spot in the Big West record book for season digs with 792. She blew away the old record of 652 scoops set by former Gaucho Chelsey Lowe (2011). UCSB now owns the top four spots in the Big West annals.