Sept. 16, 2006
Box Score
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Melissa Griffin (Whitehall, Mich.) registered a team high 19 kills as No. 16 Ohio handed UC Santa Barbara a 3-0 loss at the USD Invitational on Saturday.
"I'm pleased with how we came back from yesterday's loss and played UC Santa Barbara as well as we did," said Head Coach Geoff Carlston. "We kind of controlled the match and played strong volleyball. They're a pretty good team and I think they're going to do some good things this year. I think beating them in three like we did was a great stride."
Griffin hit .692 on 26 attempts. She averaged a team best 4.1 kills per game this weekend on .348 hitting and scored in double kill figures in all matches.
"Melissa was a reflection of our team this weekend," said Carlston. "She really struggled against San Diego and we were a little frustrated with that because she's our leader out there in a lot of ways. She rebounded well tonight and was unstoppable for the better part of the evening. She prepared mentally to come in and get some things done today and it turned out well for all of us. She certainly was a big factor in us winning. She's come a long way and is someone that we need to have this kind of performance all the time."
Stephanie Blackburn (Cincinnati, Ohio) had 13 kills and MAC Player of the Week Ellen Herman (Toledo, Ohio) chipped in 11. Setter Savanah Parra (Temecula, Calif.) totaled 50 assists and Michaele Blackburn (Cincinnati, Ohio) had 20 digs.
The win brought UC Santa Barbara's two-game winning streak to a halt. The unranked Gauchos defeated No. 11 Wisconsin on Friday by scores of 24-30, 30-24, 30-22, 24-30, 11-15 and swept Brown by scores of 30-24, 30-16, 30-18.
Ohio closed out the tourney with a 2-1 record after defeating Brown, 3-0 and losing to tournament host San Diego, 1-3 on Friday.
UC Santa Barbara was led by Jamie Garbisch with a double-double of 15 kills and 11 digs. Olivia Waldowski had 13 kills and Rebecca Saraceno put up 10. Stephanie Brandt totaled 48 assists while Emily Hendrickson had 14 digs.
Ohio opens their conference season on Friday at Akron. They finished the preseason 8-3.
"We won the matches we needed to win," said Carlston. "We did some good things during the preseason and we're happy. The teams we played this weekend were very tough competition and I think it prepared us for Akron and Buffalo. The level of our preseason is only going to help us once we start playing in the MAC".
