HONOLULU, Hawai'i. - The fifth-seeded UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team (12-16) played fourth-seeded UC San Diego (18-11) in the first round of the Big West Championship on Thursday night. The teams battled to five sets, with the winner slated to take on No. 1 Long Beach State tomorrow in the semifinals. In an exciting back-and-forth match, the Tritons ultimately edged the Gauchos 20-25, 27-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-13.
HOW IT HAPPENEDIn last match's Senior Night sweep over No. 3 Hawai'i, all six active seniors—and Ben Pearson—got the start. McLaughlin rewarded them for their performance, running it back with the same lineup to start this match against the Tritons.
Early in the first set, Pearson served an ace—foreshadowing his efforts a bit later—to help the Gauchos to a 5-2 start. Ben Coordt and Sam Meister made it 8-6 with a double block, and Santa Barbara held that slight lead into the media timeout. Pearson served another ace to send it there, up 15-12, then continued his run with two more serves resulting in San Diego overpasses and subsequent Santa Barbara kills. The Tritons went on a 4-0 run from there, though, before tying things at 19-all. The Gauchos would not let them take the lead, rattling off four in a row to take a commanding 23-19 advantage. A Triton attack error sealed a 1-0 start for Santa Barbara—25-20.
Set two was incredibly competitive. The teams traded nearly every consecutive point into a 15-14 Gauchos lead at the media timeout, with the previous four Gaucho points coming on Coordt kills. Out of it, Meister and setter Jack Walmer put up a roof before another attack error by Tritons star Anthony Cherfan forced a San Diego timeout. Three straight from the Tritons tied it at 18, continuing to 23-23. Then, the left-handed Geste Bianchi cut a perfect serve that landed on the line for an ace, forcing set point. After a San Diego point, Coordt's eighth kill of the set brought set point number two. The Tritons then won three in a row to win an extra-point, 27-25 second set.
Like the first set, Pearson served an ace early in the third to contribute to a 5-2 Gauchos lead. A Bianchi-Owen Birg block made the score 12-11 Santa Barbara, right before a Bianchi-Birg-Pearson triple block to 13-12. After nine ties already in the set, the media timeout came at 15-14 Tritons. Naturally tied at 18 apiece, Bianchi's 13th and Coordt's 16th kills of the night gave the Gauchos a 20-18 lead. At 20-20, Santa Barbara won a crucial, lengthy rally, although it was their lone point in a 6-1 San Diego run. The Tritons would swing the match in their favor with a 25-22 victory.
In a must-win set, Santa Barbara used a 7-1 run to get out to a 9-5 lead. This time, the Gauchos went into the media timeout up by a handful, 15-10, after a Birg-Pearson-Walmer triple block thanks to a great serve from Meister. He then served an ace on the ensuing point, forcing a quick Tritons timeout. As 19-13 turned into 19-15 and 19-17, Santa Barbara called timeout at each checkpoint—San Diego ultimately tied it at 20-20. After the past three Gaucho points came on Triton service errors, a monster kill from Bianchi made it 23-22 Gauchos. Another kill by him forced set point at 24-23. On the ensuing rally, with four swings to clinch the set, a net violation on the Tritons won it for the Gauchos, 25-23.
Down 5-4 to start the fifth, Coordt and Meister went up for a huge block to tie it at five. As expected, the teams were already tied seven times by 9-9 after a Birg kill. San Diego ended the streak of 12 sideouts in a row, forcing a Gauchos timeout down 11-9. Coordt evaded a triple block to re-tie the score at 11 apiece, and a crucial Bianchi-Meister block tied it at 12. Ultimately, the Tritons advanced to the semifinals by winning the final two points for a 15-13 fifth set victory.
BY THE NUMBERSLibero Max Gordon was excellent, earning a career-high 17 digs, the most in any match between two Big West teams this season. Perhaps even more impressive, he already dug 10 by the end of the second set.Geste Bianchi led all players with 24 kills, while Ben Coordt (19, .286) and Ben Pearson (11, .400) reached double-digits, as well. Both Coordt and Pearson had eight digs, too.Middle blockers Owen Birg and Sam Meister collectively had 10 kills hitting .400. Birg led the team with six total blocks.Setter Jack Walmer tallied 55 assists (11 per set) and facilitated the offense to a .273 hitting percentage, but a .330 hitting percentage after the first set.
(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics).
Season ends for UCSB Volleyball in a 5-set first round heartbreaker at Big West Championship News Channel 3-12.
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