Jan. 13, 2006

Box Score

Junior opposite Evan Patak notched 18 kills on a .400 hitting average to lead the No. 8 UC Santa Barbara men's volleyball team (2-2 overall, 1-0 MPSF) to a three-game sweep over the No. 7 University of Hawaii (0-1 overall, 0-1 MPSF) Friday night at Robertson Gym, 30-27, 30-28, 30-25.

After winning the first game, the Gauchos dug themselves a hole in the second, falling behind the Warriors 26-23. UCSB pulled even 26-26 after a kill from Patak, and the two teams wrestled to a 28-28 when the Gauchos received two team blocks to finish off a 7-2 run that gave Santa Barbara a 2-0 lead.

In the third game, Santa Barbara came from behind again after trailing 16-18. This time, the Gauchos forged a 14-7 run to finish off the sweep of the Warriors. The Gauchos received a significant contribution from sophomore outside hitter Michael Fisher on the attack. Fisher recorded ten kills on 17 attempts for a .529 clip and four block assists on the defensive side.

Freshman setter Max Klineman improved on his performance in the UCSB/Elephant Bar Invitational, tallying 45 assists on 86 attempts for a .523 percentage in his fourth intercollegiate match.

As a team, UCSB hit .359, augmented by a .436 clip in game three.

For the Warriors, Lauri Hakala led the way in the kill department, registering 15 on 24 attempts, .458.

The two teams will take to the court tomorrow for a 7:05 rematch at Robertson Gymnasium.