Jan. 5, 2006
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -
This Week's Schedule
UCSB Elephant Bar Invitational
Friday, January 6 & Saturday January 8 • All Day
UCSB's Thunderdome & Robertson Gym
Preseason Exhibition
After falling in each of its two preseason matches, UC Santa Barbara is looking to turn things around this weekend in the EBar Invitational. The Gauchos dropped three straight games to Alberta 30-19, 30-25, 30-25 Monday night in Robertson Gym. Things weren't much better Wednesday when UCSB was defeated by Trinity Western 21-30, 30-24, 30-23, 30-23 in its second and final exhibition match of 2006.
That Time of Year
The Gauchos open the NCAA Men's Volleyball season in a very familiar way, hosting its 42nd Annual Elephant Bar Invitational this Friday and Saturday. UCSB, along with fellow Mountain Pacific Sports Federation members: UCLA, Long Beach State, Cal State Northridge, UC Irvine, Pacific, USC and Stanford will all begin their 2006 campaigns this weekend in Santa Barbara. While all but one of this year's participants, USC, finished 2005 ranked in the Top 15 nationally, six squads advanced to the MPSF Tourney. Like the Gauchos, Northridge was a MPSF semi-finalist, while Long Beach State was the MPSF Runner-Up and UCLA played for the NCAA Championship last year.
Looking Ahead
The future of UCSB Men's Volleyball continues to look very bright, as head coach Ken Preston has secured a 2006 recruiting class that was ranked No. 3 in the nation in the January 2006 issue of Volleyball magazine. Andy McGuire (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Loyola HS), Nick Rivett (Cheswick, Penn./Fox Chapel HS), Scott Slaughter (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona Del Mar HS) and Trey Valbuena (Huntington Beach, Calif./Huntington Beach HS) have signed national letters of intent and will join the Gauchos for the 2007 season.
About The Gauchos
UCSB, which finished seventh in the AVCA poll in 2005 returns several key starters in 2006. The Gauchos finished the 2005 season with an overall record of 14-16 and a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation mark of 9-14. They advanced to the MPSF Tournament Semifinals before losing to Long Beach State. UCSB is led by junior opposite hitter Evan Patak. A First Team All-American in 2005, Patak finished his sophomore season as the nation's leader in kills with 586. He also recorded a .316 hitting percentage, had 61 total blocks and 677.5 points. In addition to Patak, the Gauchos welcome back middle blocker Theo Brunner. Only a sophomore, Brunner earned Honorable Mention All-MPSF honors after producing 232 kills and 292.5 points in 105 games and hitting a team-leading .486. He also totaled 92 total blocks. Senior setter Dane Jensen split time with Bart Kowalski in 2005, but is expected see significant playing time this season. Last year, Jensen finished second on the team with 479 set assists.
