Box Score SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The home court
atmosphere is doing wonders for the Gauchos, as they maintained
their momentum from last night's victory over Stanford to top the
Pacific Tigers on Saturday afternoon in a three game sweep. Set
scores went 25-21, 25-16, 26-24.
UCSB's record jumps to 9-12 overall, 7-10 MPSF. The Tigers are
now 5-10, 3-10.
The Gauchos' energy surged the gym as they took an early lead
in the first set. Miles
Evans slammed three out of the first five Gaucho points. UCSB
ran away early on with a dominant offense led by
Evan Licht,
Austin
Kingi and Evans. The home team had much as a five point lead in
the game. A hard kill from Licht ended the first set.
UCSB maintained their strong play through the start of the
second set, again starting with a substantial lead. Dylan
Davis and Jonah Seif
teamed up to shut down the Tiger offense with a pair of blocks. The
Gauchos cruised to a second set victory by nine points.
The third set started off as a nail biter and held true until
the very end. The teams traded points and the Pacific went up to a
three-point lead at 13-10. A UCSB timeout reenergized the Gauchos,
who would tie the score at 13-13. Points went back and forth until
Licht slammed a kill, giving the Gauchos a 24-22 advantage. The
Tigers would not let up and tied the game at 24-24. After a Pacific
service error, Miles Evans completed the sweep with a booming kill
through the Tigers defense.
Pacific put up a noble effort and had strong performances from
individual players. Taylor Hughes led the Tigers with 17 kills and
three blocks. Tommy Carmody recorded seven kills and five
blocks.
On the other side, Licht continued his court dominance with 18
kills, nine digs, and three blocks. Austin Kingi finished the night
with 12 kills, 7 digs, and one block. Seif recorded a notable 41
assists and led the game with 11 digs.
"Our backs are against the wall for the last playoff spot," said
UCSB head coach Rick McLaughlin. "This was a big win for us, and
pushes us one step closer to getting into the MPSF Tournament."
Next up, the Gauchos stay at home and take on Cal State
Northridge on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. Tickets for that match
can be purchased here.
