SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team closed its home schedule with a three-game loss to No. 8 Hawaii on Saturday night as five Gaucho seniors played their final matches at the Thunderdome.

Set scores for the match were 25-16, 25-21, 25-19.

Opposite Jaylen Villanueva had the best night of the team's seniors, totaling a squad-high seven kills on 27 swings with a pair of blocks. Fellow seniors Hanna Nielson (10 assists), Britton Taylor (one kill), Shauna Klein (two digs), and Ali Barbeau (two kills) all put in solid performances as well when they were on the floor.

The Gauchos dropped to 7-19 overall with the loss with a 3-12 mark in conference play.

With their win, the visiting Rainbow Wahine completed an undefeated 16-0 run through the Big West schedule, having clinched an outright conference title last week. Hawaii is 26-1 overall on the season, with their only loss coming to UCLA.

Outside hitter Taylor Nikki led UH's offense with 11 kills, but the majority of damage done by Hawaii came from the team's middles, with Emily Maglio (10 kills) and Olivia Magill (nine) combining for 19 kills on just 28 swings. Both swung for a hitting percentage over .600 on the night, leading their squad to a .322 attacking clip for the night compared to UCSB's .074.

UCSB freshman libero Alexis Rottman had a breakout performance from the service line, racking up four aces after entering the match with zero in her career. Middle blocker Phoebe Grunt was effective offensively early on (five kills on seven swings over games one and two) and with eight blocks was at the forefront of a UCSB blocking corps that out-roofed Hawaii 8-7.

Grunt was the focal point of the UCSB offense in the first set, leading all Gauchos with four kills. Freshman libero Emilia Petrachi recorded four of her nine digs in the frame as well. However, Grunt's four kills were matched by Hawaii's Taylor, and the Rainbow Wahine hit an efficient .393 to easily win the set after pulling away with a 5-0 run early on that made it 10-4.

Despite hitting a match-low -.156, UCSB actually played some of its best volleyball in the second game. Hawaii ripped off six straight points to start the frame, but UCSB outscored the Rainbow Wahine 21-19 from that point forward. Improved serving was a key factor in the turnaround, as the Gauchos recorded three aces and forced the opposition into poor attacks that led to four blocks for UCSB.

Trailing 10-20, Rottman and fellow freshman Devin Joos led an assault from the service line for UCSB, leading to an 11-3 run that brought the home team within two at 21-23. Grunt started off that run with a block (assisted by setter Annie Hasselman) before putting down a kill on the next play. Rottman followed that up with two straight ace serves, leading to a Hawaii timeout.

That break did little to slow UCSB's momentum however, with consecutive UH attack errors setting up a Joos ace that made it 21-23. After their second timeout of the set, the Rainbow Wahine recovered to claim the set by winning the final two points, including a Maglio-Kendra Koelsch block to close it out.

Hawaii retained that momentum in the early part of the third set, building a 10-4 lead out of the gate. Once again, a sustained run with Rottman at the service line helped the Gauchos close the gap, getting as close as 18-21 following a Joos kill, but UH went on to claim four of the final five points to finish off the match.

The Gauchos close out the 2015 season with a road contest against the UC Irvine Anteaters at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday night.