Box Score SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – UCSB continued its strong start to the Thunderdome Classic with its second sweep of the day with a 3-0 decision (25-18, 27-25, 24-14) over Baylor.
"Baylor is a top-50 team from a year ago, they have a lot of experience and we knew they'd be a good challenge," Head Coach Nicole Lantagne Welch said. "I thought we raised our level today which is what you have to do to keep improving as a team."
As the Gaucho offense out-hitting the Bears .305 to .173, Chanel Hoffman led the way with her season-highs of 17 kills and .406 hitting clip.
"I think Chanel was very aggressive and very smart as an attacker tonight," Welch said. "She was making all the right decisions on where to go when she was in trouble, but she also took care of the ones where she knew she had an opening."
Lindsey Ruddins also reached double figures with 14 kills, supplemented by her 10 digs, which gave her the third double-double of her season.
Pacing the match in the dig category was
Emilia Petrachi with 13 scoops, as she helped the Gaucho defense limit Baylor to a pair of sub-.200 hitting sets.
Much like in their first match of the day against Bakersfield, UCSB dominated the first set. While the game was tied at 16-16, the Gauchos left the Bears behind with a punishing 9-2 run to close out the game.
The break started after UCSB called a timeout in response to a 3-0 Baylor run. Once they retook the floor, the Gauchos were gifted a point via a service error, which put the ball into the hands of Lindsey Ruddins who hammered home an ace on her first serve. Hoffman continued the run with a kill, which would prove to be the first of four down the stretch. And after Hoffman drilled a kill to give UCSB its 23rd point, the rest was taken care of by Phoebe Grunt who tacked on a kill and ended the game with a block alongside Rowan Ennis.
The Gauchos continued with that momentum well into the second game where they at one point had an 11-5 edge. But the Bears refused to go down easy, as they tied the score at 18-18, which set the stage for a back-and-forth battle until the final point.
Baylor had an opening to take the set with game point at 24-22, but Hoffman stepped up in the clutch with a kill and Elizabeth Sheffield and Ruddins tied the score with a block. From there, the Gauchos would surrender only one more point and finished the tight game on top 27-25 after two more blocks, both made by Sheffield.
"We were pretty fired up in the locker room," Welch said. "We had our backs against the walls in that second set, but we stayed the course and we just kept fighting and kept grinding out points. I think we came out a little more confident after that.
"We've already been in a lot of two-point sets this season, so I knew we could come back in that and we did then we just built the momentum from there."
After taking yet another extra-point set, the Gauchos were able to coast to a 25-14 finish in the third to complete the sweep thanks to some stellar serving from Maxine Burke and Lexi Rottman. Those two were at the line for 12 of UCSB's 25 serves and came up with an ace each, as they kept Baylor on its heels.
"Both Max and Lexi really came up big in serving today," Welch said. "They were in their zones, they were consistent and they were making digs behind it to keep them at the service line. They did a great job at getting runs behind their serves."
Burke finished with three aces in the match, while Rottman recorded two.
UCSB will be back in the Thunderdome tomorrow at 4:30 to face No. 25 Colorado State who beat Baylor 3-1 to start the tournament on Friday morning. Tickets will be available at the Thunderdome and can also be purchased online.
