BAKERSFIELD, Calif.— The UC Santa Barbara Women's Volleyball team (8-8, 4-0 Big West) pushed its winning run to four games after taking down CSU Bakersfield on Saturday night at the Icardo Center. With the win, the Gauchos end the second week of Big West play atop the league with a 4-0 record, having lost just two sets.

ON THE STAT SHEET

• The Gauchos racked up 61 kills to CSU Bakersfield's 46
• Three UCSB players had double-digit kills, with Michelle Ohwobete leading all players in the contest with 14, and Rowan Ennis and Abrielle Bross following closely behind with 12 apiece
• Grace Kloss led the Gauchos with 30 assists, while Mehana Ma'a had 23
• Macall Peed led all players with 25 digs
• Rowan Ennis had four blocks on the night

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Set (25-18 UCSB)

• The Roadrunners kept pace with the Gauchos in the early going, but UCSB went on a 7-1 run after going down 7-6 to take a 13-8 lead
• The Gauchos maintained the lead until the Roadrunners regained momentum and pulled back within one with the Gauchos up 16-15
• Deni Wilson and Tasia Farmer collected kills and the Gauchos forced a pair of attack errors to create some separation with a 20-17 lead
• Bakersfield's Brooke Boiseau got the hosts a point back on the next serve, but then UCSB rattled off five straight points, ending the set on a Tallulah Froley kill

Second Set (27-25 CSU Bakersfield)

• The largest lead for either team was just four points, held by the Gauchos at 13-9, 15-11, and 16-12, in what was an extremely competitive set
• Bakersfield fought back to take the lead from the Gauchos at 24-23 for the first time since it led 9-8 in the set
• UCSB fought to regain the lead, tying at 24 and 25-all on Bakersfield errors, but the Roadrunners ultimately took the set on back-to-back kills

Third Set (25-22 UCSB)

• The Gauchos leapt out to an 8-2 lead, with kills from Ohwobete, Froley, and Wilson interspersed among Bakersfield attack errors
• UCSB kept up the scoring, taking an eight-point lead at 14-6 on a Grace Kloss service ace and an 18-11 advantage on a Rowan Ennis kill
• Bakersfield got rolling at that point with four-straight points, but the Gauchos answered back with a 6-1 run that led to set point with a 24-16 lead
• The Roadrunners pulled off six points in a row before a Farmer kill allowed the Gauchos to take the set and go up 2-1 in the match

Fourth Set (25-20 UCSB)

• The fourth set played out in similar fashion to the first, with the Gauchos and Roadrunners going back-and-forth in the early portion of the set, getting tied up at 7-7 before UCSB kickstarted a 6-2 run, concluding with a Wilson kill to lead 13-9
• After that, Bakersfield flipped the script, taking eight of the next nine points to go ahead 17-14
• An Abrielle Bross kill pulled a point back for the Gauchos before Ennis went on a tear, dropping three consecutive kills on Bakersfield, which Froley then followed up with one of her own to help the Gauchos regain control of the set with a 19-17 lead
• From there, UCSB never relinquished the advantage, concluding the contest on an Ohwobete kill to continue the Gauchos' perfect start to conference play

UP NEXT
UCSB returns to the Thunderdome on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. for a Big West clash against Long Beach State. Check back on UCSBGauchos.com for gameday-related links later in the week.