MANOA, Hawai'i— The UC Santa Barbara Women's Volleyball team capped off the 2021 season with a big win on the island Saturday night downing Big West Conference champion Hawai'i in five sets. The Gauchos swept the series with the Rainbow Wahine and end the year in second place with a 21-11 overall record and a 17-3 conference mark.

ON THE STAT SHEET

• The Big West's dig champion Macall Peed was dynamite on the defensive end for the Gauchos scooping up a career-high 27 digs to go with four assists and an ace
• Abrielle Bross led UCSB with a career-high 16 kills on a solid .314 hitting percentage
• Rowan Ennis was her usual self posting another errorless line going 12-0-18 for a .667 clip to go along with eight blocks
• Ennis finishes the year with a .434 hitting percentage on the season which is the best single-season performance in Gaucho history and is good for the best in the Big West this year
• Deni Wilson saw 11 kills and seven blocks and ended the season with a .391 hitting percentage which is third best single season performance by any Gaucho
• Grace McIntosh posted a 25 assist-11 dig double-double and Mehana Ma'a added 29 assists and nine digs
• The Gauchos held Hawai'i to a .194 hitting percentage
• UCSB ended the year with a .267 hitting percentage, which is tied for the sixth-best mark in program history

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Set (25-18 UH)

• The two teams traded punches early in the opening set until the host Rainbow Wahine began to build their lead through the middle points
• A 6-2 run saw UH take a 21-15 lead that the Gauchos could not bounce back from
• UCSB was outhit .342 to .258

Second Set (25-21 UCSB)

• The Rainbow Wahine got out to good start in the second frame jumping out to a 9-5 lead and led by as many as five at 13-8, but UCSB found its footing and chipped away until it was tied at 20-20
• The Gauchos finished off the set on a 7-1 run capped off by a kill from Abrielle Bross that tied the match at a set apiece
• UCSB held UH to a match-low .024 hitting percentage in the set

Third Set (25-23 UCSB)

• Once again the two teams hung close for the front half of the third set until the Gauchos took a three-point lead at 18-15 and quickly extended it to five points at 21-16
• UH saw a run of its own to tie it at 22-22 and again at 23-23 but a kill from Tallulah Froley and big-time block by Ennis and Tasia Farmer gave the Gauchos the set

Fourth Set (25-20 UH)

• UH bounced back in the fourth set to force a tiebreaker jumping out to an 11-7 lead in the early going
• UCSB fought hard to end it in four, tying the match at 12 apiece but the Rainbow Wahine closed out the frame on a 6-1 run, including the last three points of the set

Five Set (15-12 UCSB)

• The Gauchos wasted no time in the final set jumping out to a five-point at 8-3 but the host Bows notched a 4-0 run of their own to keep the decider close
• UCSB then managed to post back-to-back kills and trade points from there with Michelle Ohwobete capping off the night, and her incredible freshman season in a huge way, finding an open spot on the floor for her 13^th kill of the night
• UCSB went errorless in the set posting a team 15-0-26 line for a .577 clip