SANTA BARBARA, Calif.— No. 3 UC Santa Barbara men's volleyball earned its third straight win Wednesday night defeating No. 14 UC Irvine in four sets 25-17, 25-21, 22-25, 25-19.

The Gauchos now boast an overall record of 8-4 with a 3-3 conference mark, while the Anteaters fall to 2-9 and 2-5.

Sophomore hitter Ryan Wilcox notched a career-high 21 kills to lead the match on a potent 21-3-28 line for a .643 clip. Randy DeWeese followed with 15 kills of his own and Roy McFarland added 12.

Casey McGarry paced the team in two categories once again scooping nine digs and posting 46 assists.

The Gauchos cruised to a 16-12 lead in the first set before going on a 4-0 run that was capped off by an ace by Donovan Todorov to make it 20-12. McFarland would end the set at 25-17 on an unassisted kill that gave UCSB a .520 hitting percentage in the opening game. McFarland had five kills on just seven swings in the set.

UC Irvine jumped out to a 4-1 lead to begin set two, but UCSB never let the lead get larger than three points. Down 13-11, the Gauchos hopped on an 8-0 run to take the lead 19-13 and never looked back closing out the set 25-21. Wilcox found eight kills in the set on just eight swings.

The Anteaters were out in front for most of the third set, which saw 10 ties and five lead changes. UCSB made a late push to make it 24-22, but UCI claimed it on the next point.

An early set four run gave the Gauchos a 15-7 lead, and that cushion would be enough to hold off the Anteaters despite their best efforts late. UCSB would hold UCI to a match-low .040 hitting percentage thanks to seven errors.

The two teams will meet for the fourth time this season Friday night in Irvine, Calif. with the match being aired live on ESPN3.