SANTA BARBARA, Calif.— The No. 4 UC Santa Barbara men's volleyball team continued its strong start to the season with a pair of wins over No. 11 UC Irvine on Sunday at Rob Gym. 

Match One
The first contest of the doubleheader was taken by the Gauchos in straight sets 25-23, 25-19, 25-19. UCSB dominated both sides of the court outhitting the Anteaters .378 to .267 and besting them at the net with six and a half blocks compared to their four.

Randy DeWeese led all players with 21 kills and just two errors for a hitting percentage of .576. He added two aces, seven digs, and two block assists to his stat line as well.

Ryan Wilcox had nine kills of his own and Roy McFarland added seven. Casey McGarry got it done on both ends managing to lead the match both in assists with 35 and digs with eight.

In the opening set, neither team took more than a two-point lead until Anteater junior Jonny Bowles put the visitors up 19-16 with his third kill of the early-going. He finished second among the Anteaters with 10 kills while freshman outside hitter Francesco Sani posted a team-high 13 kills.

Santa Barbara responded with a sense of urgency, going on a 5-1 outburst to take back the advantage. DeWeese was brilliant in the late Gaucho run, putting away four of the final six points including a textbook solo block and a gorgeous dipping ace to clinch the set.

UCSB remained in control the rest of the way, taking as large as a seven-point lead on multiple occasions in set two. Irvine's best run of the match came in set three, as it jumped out to a 6-2 start. The Gauchos went on to close things on a 9-1 run to clinch their third straight win to open the season.

Match Two
A few hours later, the Gauchos would need an extra set to take down the Anteaters for a second time, 25-15, 16-25, 25-21, 25-22. UCSB once again won the advantages in hitting percentage, .341 to .311, and blocks, six to two. The Gauchos were also impressive with their serves, tallying an early season-high with 10 aces to UCI's seven.

UCSB matched UCI with three players in double-digit kills, led by DeWeese and Wilcox with 11 each. Keenan Sanders and McFarland finished with nine and 10 kills, respectively, and team-highs of .692 and .667 hitting percentages. McGarry led UCSB in digs and assists once again, tallying nine scoops and 38 helpers.

The Gauchos looked ready to cruise to another win, taking a dominant 25-15 win out of the gates. However, the Anteaters answered with their best game of the day, using an 8-0 run in set two to vault them to a 25-16 win and tie things at one set apiece.

Set three could have gone either way until another late Gaucho run turned the tides. Trailing 19-17, a DeWeese kill would start an 8-2 UCSB run to give the home side the advantage heading into set four.

In the decisive set, a McFarland kill broke a 17-17 tie and the Gauchos didn't look back. Attacking errors plagued the Anteaters over the final stretch, including on the final point when three Gauchos recorded a game-winning block to clinch the win, 25-22.