COLUMBUS, Ohio.— Seniors Randy DeWeese and Roy McFarland dropped 21 kills each in the quarterfinal round of the 2021 NCAA Championship as No. 3 UCSB defeated No. 5 Pepperdine in four sets 25-23, 25-22, 22-25, 28-26. It is the first tournament win for the Gauchos since 2011 and they will now play No. 1 Hawai'i in Thursday's semifinal round. 

"We had a game plan," head coach Rick McLaughlin said. "Pepperdine is tough team that can throw a lot of different stuff at you, so we practiced that all week. These guys carried the game plan through and did a great job of anticipating what Pepperdine was going to do for the rest of the night."

DeWeese was hot to start getting to 12-0-14 before committing his first error. He would finish with 21 kills, matching his season-high for the third time, and managed to also lead the team with 13 digs, three aces, and five blocks. McFarland notched his season high with 21 on a .340 hitting percentage to go with three blocks and eight digs and Ryan Wilcox joined them in double figures with 11 kills and six digs.

"I get great sets from [Casey McGarry] and when I'm in rhythm it's hard for me to miss because the sets are just too good," said DeWeese. "It took Pepperdine a little while to adjust to those fast sets and that's how I got off to a hot start."

Both McFarland and DeWeese notched six kills in the opening set with DeWeese hitting an incredible .857 and McFarland notching a .750 line. As a team the Gauchos out-hit the Waves in set one .567-.345 and led by as many as five in a set that saw no lead changes. The Waves bounced back to make it close, but a kill by DeWeese sealed the deal at 25-23.

UCSB rode the set one momentum into set two as after dropping the first few opening points, the Gauchos regained the lead and posted a 5-1 run to go up 11-5 and never gave the lead back. They led by as many eight and coasted to a 25-22 win ended on a Wave service error. DeWeese added another eight kills in the set and scooped up six digs. 

With their backs against the Waves answered taking set three 25-22, capitalizing on five Gaucho service errors and forcing a fourth set. 

The fourth game featured 20 ties and six lead changes as the teams went back and forth well into extra points. Each time a team got ahead the other would mount a crucial run to hang around and keep it close. UCSB held three match points but squandered it chances with service errors until DeWeese stepped the line and sent a big ball over the Waves, who could not corral it enough to get a good look. They nearly put the ball down but the gritty Gauchos kept it off the play alive allowing Wilcox to play heads-up volleyball and slam the ball down to end the match. McFarland had seven kills in the final set.

UCSB now moves on to Thursday's semifinal with the tournament's top-seeded Rainbow Warriors of UH. First serve is set for 2:00 PM PT and a live stream will be available on NCAA.com.