Milwaukee, Wisc.—The UC Santa Barbara Women's Volleyball team fell in five sets to Illinois in its Friday morning season opener at the Panther Invitational.

ON THE STAT SHEET

• Sophie Messinger (21) and Kobie Jimenez (20) each posted 20+ dig matches and both marks are career-highs
• Michelle Ohwobete made her collegiate debut and led the team with 16 kills
• The Gauchos outhit the Illini .183 to .169
• Mehana Ma'a notched 24 assists in her Gaucho debut and Grace Kloss made the most of her debut leading the team with 28
• UCSB played 12 different players
• Illinois got it done at the service line notching 12 aces

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Set

• The Gauchos posted their best line of the match in set one out-hitting Illinois .367 to .167
• The set saw UCSB led nearly the entire way until Illinois took advantage late 21-20
• UCSB closed out the set on a 5-2 run with Ohwobete ending it on a solo block 

Second Set

• The second set saw 18 ties and seven lead changes
• The teams traded punches with neither able to get more than a two-point lead
• Sophie Messinger found seven of her 21 digs and seven of her 13 kills

Third Set

• The Gaucho defense stepped up to hold Illinois to a .000 hitting percentage with six total blocks
• The teams went back and forth until the middle of the set when UCSB parlayed a 9-4 run into a 18-13 lead
• The Gauchos never let the Illini regain the lead

Fourth Set

• Illinois jumps out to a 7-1 lead but the Gauchos claw their way back with an 11-5 run to tie it at 12 apiece
• Gauchos go up by three at 15-12 but Illinois regains the lead at 17-16 and ends on an 8-6 run
• Jimenez finds seven of her 20 digs in the set

Fifth Set

• Illinois hit a match-best .526 in the shortened set and jumped out to a 6-2 lead
• Ohwobete was clutch notching four kills on seven swings with no errors (.571)

NEXT UP

The Gauchos will look to bounce back in their doubleheader tomorrow. UCSB will take on Valparaiso at 8 AM PT before capping off opening weekend against host Wisconsin-Milwuakee on ESPN+ later in the evening at 5:30 PM PT.