• The Schedule
Friday, Jan. 28 at 6:00 PM
UC Santa Barbara (2-3) vs. No. 4 Penn St. (4-2)
at Robertson Gymnasium in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Live Stats | Watch on ESPN+
Saturday, Jan. 29 at 7:00 PM
UC Santa Barbara (2-3) vs. No. 9 Ohio St. (4-1)
at Robertson Gymnasium in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Live Stats | Watch on ESPN+
• Thriller in Pepperdine
UC Santa Barbara picked up its best win of the young season last Friday at then-No. 4 Pepperdine, going the distance in a match that ended with a 15-7 fifth set Gaucho victory. Junior opposite Haotian Xia was outstanding on both sides, especially in crunch time as he led the team with 15 kills while posting seven blocks and an ace. Sophomore middle blocker Donovan Todorov finished with a season-high nine blocks to go along with five kills, and junior outside hitter Ryan Wilcox returned to the lineup for an 8-kill, 4-block night.
• Xia and Wilcox Leading the Offense
With most of their top offensive contributors from last year no longer with the team, the Gauchos have been led by Haotian Xia (3.3 K/S) and Ryan Wilcox (2.7). The 6-foot-5 Xia ranks sixth in the Big West in kills per set, having seen more involvement this season than he has since joining the team in 2018-19. His 66 kills through five matches is just three shy of the 69 he had in his 14 appearances between the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons combined. The Beijing, China native is leading the team in aces (7) and has a .257 hitting percentage.
Wilcox meanwhile is averaging 2.65 kills per set. Following a year in which he led the Big West in aces, he is second on the team with six in four matches. He is also second behind Xia (79.5) with 55 total points.
• Donovan & Brandon in the Middle
Donovan Todorov has provided a needed boost for the Gauchos after missing the first three matches of the year. The 6-foot-6 middle blocker is currently leading the Big West with an average of 1.6 blocks per set. His season debut against Saint Xavier on Jan. 11 coincided with the Gauchos' first win of 2022, as he picked up where he left off last year with a 5-for-8 (.625) hitting line and two blocks.
Brandon Hicks owns the best kill percentage among the Gauchos' key contributors, hitting at a .536 clip. he had his best outing of the young season in the match against Saint Xavier, going a perfect 6-for-6 on attacks and adding a block and two digs.
• Recapping an Incredible 2021 Season
A star-studded 2021 UCSB roster advanced all the way to the NCAA Tournament Semifinals as the Gauchos made their first run at a national title in 10 years. Four Gauchos were named First Team All-Conference for the first time, while a program record five became AVCA All-Americans and head coach Rick McLaughlin was named the USMC/AVCA DI-II Men's Coach of the Year for the second straight time. No. 3 Santa Barbara became the third team to win the Big West Championship, defeating No. 4 UC San Diego in four sets on Apr. 25. The Gauchos went on to earn their first tournament win since 2011 with another four-set win over No. 5 Pepperdine in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals.
• New Year, New Opportunities
Following a year in which they held top-10 national rankings in kills, assists, digs and hitting percentage, the Gauchos are back on the court with a fresh lineup that will be without four of its five 2021 AVCA All-Americans.
Outside hitter Ryan Wilcox was the only non-senior to earn All-American status last year, and the only Gaucho this year to be named to the 2022 Off the Block Preseason All-American Team. The Big West Championship MVP returns for his junior campaign after leading the Big West with 35 aces and placing top-10 in kills (2.81), digs (2.14), points (3.5) and aces per set (0.47). He was a fixture in the UCSB opening-week attack against USC, leading the team in total attempts (76) and finishing second with 30 kills (3.33 K/S).
This year's 26-man roster features six freshmen and includes seven other returners who saw playing time last year. Sophomore middle blocker Donovan Todorov excelled in the final 15 matches of his freshman season as he finished near the top of the conference charts in blocks (1.17) and hitting percentage (.456). Also included among the returners are 2019 All-Freshman middle blocker Brandon Hicks, and sophomores who combined for 27 appearances last year in libero Ryan Pecsok and outside hitter Dayne Chalmers.
• AVCA Preseason Poll
After spending most of 2021 with a top-3 national ranking, this year's Gauchos began the year with a No. 11 preseason ranking as they look to re-establish themselves as a team to watch out for in the nation.
2022 NVA/AVCA Men's Division I-II Rankings
1 Hawaii (14)
2 UCLA (1)
3 Long Beach State (4)
4 Penn St.
5 Pepperdine
6 Grand Canyon
7 Lewis
8 BYU
9 Ohio St.
10 USC
11 Loyola-Chicago
12 UC San Diego
13 Stanford
14 UC Irvine
15 Ball St.
( ) – First place votes
• McLaughlin Returns Following Second Straight AVCA National Coach of the Year
For the second straight year, head coach Rick McLaughlin took home both the Big West and AVCA National Coach of the Year awards. McLaughlin earned his fourth career conference coach of the year honor in a year where the Gauchos went 15-5 with thirteen of their wins coming against nationally ranked teams. They spent almost the entirety of the year ranked as the third-best team in the country and were top-four every week.
The Gaucho head coach led his team to its first ever Big West Championship, giving the program its first conference tournament title and trip to the NCAA Tournament in 10 years. The Gauchos went into their first NCAA Tournament since 2011 ranking top-10 in the country in several statistical categories, being fourth in kills per set (13.10), assists per set (12.33), and digs per set (10.37). They also ranked eighth or better in hitting percentage (.318), win-loss percentage (.789), and team attack per set (28.99).
• Going Digital
Install the new UCSB Gaucho Gameday app on your smartphone for exclusive UCSB coverage all season long. Now available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
UCSB is moving to mobile ticketing beginning this season. For more information, click here.
