• The Schedule
at Robertson Gymnasium in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Thursday, Feb. 24 at 7:00 PM
No. 6 UC Santa Barbara (9-4) vs. UC San Diego (7-5)
Live Stats | Tickets
• Gauchos Need 7 Sets to Defeat BYU Twice
No. 6 UCSB stayed hot last weekend with a huge team efforts in Friday's sweep over No. 13 BYU and a thrilling four-set win over the Cougars the following night. Ryan Wilcox led the way with 26 kills (3.7 K/Set), hitting at a .315 clip for the week. His fellow Gaucho outside hitters stepped up too, with Nick Amoruso going for double-digit kills in both outings and Dayne Chalmers leading the team with 16 kills on Saturday and 13 digs on Friday. Middle blocker Dain Johnson started both matches, coming up with career-highs of six kills and four blocks in Friday's sweep. Rees Barnett also chipped in off the bench, adding three of UCSB's six aces in that match.
• Wilcox Named Big West Player of the Week, UCSB's 4th Weekly Honor
For the second time this season, junior Ryan Wilcox was named the Big West Offensive Player of the week. The Honolulu, Hawaii native opened his big week with a match-high 11 kills in Friday's sweep over the Cougars. It was the sixth time he has led the Gauchos in kills this season, most on the team. He also added four digs and five blocks, with his 1.67 blocks per set setting a new season-high.
The following night, Wilcox had his third-most efficient offensive outing of 2022, going for 15 kills on a .367 hitting percentage in a tightly contested four-set win. It was his sixth career weekly honor – he was named Big West Freshman of the Week four times in 2019.
This was the fourth weekly conference honor of 2022 for UCSB, with Donovan Todorov (Jan. 31) and Ryan Pecsok (Feb. 14) both previously earning Defensive Player of the Week honors.
• Pecsok's Huge Week Leads to National & Conference Honors
Sophomore libero Ryan Pecsok had a monster showin in two matches at No. 9 Grand Canyon two weeks ago, anchoring the defense with 52 digs in three matches en route to being named the Off the Block National Libero of the Week as well as the Big West Defensive Player of the Week. Pecsok topped himself in each contest that week, going for 10, 18, and finally 24 digs in the second straight five-set win over the Antelopes.
The Pacific Palisades, Calif. native averaged 4.8 digs per set in the Saturday win over the Antelopes, racking up nine digs in the first set alone. Entering the week, his highest total for an entire match had been nine. The 24 digs that night are the most of any player in the nation during the 2022 season. His 100 digs for the year rank fifth in the country.
• Todorov Hosting the Block Party
Donovan Todorov has been a problem for opposing teams to deal with. The sophomore middle blocker is currently pacing the Big West with 1.35 blocks per set and leads the entire nation with 58 total blocks. He has also been very efficient on offense, going for 1.77 kills per set and owning his team's highest hitting percentage (.457). His efforts have helped UCSB to a No. 3 national ranking in team blocks (126.5). When he has been in the lineup this season, the Gauchos own a 9-2 record.
• Taking Down The Top-9
Playing without a full lineup, Santa Barbara got out to a slow start to its season, opening the year against four unranked schools with a 1-3 record. Since then, the Gauchos are nearly perfect, going 8-1 against teams ranked in the top-9. On back-to-back Fridays, they took down the No. 4 team in the nation, beating Pepperdine on the road in five and sweeping Penn State at home. In their next two matches, they took down then-No. 9 Ohio State and then-No. 2 Pepperdine in convincing fashion in four sets. Including postseason play, the Gauchos have won 17 of their last 19 matches against nationally ranked opponents dating back to March of 2021. With their second four-match win streak in a month, UCSB has its highest national ranking of 2022 at No. 6.
• Setting the Table
Sophomore setter Patrick Paragas has been of the team's most consistent contributors this season, currently ranking 5th in the nation in assists (435) and 8th in assists per set (9.89). The Newport Beach, Calif. native has been active on the defensive end as well, sitting fourth on the team in digs (1.45) and fifth in total blocks (19). He has finished with over 30 assists in all 11 of the matches he has appeared in, reaching all-time heights with 54 in the Feb. 12 win at GCU.
• On The Outside
Ryan Wilcox, Haotian Xia and Nick Amoruso have been UCSB's main targets on the offensive end, all showing an ability to score in a variety of ways. Wilcox and Xia lead the team with averages of 3.9 and 3.8 points per set, respectively. The All-American Wilcox leads the way with 3.29 kills per set and 158 total kills (9th in nation), while Xia comes in second on the team at 3.00.
Wilcox (14 aces), Amoruso (11) and Xia (9) are the team's leading scorers from the service line. Amoruso (0.88 Blk/Set) and Xia (0.74) are also both in the team's top-four in blocks per set. Amoruso has been outstanding in recent weeks, starting each of the last six matches and averaging incredibly well-rounded numbers – 2.79 kills, 1.83 digs, 0.46 aces and 0.69 blocks per set. He owns the first Gaucho's only double-double of the year with 21 kills and 17 digs at GCU on Feb. 12 and enters this week with three straight double-digit kill performances.
• Great Dayne
It's safe to say that the Gauchos have felt the return of Dayne Chalmers. UCSB is a near-perfect 8-1 since the sophomore was inserted into the lineup, giving the Gaucho attack another difficult and imposing dynamic for defenses to deal with. The Costa Mesa, Calif. native is averaging 2.09 kills and 1.69 digs per set.
• 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 Men's Divisioin I-II Coaches 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. Their recent success has put them at No. 6 entering the week, their highest of the year.
2022 NVA/AVCA Men's Division I-II Rankings
1 UCLA (12)
2 Long Beach State (7)
3 Hawai'i
4 Penn St.
5 USC
6 UC Santa Barbara
7 Pepperdine
8 Ball St.
9 Grand Canyon
10 Lewis
11 UC San Diego
12 Stanford
13 BYU
14 Loyola-Chicago
15 Ohio 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.
