SANTA BARBARA, Calif.— No. 6 UCSB men's volleyball was swept at home by No. 3 Long Beach State Saturday night 25-21, 26-24, 25-22. This is first time since dropping two matches to start the season that the Gauchos have been beaten in back-to-back games.

On the Stat Sheet

• Ryan Wilcox led the Gauchos with 10 kills and Geste Bianchi added eight. Each of them had five digs as well.
• Dayne Chalmers paced UCSB with eight digs and Patrick Paragas had 32 assists, all three aces, and three blocks.
• The Gauchos were out hit .350 to .263 and The Beach was strong at the net sending down nine team blocks to UCSB's 5.5.

 How It Happened

• The first set saw the Gauchos swing an impressive .517 clip while converting on 75% of their sideout opportunities but LBSU was even better hitting a .586 and converting 19-of-22 (86%) of its sideout chances. The two teams went back and forth early until The Beach found a 5-0 run that put them up 13-10. They never surrendered the lead after that.
• The second frame was neck and neck throughout with the teams trading points through the early going. The Gauchos led by as many as three at 18-15 but LBSU clawed its way back to ice it at 20-20. UCSB battled off a set-point to force extras but a service error followed by a Beach kill sucked the air out of the gym giving Long Beach the 26-24 win.
• The third and final set saw 10 ties but just one lead change as UCSB led early until giving away the lead at 12-11. The two teams nearly want tit-for-tat on 16 straight plays trading sideouts until they met at 19 apiece. From there LBSU closed the match on a 6-3 run.

Next Up
Next on the docektt is the away edition of the Gauchos' home-and-home series with UC Irvine on Wednesday March 30^th at 7 PM. Senior night is set for next Friday, April 1^st at Rob Gym as the Gauchos welcome the Anteaters at 7 PM.