SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Jan. 7, 2023) – The UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team (1-1) is back in action for the final day of the Asics Invitational. The No. 7 Gauchos were ready for revenge as they were taking on the No. 2 UCLA Bruins. After three sets of play, the Bruins left Rob Gym with their third win of the tournament, sweeping the Gauchos in three (26-24, 25-16, 25-14). 

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos came out in the first set on fire with a packed Rob Gymnasium ready to cheer on the home team. Early in the first set, UC Santa Barbara was up by as much as four points, causing the Bruins to take an early timeout. However, the Bruins are not a team to back down from a fight. They came back to tie the Gauchos as the two teams battled for a lead in the middle of the set. With 16 tied scores and seven lead changes, the first set went into extra points, resulting in a 26-24 win for the Bruins.

The Gauchos didn't stop fighting. They continued to battle with the top-ranked team throughout the second set. Despite the great start, the Gauchos were not able to make a push to even out the match, resulting in a 25-16.

The third set started much like the other two sets with a neck-and-neck battle between two top-ranked teams. However, the Bruins refused to let a single play die as they sprawled all over the court. They were making plays to keep the Gauchos at bay, resulting in a 25-14 loss for UCSB.

LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Donovan Todorov had the most successful night on offense. He hit the most efficiently with by racking up five kills with only one error on eight attempts, resulting in a .500 clip.
• Registering the most kills on the team this evening were Geste Bianchi and Ben Coordt. The two pin hitters each had six kills apiece, the most on the team. These two also added on one ace each.
• Jack Walmer led the team's offensive efforts, registering 19 assists. He also finished with the most digs on the team, tallying six.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will hit the road next week as they take on another top team in Stanford University, playing the Cardinal in back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday evening. Live stats and live streams will be available for both games with links at ucsbgauchos.com.