SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Women's Volleyball team (24-3) returned to The Thunderdome for their final four matches of the regular season. Their first test came against Long Beach State, who are right behind the Gauchos in The Big West standings. Following this four-set match, it was UC Santa Barbara who was celebrating as they defeated the Beach 25-18, 25-27, 25-23 and 25-19. This is the first time the Gauchos swept Long Beach State in the series since 2004.
 
FROM HEAD COACH MATT JONES
"It was a nice and balanced night for our group. The middles did a nice job when we found them, and all four pins had their moments for us so we could keep Long Beach guessing. I thought, defensively, we settled in after the first 10 points. We played great defensively and executed the scouting report about 85 percent of the time tonight. Overall, we had a great performance."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was an even match right from the start as UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State kept exchanging serve. The Beach was the first team to pull ahead by more than one point, but it was short lived as the Gauchos rallied back immediately. This resulted in the two teams tying the score 10 times during this first set alone. But once Michelle Ohwobete made her way to the service line, the Gauchos pulled ahead. Her back-to-back service aces and the Beach's unforced errors gave the Gauchos a three-point advantage. Even though Long Beach tried to close the gap, it wasn't enough as UC Santa Barbara took the first set 25-18.
 
In the second set, the Gauchos came out strong, pulling ahead by as many as five points. With the score at 21-16 in favor of the home team, the Beach started their comeback. The visiting team closed the gap between them and the Gauchos. The Beach seemed to make the big plays happen while Santa Barbara could not come up with an answer. Even though the Gauchos tried to hold on, Long Beach proved to be too much, resulting in the 27-25 loss for the Gauchos in the second set.
 
Now that the match was tied at one set apiece, both teams wanted to secure an advantage. As one team took the lead, the other would rally back, resulting in the score being tied at 10-10. That was until Grace Wuischpard went to the service line. She went on a four-point run to put the Gauchos on top, keeping the Beach at arms' length. The lead grew to five by the time Santa Barbara hit 20 points, but that would be the biggest lead of the set. The Beach picked up the pace, battling back in hopes of taking the third set. After getting within one, the Gauchos crushed their hopes as they took the third set with a score of 25-23.
 
This was the momentum the Gauchos needed. They came out hot in the fourth set, securing the lead from the very first point. Even though the Beach tried to claw their way back in, the Gauchos weren't having it. Grace McIntosh and Michelle Zhao executed as the team's playmakers, causing Long Beach to leave holes in the block that UC Santa Barbara's offense found. This gave the Gauchos the fourth and final set with a score of 25-19.
 
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• The reigning Big West Offensive Player of the Week Briana McKnight picked up where she left off last week as she led the offense for the Gauchos. She put up 14 kills while also adding on 11 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. To top it all off, she also led the team in blocks with five, two of which were solo blocks.
• There were plenty of other Gauchos that helped the offensive efforts. Middle blockers Wuischpard and Andi Kreiling were the two most efficient hitters as Kreiling finished with eight kills and only one error to hit.500 while Wuischpard had four kills and one error to earn a .429 hitting percentage. Tasia Farmer also had a strong night on the pin as she contributed 11 kills while hitting at a .320 clip.
• Grace McIntosh led the team in assists, racking up 23. To go along with that, she led the team in aces with four while contributing 13 digs, giving her yet another double-double this season.
• Macall Peed continues to be the backbone of the defense. She secured the most digs on the team with 17 while adding on two aces.
• Long Beach State came into this match as the No. 1 team in The Big West in aces per set. However, UC Santa Barbara cranked out 12 aces with only four errors compared to Long Beach State, who only had five aces with six errors. 

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will be back in The Thunderdome in less than 24 hours as they take on the UC San Diego Tritons. First serve will be at 7 p.m. with a live stream available through ESPN+.