SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Women's Volleyball team (24-3) was back in The Thunderdome for their second match of the weekend as the Gauchos hosted the UC San Diego Tritons. It took all five sets to decide the winner of this match, and by the end, it was UC Santa Barbara who came out with the win. They took down the Tritons with scores of 28-26, 22-25, 15-25, 27-25 and 15-7.
 
With tonight's win, the Gauchos secured The Big West Regular Season Championship outright for the first time since 2004.
 
FROM HEAD COACH MATT JONES
On tonight's match…
"It was weird energy tonight. We only played a four-setter last night, but it kind of looked like we were tired at times. UC San Diego played great; they played amazing defense and they served and passed their faces off. So credit to UC San Diego for playing a really great match. I also want to give credit to our team, and it all started with Tasia. She found the spark we needed that shifted the tide and allowed us to play like we're used to."
 
On clinching The Big West Regular Season title…
"This is a great accomplishment, and it's nice to know we will have the No. 1 seed. But at the end of the day, it's about continuing the process. We obviously had a scare tonight and every team wants to beat us. We have two tough teams coming in next week and we have to execute against them. It's about winning every match."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
From the very first point, fans knew this would be a high-caliber match as neither team could truly pull ahead of the other. Once there was finally a timeout on the floor, the Gauchos were only up by two. From that point on, Santa Barbara made the push to keep the lead. They went up by as many as four points before the Tritons went on a four-point service run to get themselves within one. This was all San Diego needed as they were the first team to earn set point. However, with a kill from Briana McKnight and two errors by the Tritons, the Gauchos rounded out the first set in extra points with a score of 28-26.  
 
The second and third sets were not the best showings for the Gauchos. UC Santa Barbara hung close with the Tritons in hopes of chipping away at the lead they built at the beginning of the second set. However, UC San Diego proved to be the tougher team at the end of the second set as they won with a score of 25-23. This carried over into the third as the Gauchos looked very out-of-character. Santa Barbara could not get a ball to hit the floor on the Tritons' side, while UC San Diego seemed to be unstoppable. This resulted in the third set score of 25-15.
 
Once the fourth set began, it looked like the Gauchos were returning to their normal selves. Even though San Diego started with the lead, Santa Barbara closed the gap quickly and ran with it. By the time the score was tied at 14's, Michelle Ohwobete was at the service line. She helped the Gauchos gain a three-point lead before the Tritons came back and took it from them yet again. But that's where Tasia Farmer came in. She went on to record three kills in seven points to give her team the momentum they needed to come out on top with a score of 27-25.
 
With the match on the line, the Gauchos came out ready to play. The Tritons scored the first point of the fifth set, but that was the only lead the Gauchos would allow. UC San Diego made multiple errors while Tasia Farmer registered three more kills to put the Gauchos up 8-4 by the time the two teams switched sides. The Gauchos kept up the pressure from there, not giving San Diego any chances to come back. UC Santa Barbara took the fifth and final set 15-7.  
 
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Farmer racked up a new career-high tonight as she led the team in kills, securing 21 on the night as she went on to hit at a .341 clip. Along with that, she added on two blocks.
• Ohwobete and Sophie Reavis also ended the night with double-digit kills. For Ohwobete, she contributed 12 kills to go along with 15 digs for her 10th double-double this season while also notching four blocks, three of which were solo blocks. Reavis, on the other hand, finished the night with 11 kills to go along with three blocks.
• The Gauchos landed in the record books for ninth-most digs in a match during the rally scoring era, racking up 105 digs as a team. The back row defense was led by none other than Macall Peed, who finished the night with 32 digs, while McKnight was close behind her with 20 digs.
• Grace Wuischpard was a force to be reckoned with in the front row. She contributed nine blocks, three of which were solo blocks.
• Grace McIntosh and Michelle Zhao were the two setters leading the team's 6-2 offense. They both earned double-doubles in tonight's match as McIntosh contributed 25 assists and 16 digs while Zhao tallied 25 assists and 12 digs. 

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will return to The Thunderdome next Friday and Saturday, Nov. 17 and 18, to finish out the regular season. They will take on the Aggies of UC Davis on Friday before facing the Highlanders of UC Riverside on Saturday as the team celebrates their six seniors. First serve will be at 7 p.m. both nights with live streams available through ESPN+.