IRVINE, Calif. (April 19, 2023) – The UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team (7-16, 3-7 Big West) are heading into the postseason as the fourth-seeded Gauchos will take on the fifth-seeded UC San Diego Tritons in The Big West Quarterfinals. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos took on the CSUN Matadors in a two-match series, playing one in Northridge and the other in Santa Barbara. The location didn't matter as UC Santa Barbara defeating the Matadors in both games, sweeping CSUN on their home court while winning 3-1 in Rob Gymnasium. 

POSTSEASON ACCOLADES
On Wednesday afternoon, The Big West announced the student-athletes who earned All-Big West honors this season. The Gauchos had two players who received these honors: Ryan Wilcox and Owen Birg. Wilcox was named to the All-Big West First team, his fourth time earning All-Big West honors, while Birg secured a spot on the All-Freshmen team.

SCOUTING THE TRITONS

• UC San Diego is coming off two losses to the No. 1 Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors. Their most recent win before that came against the Gauchos in five sets in La Jolla.
• Senior outside hitter Ryan Ka is by far the team's leader in kill as he has secured 313 so far this season. His numbers are good enough to put him in 13th in the NCAA and third in The Big West in kills per set as he averages 3.86 a game. The offense is supported by Gabriel Dyer, the team's sole setter. He leads the team in assists with 783.
• On defense, the Tritons are led by freshman Evan Boyle, who is the team's primary libero. He has the most digs on the team with 175, 50 more than the next closest Triton.
• This team is led by Brad Rostratter, who is in his first season at the helm of the program. He was the head coach at Vanguard University before coming to La Jolla, where he built an NAIA powerhouse. During that time, he received NAIA Coach of the Year honors twice while earning an overall record of 39-19.

WHEREABOUTS
The Gauchos will hit the court against the Tritons at 5 p.m. tomorrow, April 20, in the Bren Events Center on the campus of UC Irvine. For those who can't make it in person, a live stream will be available through ESPN+ with live stats also available through bigwest.org. The winner of this match will take on the No. 1 Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors on Friday night in the semifinals.