SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The No. 14 UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team (2-2) was back in action in Rob Gymnasium as the Gauchos took on the No. 8 Cardinal of Stanford University. It was a thrilling five-set match between these two teams, but at the end, it was the Cardinal who came out on top as UC Santa Barbara dropped this first match with scores of 21-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-22, 14-16.
 
FROM HEAD COACH RICK MCLAUGHLIN
"I am disappointed in the performance of those that started the match, but I am glad the next lineup was ready to compete. They did well, but just came up a few points short. Hopefully we can build on that for tomorrow."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first set started off strong for the Gauchos as they took an early four-point lead. However, it didn't take long for the Cardinal to fight back. They jumped on top of the Gauchos, closing the gap and going up by three before UC Santa Barbara could get it together. The Blue and Gold tied this set up at 18's, but that was the last time the score would be that close. The Cardinal ran away with the remainder of the first set as UC Santa Barbara lost 21-25.
 
From there, the Gauchos were ready to fight back. UC Santa Barbara took a three-point lead early in the set thanks to a service run from Jack Walmer and errors by Stanford's offense. These two teams tied the score up 16 times in this set before someone could run away with it. Unfortunately, it was the visitors who took advantage. Despite the Gauchos best efforts to take over this set, they were not able to as UC Santa Barbara dropped the second set 22-25.
 
Coach Rick McLaughlin made some changes to the lineup as the Gauchos came back onto the court for the third set. It was a slow start as Stanford went on a 3-0 run to kick off the set, causing the home team to play from behind. Even with that deficit, it didn't keep the Gauchos from battling back. With a four-point service run from Sam Meister, UC Santa Barbara was right back in this set, not ready to give up. With the help of Patrick Kane and Owen Birg's offensive efforts, the Blue and Gold finished out this third set 25-20.
 
The Gauchos came back out ready to battle in the fourth set with their hopes of winning this match still alive. Although these two teams exchanged points to start the match, it was UC Santa Barbara who took the first lead at 16-15. With Birg at the service line, the Gauchos went on a four-point run that gave them the cushion they needed. From there, Geste Bianchi put up an ace and Meister got a kill to push the Gauchos past the Cardinal 25-22, taking this match into an extra set.
 
This fifth set was as heated as the others with the match on the line. The Gauchos came out hot, securing a three-point lead before Stanford went on their own seven-point run that flipped the script. UC Santa Barbara fought back enough to tie up the match, but that wasn't enough. Despite their best efforts, the Gauchos could not close out the fifth set as they lost to the Cardinal 14-16.
 
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Geste Bianchi led the offense tonight for the Gauchos. He tallied 17 kills while also leading the team in aces with three. To top it all off, he contributed heavily to the defensive efforts with three blocks and eight digs.
• Patrick Kane played the final three sets of the night, and in that time, he racked up 10 kills with only two errors, giving him a .421 hitting percentage on the night. He also added on three blocks and five digs in that time.
• Josh Aruya put in work in the middle. He hit at a .438 clip, securing eight kills and only one error on 16 swings. Along with that, he helped the team out with three blocks and an ace.
• Jack Walmer set up the team's offense yet again, dishing out 41 assists. He also put up 10 digs to give him his second-straight double-double. 

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will return to Rob Gymnasium tomorrow, Jan. 13, as they host the Cardinal for their second match of this series. All of the action will begin at 5 p.m. with a live stream available through ESPN+.