SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The No. 15 UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team (2-4) were back in Rob Gymnasium for this weekend with the first of two matches against the No. 9 Cougars of BYU. This match went to four sets between these two Top 15 teams. At the end, UC Santa Barbara could not finish out this match as they fell to BYU 26-28, 25-19, 22-25 and 20-25.
 
FROM HEAD COACH RICK MCLAUGHLIN
"We definitely improved in a few areas, but we have to tighten it up a bit at the end of sets and make our opponent earn points. We are getting better at it, but not quite where it needs to be to win. Geste Bianchi had another great night."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos came out big at the start of this set, taking the early lead over the No. 9 Cougars. That didn't last long as this tough team went on multiple service runs to take back the lead. UC Santa Barbara wasn't ready to give up. With Coach McLaughlin winning all of his challenges, the Gauchos stayed in this set and ultimately took the lead late in the set. This didn't affect the Cougars as they wanted to win this set as well. BYU rallied back right at the end as this first set went into extra points. Even though UC Santa Barbara tried to regain control, they were not able to as BYU won the first set 28-26.
 
UC Santa Barbara picked up where they left off as Geste Bianchi started firing at the Cougars. Between Bianchi's six kills in this set and the errors by BYU, UC Santa Barbara went up by three and kept that steady lead through the first half of the set. They didn't stop from there as UC Santa Barbara ultimately went on to win the second set 25-19.
 
The Cougars wanted revenge. They came out hot, getting four kills right off the bat to take a lead and cause the Gauchos to burn a timeout early. UC Santa Barbara slowly crawled back into this game as Bianchi continued to go off, putting up nine kills in this set alone. Even with the Gauchos' efforts, it wasn't enough to win this second set as the Gauchos dropped this one 22-25.
 
With the match on the line, the Gauchos needed to battle back. These two teams were on par with one another as neither team could pull ahead. That was until BYU went on multiple runs to get a three-point advantage. That was until Ben Coordt put up a kill and back-to-back aces to tie the score up at 18 apiece. Even with this push, it wasn't enough to help the Gauchos finish out this set on top as they dropped the fourth and final set 20-25 to the Cougars.
 
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Geste Bianchi had a great night on offense. He secured 24 kills while hitting at a .396 clip from the pin. Not only that, but he led the team from the service line with three aces. He also added on three digs and three blocks.
• George Bruening was a key to the front row efforts for the Gauchos. Not only did he put up eight kills, but he was tied for the most blocks on the team with eight. To top it all off, he added to the team's back row efforts with six digs.
• Middle blockers Josh Aruya and Dain Johnson made their presence known when it came to the front row defense. Johnson was tied for the most blocks on the team with eight while Aruya was close behind with six.
• Jack Walmer was the playmaker again for the Gauchos as the team's sole setter. He racked up 45 assists while adding on two blocks and an ace.
• Joe Wallace anchored the back row defense. He led the team in this stat category as he secured eight digs. 

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will have a quick turnaround as they take on the Cougars against tomorrow, Jan. 20. First serve will be at 6 p.m. with a live stream available through ESPN+.