LOS ANGELES – The No. 17 UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team (3-5) made the trip down the 101 to Los Angeles as they took on the No. 2 UCLA Bruins. It took all five sets to decide who would come out with the victory. In the end, it was the Gauchos as they upset the Bruins with scores of 30-28, 23-25, 25-23, 23-25 and 15-13.
 
FROM HEAD COACH RICK MCLAUGHLIN
"I am very proud of our guys. They've hung in there the past few weeks and have worked hard.  This is a great win for them and so well deserved."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bruins were the first to strike, gaining the first lead of the set. Halfway through, the Bruins were up by four with the Gauchos not making a dent. That was until UCLA hit 21 points. This is when the Gauchos made their push, closing the gap between them and the Bruins. This set went into extra points as neither team wanted to give in. But at the end, this set ultimately went in favor of UC Santa Barbara as they withstood UCLA with a score of 30-28.
 
This is when the Bruins picked it up. They started this set with a five-point lead, fighting back against the Gauchos for taking the first set. But that only lasted for so long. Just like in the first set, UC Santa Barbara battled back, tying the set up at 20 apiece. The Gauchos continued their fight against the Bruins, but by the end of the second set, UCLA proved to be too much as they took the second set from UC Santa Barbara 25-23.
 
The third set was all UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos went on a 4-0 run with back-to-back kills from Geste Bianchi that caused UCLA to burn a timeout with the score at 6-2. They went on to extend this lead to seven, but it didn't last for long. The Bruins showed why they are such a strong team as they chipped away at the Gauchos' lead, tying the set up at 23. Even with that push from UCLA, the Gauchos were the ones to finish this set out with the 25-23 win, going up 2-1 in the match.
 
Just as every other set was in this match, it was a close battle between the two UC schools. The Gauchos started this one on top as Owen Birg, with the help of Bianchi and UCLA's errors, went on a four-point run. It didn't take long for the Bruins to rally back, taking the lead while pulling ahead of the Gauchos. And just like every other set, UC Santa Barbara chipped away at the lead built by their opponent. These efforts couldn't get them ahead, though, as the Gauchos lost this fourth set 23-25.  
 
UC Santa Barbara held nothing back as they headed into this fifth and final set. The Gauchos started on top and kept pushing forward. The Bruins battled back to tie this up, but UC Santa Barbara wasn't having it. Sam Collins served the very last ball of the match, which turned out to be a walk-off ace as the Gauchos came out victorious with a score of 15-13.  
 
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Geste Bianchi led all players on the court as he racked up 27 kills and 11 digs for a double-double. Not only that, but he added on three blocks and an ace on the way to the Gauchos' victory.
• Patrick Kane was a big part of the team's win tonight as he finished the night with 14 kills. To go along with that, he added on six digs and two blocks.
• Owen Birg also had a great night on offense, securing 11 kills on the night. He was also helpful on defense as he added three blocks and six digs.
• Jack Walmer was the primary setter for the Gauchos tonight. He ended his time in Pauley Pavilion with 52 assists while adding on nine digs and three aces.
• Sam Meister's impact cannot go unnoticed. He hit at an impressive .667 clip with seven kills and only one error on nine swings. To top it all off, he was a big part of the front row defense with three blocks.
• Sam Collins' walk-off ace was one of the three he picked up tonight as the team's serving specialist.  

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will head to the East Coast for three matches. This road trip will start in New Jersey as UC Santa Barbara takes on the No. 14 Princeton University Tigers. First serve will be at 4 p.m. PT with a live stream available through ESPN+.