SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The No. 15 UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team (1-0) was ready for the first match of the season as they took on the Highlanders of the New Jersey Institute of Technology. It took four sets to decide the winner, and at the end, it was UC Santa Barbara who came out with a 3-1 victory with scores of 27-25, 23-25, 25-17 and 25-19.
 
FROM HEAD COACH RICK MCLAUGHLIN
"I liked how are guys stayed focused and continued to improve at making our opponent earn each point. It was also a great match for Geste Bianchi."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first set was a pretty even battle between these two teams as they exchanged the lead multiple times. It wasn't until Dominic Lang came in to serve that the Gauchos could pull ahead. With a kill from Geste Bianchi and an ace of his own, he helped his team earn a three-point lead that existed until set point, when the Highlanders began to rally back. Even though NJIT took this set into extra points, it was UC Santa Barbara who ended up on top with a score of 27-25.
 
From there, the Highlanders fought back. Just like the first, these two teams continued to alternate the score until NJIT went on multiple service runs, growing their lead to four. Even with that lead, the Gauchos were not able to complete a comeback as they dropped the second set 23-25.
 
The last two sets went in favor of the Gauchos as they dominated the Highlanders. UC Santa Barbara hit at a .500 clip in the third set followed by an even better fourth set with a .560 hitting percentage, helping them end up on top with scores of 25-17 and 25-19 against NJIT.  
 
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Geste Bianchi had a phenomenal outing for his first match of the season. He finished the day with 21 kills while only having four errors, which equates to a .531 hitting percentage. To go along with that, he helped the team out on defense with six digs and five blocks.
• Ben Coordt was another offensive weapon the Gauchos used today. He finished his first match of the season with 11 kills.
• In their first match as Gauchos, George Bruening and Josh Aruya came out big. Bruening hit at a .467 clip from the pin, securing eight kills with only one error. Aruya, on the other hand, hit at a .455 clip while also leading everyone on the court in blocks with six.
• Jack Walmer was the sole setter for the team during this game. He notched 43 in this match while adding on four digs and a block.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will play in the second day of the Asics Invitational as they host the George Mason Patriots. First serve will be at 4:30 p.m. in Rob Gym. For those who can't make it in person, there will be a live stream through ESPN+.