SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The No. 15 UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team (2-1) competed in the final day of the Asics Invitational as the Gauchos took on the No. 7 Lopes of Grand Canyon. Despite the Gauchos' hot start, this match ended in favor of the visiting Lopes as UC Santa Barbara lost 1-3 with scores of 25-23, 20-25, 18-25 and 20-25.
FROM HEAD COACH RICK MCLAUGHLIN
"Grand Canyon is a very good, experienced team, and they are also well coached. I was very happy with how we were able to compete with them in all of Set One and parts of Sets Two, Three and Four. If we can continue to improve on our ability to make our opponent earn their points, we can be a very good team. But that only comes through hard training and continual learning in practice and matches. This team is up for the challenge."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both the Gauchos and the Lopes came out strong in the first set. The score was tied on 16 different occasions as these two teams battled each other for the advantage. It wasn't until kills from
George Bruening and
Geste Bianchi gave the Gauchos a slight advantage, causing the visitors to call a timeout. Once the teams returned back on the court,
Jack Walmer threw the ball over the net on the second contact for the kill as UC Santa Barbara took the first set 25-23.
From there, the Gauchos faltered. Despite their valiant efforts to dive over benches and keep the ball alive, UC Santa Barbara could not find an answer to take down the seventh-ranked team in the country. This resulted in the Gauchos putting up scores of 20-25, 18-25 and 20-25 in the final three sets.
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS
- George Bruening led the Gauchos in kills tonight as he racked up 12 kills. Ben Coordt followed up close behind him with 11 kills while he also added on two blocks.
- Jack Walmer ended the night with a double-double as he secured 34 assists to go along with 10 digs. To top it all off, he added on four kills and a block.
- Jaden Glenn held down the back row defense. He led the team when it came to digs with 11.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Here are the nine athletes who made it onto the Asics Invitational All-Tournament team:
- Donovan Constable, CSUN
- Omar Hoyos, George Mason
- Nicholas Slight, Grand Canyon (MVP)
- Camden Gianni, Grand Canyon
- Griffin Fieseler, NJIT
- Geste Bianchi, UC Santa Barbara
- Jack Walmer, UC Santa Barbara
- Matthew Lim, UC San Diego
- Peter Selcho, UC San Diego
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will be back in Rob Gym again on Friday, Jan. 12 as they host the Cardinal of Stanford University. First serve will be at 6 p.m. with a live stream available through ESPN+.
