IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Women's Volleyball team (7-11) continued on with the third week of Big West play on the road in Irvine, California as they battled with UC Irvine. By the end of the four sets, the Gauchos fell short to the Anteaters 1-3 with final scores 25-21,13-25, 23-25, and 21-25.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC Santa Barbara came out slower than normal as the match began in Bren Events Center. The Gauchos made several unforced errors to start the first set that caused Irvine to jump ahead by three early on. Even with that slow start, the Gauchos began to add pressure on defense with 6.5 blocks led by Andi Kreiling and Sophie Reavis. Coming out of the media timeout, the teams exchanged points through offensive successes and some more unforced errors. Ultimately, some momentum-shifting kills from Emma McDermott and service pressure from Reavis allowed UC Santa Barbara to pull away to take the first set 25-21.
 
From there, the Anteaters came out swinging. They pulled ahead by six before UC Santa Barbara found a way to side out. Julia Shepard subbed in for the Gauchos and immediately registered a kill to attempt to bridge the gap in score. Even with this momentum, Irvine began to pull away for a second time due to some unforced errors by the Gauchos. After winning eight out of 10 points, Irvine forced the Gauchos to take a timeout at 9-18. A service error from Irvine following the timeout gave the Gauchos some hope, but they didn't have an answer for the Anteaters yet again. Ultimately, Irvine's offensive pressure caused the Gauchos to lose the second set 25-13.
 
The third set began with a sense of urgency from the Gauchos. Some unforced errors from UC Irvine allowed UC Santa Barbara to pull ahead by three. Harper Hall and Michelle Zhao led a balanced offense that the Anteaters couldn't find an answer to. After a 100 percent side out percentage by the Gauchos thus far and a 13-4 lead, the Anteaters were forced to take a timeout. This is when UC Irvine began to rally. They started to exchange points with the Gauchos before going on a four-point run, which forced a UC Santa Barbara timeout. Irvine continued to display urgency following the timeout and got within three of the Gauchos before the visiting team could find an answer. Even with this answer, some more offensive success from the Anteaters brought them within one, causing UC Santa Barbara to take another timeout. Ultimately, the Gauchos could not close out this third set as they dropped this one 25-23.
 
The fourth set began with a block from Kreiling, displaying UC Santa Barbara's urgency to win this set. Emma McDermott had some big swings that allowed the Gauchos to pull ahead with a four-point lead before Irvine could respond. With this effort, the Anteaters tied the set at 8-8. This continued throughout most of the set until Reavis notched two kills to pull the Gauchos ahead with a score of 20-17. It didn't take long for Irvine to fight back with a balanced offense to tie the set at 21 apiece. However, the Gauchos couldn't find a way to respond to the Anteaters' offense, resulting in them losing the fourth set with a final score of 25-21.
 
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Sophie Reavis had a great showing for the Gauchos. She recorded 12 kills and three aces in tonight's match, leading the team overall. Not only that, but she added on a team-high 17 digs to give her the third double-double of the season.
• Eva Travis had a consistent match in the back row for the Gauchos as she wrapped up play with 15 digs.
• Layanna Green and Andi Kreiling had yet another impactful showing in the middle. Green had 11 kills, eight blocks and an ace on the night, while Kreiling was also steady on offense recording five kills and four blocks.
• Michelle Zhao and Harper Hall split time as the team's setter for the match. Hall concluded the game with the most assists recording 21 while Zhao recorded the second-most with 17. Both setters were also crucial to the team's defense as they racked up 12 digs each.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will continue Big West play as they stay on the road to battle against the Mustangs of Cal Poly. First serve will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 17. Fans who can't make it to the first leg of the Blue-Green Rivalry up in San Luis Obispo can watch online through ESPN+.