SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The No. 17 UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball (4-7) returns to Rob Gymnasium after a three-match road trip on the East Coast. This week, the Gauchos will play two matches both against the No. 12 Pepperdine Waves. They will start the series off in Santa Barbara on Thursday, Feb. 8, before heading down the 101 to take on the Waves on their home court in Malibu.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos wrapped up their time on the other coast in Massachusetts as they took on the Harvard Crimson. It only took three sets for UC Santa Barbara to come out victorious as they took down the home team with scores of 25-19, 25-23 and 25-18.
 
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Pepperdine has had a hot start to the season, only taking losses to No. 3 Long Beach State and No. 16 Princeton. Their wins came against Fort Valley State, Morehouse, LIU, RV Lincoln Memorial, RV McKendree and Fairleigh Dickinson.
 
The Waves rank in the Top 15 in the NCAA in every stat category. Their best ranking comes in digs as the team averages 9.48 per set.
 
Pepperdine's defense is one of the best in the nation. Middle blocker Martin De Chavarria is one of the best blockers in the NCAA as he is third in this category, averaging 1.54
blocks per set. Libero Trey Cole is one of the best liberos in the NCAA as he is seventh in digs, contributing approximately 2.48 per set.
 
The offense is led by senior Cole Ketrzynski. He leads the team in kills with 84. Sophomore Ryan Barnett is close behind with 61 kills. He is also hitting at a .347 clip.
 
WHEREABOUTS
This first match will take place in Rob Gym on Thursday, Feb. 8 with first serve at 6 p.m. Then, the Gauchos will head to Malibu on Saturday, Feb. 10 with first serve at 5 p.m. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+.