SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The No. 19 UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team (7-12) returned home to take on No. 2 Long Beach State. This Big West battle took five sets to decide, and at the end, it was the Beach who came out with the win as the Gauchos lost with scores of 20-25, 25-23, 25-19, 23-25 and 13-15.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos started the first set on top as they went up by three early on. However, the Beach rallied back quickly, going on a 4-1 run to take control. Even though UC Santa Barbara came back with the help of Ben Coordt's four kills, Long Beach pushed ahead to secure the first set win with a score of 25-20.
 
From there, these two teams vied with one another for the lead until the score was tied at 11-11. This is when Sam Meister went on a service run that pushed the Gauchos ahead of the Beach by two. It didn't take long for the Beach to battle back as they tied the set up yet again. Multiple errors by Long Beach resulted in a win for the Gauchos as they took the second set 25-23.
 
The third set began in favor of the Beach as they started this set with a two-point lead. This didn't last for long. Jack Walmer went on a five-point run backed by the Beach's errors, which gave UC Santa Barbara an advantage. The Gauchos never let go of the lead from there as they took the third set 25-19.
 
That's when the Beach picked up the pace as they grabbed an early six-point lead. This didn't stop the Gauchos. UC Santa Barbara slowly edged their way back into this set, tying things up at 21-21. However, Long Beach made a final push at the end of the set to win 25-23, sending this match into a fifth set.
 
Just like the rest of the match, this fifth set was a chippy battle between these two teams. Neither one could pull ahead of the other as they exchanged the lead four times throughout this 15-point set, tying the score yet again at 13-13. That is when a kill and a block by the Beach gave the final two points needed to finish off this match as Long Beach won the fifth and final set 15-13.   
 
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Geste Bianchi had another great night against the Beach. He finished this match with 23 kills while also adding on 10 digs, earning his second double-double of the season. Along with that, he finished the night with four blocks.
• Ben Coordt also earned a double-double in tonight's match. He finished this outing with 15 kills to go along with 11 digs. Owen Birg was the third Gaucho to finish with double-digit kills as he tallied 14 on the night.
• Jack Walmer secured the most assists in the match. He notched 54 on the night while being the only Gaucho to earn aces, adding on two. As if that wasn't enough, he also helped the team on defense with nine digs and two blocks.
• Joe Wallace was instrumental in the back row for the Gauchos. He led the team in digs with 15.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will play their next series of Big West matches against the UC Irvine Anteaters. The first of these two matches will take place on Wednesday, March 13 in the Bren Center on UC Irvine's campus. First serve will be at 6 p.m. with a live stream available through ESPN+.