TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The UC Santa Barbara Women's Volleyball team (0-1) kicked off the 2024 season at the Seminole Invitational, playing No. 25 Georgia as their first opponent. The Gauchos came out strong, but it ultimately wasn't enough for the win as they lost in five sets with scores of 25-20, 13-25, 16-25, 29-27 and 13-15.
 
FROM HEAD COACH MATT JONES
"I am really proud of how we battled in the first match of the year against a strong Georgia team. We will clean some things up as we get ready for matches two and three."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bulldogs were the first to strike as they grabbed the first point of the match and tried to build on that. However, the Gauchos weren't allowing it. With the help of Layanna Green from the service line and errors by Georgia, the Gauchos took the lead at 9-8. Right when Green's run ended, Emma McDermott picked it up from there, going on a 6-0 run from the service line. That, along with the Gauchos' defensive efforts that held Georgia to a .115 hitting percentage, caused UC Santa Barbara to win the first set with a score of 25-20.
 
That's when the Bulldogs picked up the pace. UC Santa Barbara hung tight for the first four points before Georgia pulled ahead. Even though the Blue and Gold tried to catch up, a six-point run sealed the deal for the opposing team as the Gauchos dropped the second set 13-25.
 
UC Santa Barbara picked up the pace to begin the third set, grabbing a four-point lead early on. But as they learned in the second set, the Bulldogs are ranked for a reason. Georgia battled back quickly with a 13-3 run, making the score 21-16 heading into the final points of the set. The Gauchos couldn't find a way to score from there as Georgia ultimately took the third set 25-16.
 
The fourth set told a very different story for the Gauchos. From the very first point, it was a back-and-forth battle between these two teams. Even when the Bulldogs pulled ahead by four, UC Santa Barbara rallied quickly to come back and tie things up at 20-20. This became a trend as neither team gave up more than two points at a time, which resulted in this fourth set going into extra points. With the match on the line, UC Santa Barbara's offense lit up, pushing them past Georgia with a score of 29-27.
 
The fifth set was a similar story to the fourth as neither team was ready to give up points. It was all tied 11 times in this shortened set, with the final tie coming at 13-13. This is when Georgia went into another gear, securing a kill and an ace to finish out the set 15-13, which resulted in the Gauchos taking their first loss of the very young season.
 
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Layanna Green's first outing for UC Santa Barbara ended with her leading the offense. She finished the day tied for the most kills on the team with 10. She only made one error on 16 swings to hit at a match-high .562 clip.
• Andi Kreiling held down the front row defense. She finished the match as the team's leader in blocks with five, one of which was a solo block. Along with that, she helped on offense with eight kills. 
• Eva Travis had a strong performance on the right side in her first appearance as a Gaucho. She tied Green for the most kills on the team with 10.
• Grace McIntosh and Harper Hall were the two setters for the Gauchos today. McIntosh finished with her first double-double of the season and 14th of her career as she racked up 20 assists and 10 digs. Hall also had an impressive outing as she contributed 20 assists in her first match as a Gaucho.
• Madison Triplett split time as the libero for the Gauchos. She finished her first match for the Blue and Gold with a team-high 11 digs while also adding on six assists. 

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will have a quick turnaround as they will be back on the court tomorrow, Aug. 31, to take on the host No. 20 Florida State. First serve will be at 1 p.m. PT in Tully Gymnasium with a live stream available through ACCNX.