SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Women's Volleyball team (2-5) played their first match in The Thunderdome this season as they took on the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal. It took four sets to decide the match, and even though the Gauchos put up a fight, it was the Cardinal who left with a win as the Blue and Gold lost with scores of 22-25, 20-25, 25-21 and 15-25.
 
FROM HEAD COACH MATT JONES
"I am proud of the team for taking a set from the No. 2 team in the country. We still have areas to tighten up, but in general, the defense was really promising. But I feel like this was a big character test for our team and we bounced back in a positive way."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
It took some time for UC Santa Barbara to get into a rhythm as they made numerous errors at the start of the set. Once the Gauchos cleaned things up on their side of the court, the Cardinal were already ahead by five. But at the end of the first set when Stanford had set point, the Blue and Gold made one final push. Even with this five-point run by Eva Travis, UC Santa Barbara couldn't finish the comeback, dropping the first set 25-22.
 
The second set told a similar story to the first. The Blue and Gold started the set a little slow, falling behind by five points early on. The Gauchos did what they could to come back with the help of Travis and Andi Kreiling on offense, but Stanford made sure to keep their distance as they took the second set from the Gauchos 25-20.
 
UC Santa Barbara picked up the pace in the third set. Every time the Cardinal would pull ahead, the Gauchos would respond right away, staying within two of their opponent and tying up the score on nine occasions. The last time the score was tied was at 20-20, which is also when UC Santa Barbara made their move. Thanks to the Gauchos' block, they finished out the third set on top with a score of 25-21.
 
That stretch was the last time Stanford was going to let the Gauchos take control of this match. Once the fourth set began, the Cardinal made their move. Although UC Santa Barbara hung tight through the first 10 points, Stanford went on a 7-1 run to keep their distance from the Gauchos. That was all the Cardinal needed to close out this set as UC Santa Barbara lost the fourth and final set to the No. 2 Cardinal 25-15.  
 
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Andi Kreiling showed up big for the Gauchos tonight. She finished tonight's match with nine kills and only one error on 16 swings to contribute a .500 hitting percentage. Along with that, she was crucial to the team's defense as she led the team in blocks with six.
• Eva Travis earned double-digit kills in her fourth-straight match as she racked up 13. She also helped the team's defensive efforts with eight digs and four blocks.
• Milan Rex played in her second match of the season, coming in to set. In the three and a half sets she played in, she contributed 19 assists.
• Cortni Youngblood served as the primary libero for the Gauchos. She ended tonight's match with seven digs.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will make their way down the 101 to play in the Asics Classic hosted by Pepperdine University. They will take on Omaha in the first match of the tournament on Friday, Sept. 13. First serve will be at 4 p.m. with only live stats available.