NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Women's Volleyball team (5-9) was on the road for another Big West match as they took on the Matadors of CSUN. By the end of four sets, the Gauchos locked in their first conference win of the season as they took down the Matadors with scores of 25-20, 25-22, 23-25 and 31-29.
 
FROM HEAD COACH MATT JONES
"It was nice to see us weather the storm and take care of a tight fourth set on the road to rebound from last night. We are looking forward to a week at home after the grind of these first five weeks."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN came out hot to start the first set, immediately going on a 3-0 run. That was short lived, though, as UC Santa Barbara responded quickly. The Gauchos tied up the set and then went point-for-point with the Matadors all the way until the score was tied at 17 apiece. That is when Harper Hall went back to serve. She went on a seven-point run with the help of the Matadors' errors and kills from the Gauchos' pin hitters. This momentum gave UC Santa Barbara all they needed to close out this set as they took down CSUN 25-20.
 
From the very first point of the second set, the Gauchos had control. They went up by seven points early in the set, keeping the Matadors at bay. That was until one of the CSUN's players got hot, which brought them within one of UC Santa Barbara. Even though they got close, the Blue and Gold were not ready to give up this set as they picked up the pace yet again. By the end of the second set, the Gauchos remained on top with a score of 25-22.
 
Once the third set began, these two teams continued with their battle. They exchanged the lead twice while tying things up nine times, which carried all the way to the final points. That's when CSUN pulled ahead. With the score tied at 23 apiece, the Matadors made a final move with a kill from one of their players and an error by the Gauchos. This ended with UC Santa Barbara dropping the third set 25-23.
 
The fourth set was a gritty, lengthy set as the Gauchos wanted to do everything they could to come out of this match with a win. These two teams duked it out through all 25 points and then some as they tied the score 13 times and exchanged the lead eight times in this set alone. Once this set was done, it was UC Santa Barbara who came out on top as they won the marathon with a score of 31-29.
 
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Eva Travis showed up for the Gauchos as she earned another double-double. She finished the match with 21 kills and 12 digs. She had her most efficient night on offense as she hit at a .410 clip, only making five errors on 39 swings.
• Sophie Reavis also added on a double-double in tonight's match. She came out with 14 kills and 14 digs. Along with that, she led the team in aces with three.
• Layanna Green had a phenomenal match on offense. She finished with 12 kills and only three errors on 20 swings, resulting in a .450 hitting percentage.
• Harper Hall and Michelle Zhao were the two setters for the Gauchos tonight. Hall grabbed a double-double with 36 assists and 10 digs while Zhao contributed 22 assists.
• Angie Dentoni had a great showing in the back row. She accumulated a team-high 17 digs.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will return to The Thunderdome for just the second time this season as they will face UC Riverside on Friday, Oct. 4 with first serve at 7 p.m. For those who can't make it to Santa Barbara to watch the match, they can follow along at home on ESPN+.