SAN DIEGO – The UC Santa Barbara Women's Volleyball team (2-3) returned to the Jenny Craig Pavilion on the campus of the University of San Diego for their second match of the Jack Talmadge Classic. On Day Two of the tournament, the Gauchos took on the Red Storm of St. John's University. Although St. John's had a hot start, it was UC Santa Barbara who came out with the win, securing the reverse sweep with scores of 22-25, 24-26, 25-20, 25-12 and 15-12.
 
FROM HEAD COACH MATT JONES
"This was another match where our depth showed through. We made a switch after set two on the pin and everything started to come alive after that. Credit to our serving. We did a great job of getting them out of system. It was a nice team win."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos started off strong against the Red Storm as Eva Travis put up back-to-back aces to give her team a 5-1 lead. However, St, John's came back quickly, tying the score at 11 apiece. These two teams continued to hang with one another until the last three points. That's when St. John's picked up the pace, going on a 5-2 run that ultimately caused the set to end in favor of the Red Storm as the Gauchos lost 25-22.
 
Once the second set began, St. John's picked up where they left off, starting the second set with a four-point lead. But with the help of Layanna Green from the service line, the Gauchos came back to tie the set and pull ahead by two. Neither team could pull away from the other, which caused this set to go into extra points. UC Santa Barbara did everything they could to fight off St. John's, but in the end, the Red Storm proved to be too much as they took the second set 26-24.  
 
With their backs to the wall, the Gauchos needed to fight back in this third set, and that is exactly what they did. It started off slow, but with some lineup adjustments made by the coaching staff, UC Santa Barbara quickly picked it up. Between Sophie Reavis and Emma McDermott, there was a new fire coming from the Gauchos as they notched five kills each in this set alone, helping their team hit at a .400 clip. This, along with Green continuing her phenomenal performance from the service line, pushed the Blue and Gold past St. John's as they took the third set 25-20.
 
The Gauchos didn't stop there. St. John's hung on through the first five points, but after that, it was all UC Santa Barbara. The Blue and Gold went on a 14-4 run, giving them a very comfortable lead. The Red Storm could not find any answers  as the Gauchos won by their biggest margin of the season with a score of 25-12.
 
After the coin toss to decide serve and side, the fifth set began. Just like the other four, this fifth set started pretty evenly with neither team being able to pull away from the other. That was until Grace Wuischpard went back to serve. Although the run was short, it was just what the Gauchos needed. The three points she served, along with the four kills from Reavis, was all UC Santa Barbara needed to finish this set. The Gauchos won their first five-set match of the season with a score of 15-12.  
 
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Sophie Reavis had the best performance of her career as she ended tonight's match with 21 kills while registering an impressive .333 hitting percentage. As if that wasn't enough, she also added on eight digs, three blocks and an ace.
• Emma McDermott was the most efficient hitter for the Gauchos. After only getting two kills through the first two sets, she finished the match 12 kills. only making one error to hit at a .500 clip. Along with that, she was instrumental to the team's front row defense as she notched five blocks. She didn't stop there. McDermott also went on to get two aces and four digs.
• Layanna Green recorded the final kill of the day, but more than that, she was instrumental to the team's blocking and serving efforts. She led the team from the service line, contributing five aces, while also being a leader on the front row defense, securing seven blocks.
• Lois Hansen made the most of her minutes on the court. She finished the night with eight kills and only one error to record a .304 hitting percentage. She was also crucial to the team's defensive efforts as she was tied for the most blocks on the team with seven.
• Eva Travis finished with double-digit kills yet again as she ended the night with 10. This is the fourth time in five matches that she earned double-digit kills. To go along with all of that, she also played a huge role on defense, securing six digs and four blocks.
• Grace McIntosh earned another double-double in tonight's match for the 16th of her career. She finished tonight with 27 assists and a team-high 11 digs.
• Harper Hall also had a great showing for the Gauchos. As the secondary setter on the team's 6-2 offense, she grabbed 19 assists.
• A huge component of this match was blocking. UC Santa Barbara doubled the number of blocks St. John's had as the Blue and Gold earned 17.0 compared to St. John's 8.5.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will play in the final day of the Jack Talmadge Classic on Sunday, Sept. 8, as they take on the hosts, the University of San Diego. First serve will be at 2 p.m. inside the Jenny Craig Pavilion with a live stream available through ESPN+.