SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The #16 UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team (4-0) swept Emmanuel (Ga.) on Friday night at the Thunderdome. The Gauchos emphatically won the first set 25-8 thanks to a blistering .684 hitting percentage. A wild second set saw them win just 25-23, but the third set was back to business as a 25-11 victory swiftly ended the match.
 
FROM HEAD COACH RICK MCLAUGHLIN
"Good to get the 'W,'" McLaughlin said. "I was happy with our focus in sets one and three. We look forward to getting on the road next week."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
To start the match, the teams traded points to 4-4. From there, it was all Gauchos, as they went on a 21-4 run to close out the first set. Ben Pearson's 5-0 serving run was stopped by a Lions kill, but Owen Birg followed it up with 9-0 serving run of his own, including two aces. Geste Bianchi's sixth kill of the set capped off the 25-8 victory.
 
Coming into the day, the Gauchos led the nation with 15.40 kills per set. In the first set of this match, they were remarkably efficient, swatting 15 kills on just 19 attempts.
 
Set two was frequently bogged down by procedural delays. The visitors sacrificed multiple points by being out of rotation or having the incorrect server. However, it did not ultimately hurt them until the very end of the set. In fact, it perhaps even halted the Gauchos' rhythm. Nine combined service, attack, and block errors saw the Gauchos trailing 17-13 at one point. Late in the set, a kill and an ace from Bianchi sandwiched around a Pearson block gave Santa Barbara the lead again—22-21—for the first time since it was 3-2. Another Bianchi kill and a Pearson ace made it set point, and Birg swung the clinching kill to win an awkward and unusual second set.
 
McLaughlin then brought out the big guns in set three. Sam Meister, Ben Coordt, and Max Gordon checked in for the Gauchos, as did Owen Loncar, who earned a kill on the set's very first point. Then, points four through seven for Santa Barbara went in the following sequence: Meister kill, Coordt ace, Meister kill, Meister and Loncar block. As the Gauchos substitutes continued to dominate, Jack Walmer checked in and casually went on a 7-0 serving run. A final set score of 25-11 sealed the deal.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Due in part to the incredible offense of the first set, the Gauchos only had one block the entire night before the third set. Sam Meister (3), Owen Loncar (2), and Ben Coordt (1) each tallied a block assist in the one and only set they played.
• Ben Pearson's 10 digs led the team by a long shot, and the redshirt sophomore made zero reception errors despite frequently being targeted.  
• Speaking of serve receive, the Gauchos did not commit a single reception error on the night. On the contrary, five different Gauchos served an ace for eight total aces.
• Setter Cole Schobel found his attacking spark, earning seven kills—good for second on the team—on nine attempts with no errors for a .778 hitting percentage. That was complementary to his 24 assists.
• Geste Bianchi's nine kills in two sets led the team, but it unfortunately broke an impressive streak. Prior to tonight, he logged 16 consecutive matches with double-digit kills.

 
UP NEXT
Next weekend, the Gauchos will embark on their first road trip of the season. On Friday, Jan. 24 and Saturday, Jan. 25, they play at #9 Grand Canyon in Phoenix, a team currently 3-0. Those not making the trip can watch the match on B1G+ or follow along via live stats on ucsbgauchos.com.