PHOENIX, Ariz. – The No. 16 UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team (5-0) made a statement in their first road match of the year, sweeping No. 10 Grand Canyon (4-1) on Friday evening.
Riggs Guy continues to be electric to start his collegiate career, swinging a team-high 15 kills. The first of a back-to-back against the Lopes, the Gauchos look to keep the momentum going tomorrow.
FROM HEAD COACH RICK MCLAUGHLIN
"I liked the way we played tonight, but we will have to play better and definitely serve better tomorrow," McLaughlin said. "GCU has the ability to play much better, and they will."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Without
Geste Bianchi in the starting lineup, the Gauchos were, nonetheless, dominant in the first set.
George Bruening had a block assist, kill, and ace in a four-point span forcing a Lopes timeout at 8-5 Santa Barbara. Ultimately, that sequence began a 9-1 run, giving the Gauchos a substantial lead midway through the set. Coasting the rest of the way, a 25-16 victory ballooned the visitors' confidence.
The second set was remarkably competitive. From 0 to 16, the teams were tied at every number except 8. Ironically, though, after the first point, the Gauchos did not have a lead until 17-16; in that span, GCU would nearly always take a one-point lead, but the Gauchos would re-tie it on the next point. Back-to-back Santa Barbara blocks made it 18-16 before
Andreas Schuetz served two consecutive aces, making up for the team's early-set serving woes. However, the Lopes clawed back to 23-21, forcing McLaughlin to call a timeout. Thankfully, the Gauchos grinded out the end of the set, 25-23, clinched by a Bruening kill.
Hungry for a sweep, a 5-0
Cole Schobel serving run gave Santa Barbara a 13-9 lead. Grand Canyon came back to 16-15, but the Gauchos followed that with a
Ben Coordt kill, Coordt ace, and
Owen Birg kill into GCU's final timeout. It proved to be futile, as Coordt served another ace on the next point. After his serving run ended,
Owen Loncar was subbed in and promptly served an ace, himself.
Riggs Guy's 15th and final kill of the night made it match point, and fittingly, he then served the match-winning point to close out the emphatic sweep.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Freshman Riggs Guy has proven already that he belongs at this level. In the second set, alone, he had seven kills, part of his 15 overall, marking an early career high. He was errorless until 23-20 in the second set, with only three attack errors overall, good for a .462 hitting percentage.
- Fellow freshman George Bruening was the other Gaucho with double-digit kills, earning 12 on 26 swings.
- Owen Birg, as always, did a solid job. He hit .667 (6-0-9) and led the team with 5 blocks.
- Excellent defensively, the Gauchos committed just two serve receive errors and held the hosts to a .074 hitting percentage. Ben Coordt and Joe Wallace were tied for the team lead in digs with six apiece.
- As McLaughlin mentioned, serving continues to be an area for improvement. The Gauchos had 19 service errors, nearly costing them the second set.
UP NEXT
Tomorrow, the teams run it back for a rematch at 6 p.m. PT. Like tonight, fans can watch the match on B1G+ or follow along via live stats at ucsbgauchos.com/MVBLiveStats.
