SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The No. 16 UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team (6-4) will play two matches against No. 11 Pepperdine (5-3) this weekend. Friday's match is at home in the Thunderdome, then the teams will take the scenic drive south to Malibu for Saturday's match at Firestone Fieldhouse.
 
The first match will be the 117^th meeting between the programs. The Gauchos and Waves had played each other every year since 1971—the second year of NCAA men's volleyball.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Santa Barbara is looking to put last weekend's trip to No. 6 BYU in their rearview. In the first match, the Gauchos stayed close in all three sets—despite Geste Bianchi's early exit—but fell 3-0 nonetheless. BYU's offense hit .403 in the second match, contributing to the same result.
 
LOOKING AT THE GAUCHOS
As alluded to, opposite Geste Bianchi was forced off with an injury midway through the first set of the first match against BYU. He did not appear in a set the rest of the weekend, so his availability is in question for the Pepperdine matches. The Gauchos certainly would like to have a healthy Bianchi on the court, as he has 20+ kills in four of his last five full matches played for 5.33 kills per set on the year.
 
Outside hitter George Bruening had a great showing in night one at BYU. On 21 swings, the freshman earned 14 kills with four errors, good for a scorching hot .476 hitting percentage. Defensively, he was also great; his seven digs were tied for the team-lead, and he added two blocks.
 
The ever-dependable Owen Birg is having a solid season as a middle blocker—not his primary position. His 28 blocks are more than double the next Gaucho, and he is second on the team in aces (7) and third in kills (52). He was a bright spot in the second match against BYU, hitting 8-2-12 (.500) with two blocks.
 
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Pepperdine has had an impressive showing against ranked opponents so far. In a five-day span, the Waves took No. 1 Long Beach State and No. 7 Loyola Chicago to five sets. Two days later, they swept No. 12 Lewis the day after Lewis beat the Gauchos. However, last weekend, the Waves were upset by No. 16 CSUN, 3-1. Friday's match in the Thunderdome will be their first road match of the year.
 
Pepperdine has a dominant attack. As a team, the Waves are currently second in the country in hitting percentage, hitting .404. Outside hitters Cole Hartke—a freshman—and Ryan Barnett lead the team in kills with 84 and 77, respectively. The pair also are one and two in aces. Gabriel Dyer is their primary setter with 8.96 assists per set.
 
The Waves are led by head coach Jonathan Winder, who has a 38-28 record in his third season at the helm. As an all-time great Pepperdine setter, Winder was a four-time All-American, 2005 National Champion, and 2007 AVCA National Player of the Year.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
First serve for both matches will be at 7 p.m. The Gauchos' home match will be broadcasted on ESPN+ and the away match will be on B1G+. Live stats for both matches will be available on ucsbgauchos.com/MVBLiveStats.