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University of California, Santa Barbara

Cole Schobel up for a swing
Jeff Liang
3
Winner Pepperdine PEP 6-3,0-0 MPSF
0
UC Santa Barbara UCSB 6-5,0-0 Big West
Winner
Pepperdine PEP
6-3,0-0 MPSF
3
Final
0
UC Santa Barbara UCSB
6-5,0-0 Big West
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Pepperdine PEP 25 25 25 (3)
UC Santa Barbara UCSB 14 18 17 (0)

Game Recap: Men's Volleyball |

Gauchos Host Pepperdine, Look To Tomorrow's Rematch

No. 16 UC Santa Barbara dropped the first of two matches in consecutive days against No. 11 Pepperdine.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The No. 16 UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team (6-5) hosted No. 11 Pepperdine (6-3) on Friday evening in the Thunderdome. Cole Schobel's 10-dig performance was a highlight for the compromised Gauchos, who fell to a cohesive Pepperdine attack 25-14, 25-18, 25-17.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The match got off to a slow start. After a Pepperdine ace made it 5-2, the teams combined for six straight service errors. Riggs Guy then had a kill and a block assist—with Andreas Schuetz—on consecutive points to shrink the deficit to 10-8 Pepperdine. The Waves would counter with four in a row, though, starting an 8-2 run to pull away. The visitors saw out the rest of the set to a 25-14 win.
 
The Gauchos were most competitive in the second set. Coming into the match, Santa Barbara's 13.35 kills per set ranked second in the nation. Nine of their first 10 points came via a kill, but another Waves' ace increased Pepperdine's lead to 15-10. The teams traded points until a Schobel ace broke the pattern, cutting UC Santa Barbara's deficit to 18-15. However, Pepperdine would again go on a run to close out the set, winning five of the last six points for a 25-18 victory. After two sets, the Waves were hitting .410 as a team with just three attack errors (19-3-39).
 
The third set was similar to the prior two in that Pepperdine used runs to get out to a sizable advantage. An early 3-2 Gauchos lead was followed by a 5-0 Waves run. Out of a timeout, Santa Barbara went on a 3-0 run to cut it to 7-6 Pepperdine. The short burst of momentum was cut by the Waves winning seven of the next nine points thanks to 4-0 and 3-0 runs. The score continued to 20-11 Waves, and the teams traded points to a 25-17 final set scoreline.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
  • Setter Cole Schobel naturally led the team in assists (21), but he also had a team-high 10 digs, double the next Gaucho. He served Santa Barbara's lone ace of the night and had two blocks—tied for the most—along with three kills.
  • Ethan Saint earned his first career start, and appearance, for UC Santa Barbara. The freshman logged five kills on 14 swings with just one error for a .286 hitting percentage, leading all qualifying Gaucho attackers on the night.
  • Josh Aruya was the only one with a better hitting percentage. He hit 4-0-4 in his one set played for a perfect 1.000.
  • Pepperdine held a very efficient sideout percentage at 84% on the night.
 
UP NEXT
The two teams run it back tomorrow, driving down the coast for a rematch at Pepperdine's Firestone Fieldhouse. First serve in Malibu is set for 7 p.m. Those not traveling south can watch the match on B1G+ or follow along via live stats at ucsbgauchos.com/MVBLiveStats.
 
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