PROVO, Utah – The No. 15 UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team (6-2) heads to No. 6 BYU (6-4) this week for matches on Friday and Saturday evenings. One of many historic Big West-MPSF matchups, the two teams have played each other every year since BYU started their program in 1990 (except the conference-only 2021 season).
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos hosted two home matches last week. In the Thunderdome on Wednesday against Concordia University Irvine, the Gauchos showed their prowess in a comfortable 3-0 sweep of the visitors. On Friday, in Rob Gym for the final time this year, Santa Barbara fell to No. 12 Lewis, 3-1, after a highly contested 28-26 fourth set.
 
LOOKING AT THE GAUCHOS
In the spotlight, Geste Bianchi has continued to excel. The opposite has 20+ kills in four of his last five matches played, including all of the last three. In the two matches last week, he had 20 and 23, respectively, good for 6.14 kills per set. On the year, his 5.50 kills per set leads the country by a significant margin.
 
Transfer setter Cole Schobel has been great to start his Gaucho career. He leads the team in digs (47) and served five aces against Lewis for a team-leading 11 on the year. Naturally, his 257 assists also lead the team, good for 10.28 assists per set.
 
Outside hitter Riggs Guy has established himself as Santa Barbara's second attack option. The true freshman has started the past five matches and earned double-digit kills in five of his last six matches played. Thanks in part to Bianchi, Guy, and Schobel, UC Santa Barbara currently leads the country with 13.79 kills per set and 12.54 assists per set.
 
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
After winning all four of their matches against MIVA opponents—No. 11 Ohio State and No. 6 Ball State—BYU has lost all four of their matches against tough Big West opponents—No. 2 UC Irvine and No. 4 Hawai'i. One of the Cougars' losses to UC Irvine was a five-setter, though, and one loss against Hawai'i even had a 22-20 fifth set. Thus, BYU has proven itself to be a mainstay top-10 program.
 
Senior outside hitter Keoni Thiim is their primary attack option, leading the team with 160 kills and 21 aces. A transfer from Hawai'i and, previously, Santa Barbara City College, he ranks 13th in the country with 3.90 kills per set. Defensively, libero Jackson Fife leads the team with 67 digs. Niko Hales, a freshman, and Teon Taylor have 42 and 40 blocks, respectively.
 
The Cougars are led by Carpinteria High graduate Shawn Olmstead in his 10th season at the helm. As a BYU libero, Olmstead won national championships in 2001 and 2004. His father, Rick, was Santa Barbara High's first volleyball coach, winning a CIF title in 1978 before winning a State Championship coaching SBCC in 1983.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
First serve for both matches will be at 6 p.m. PT in the electric Smith Fieldhouse, boasting a capacity of 5,000. For those not making the trip to the Garden City, the matches will be streamed on B1G+ and live stats will be available at ucsbgauchos.com/MVBLiveStats.