NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – Resuming conference play in a stacked Big West, the No. 18 UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team (9-10, 0-2 Big West) plays two against No. 8 CSUN (15-5, 0-2 Big West) this weekend. The Gauchos play at home on a Saturday night in the Thunderdome for the first time this season after traveling to Northridge for match one on Friday evening.
 
LAST TIME OUT
These two matches will be the second and third of the week for the Gauchos, who beat a competitive Cal Lutheran team in five sets on Tuesday night. After losing the first and third sets in extra points, they dug in to win the fourth and fifth sets rather comfortably. Geste Bianchi had a season-high 28 kills and Cole Schobel had a career-high 53 assists.
 
LOOKING AT THE GAUCHOS
All of Santa Barbara's remaining opponents are ranked eighth or better, with CSUN ironically being the lowest of the bunch. The Gauchos are used to it by now, though, as 11 of their 19 matches so far have come against opponents ranked 13th or better.
 
Mentioned prior, opposite Geste Bianchi and setter Cole Schobel both established offensive season and career highs earlier this week, but they also did so defensively. The pair were tied for the team lead in digs with 12 apiece—similarly, a season high for Bianchi and career high for Schobel—and also had three blocks apiece.
 
Josh Aruya had possibly his best match of the season at Cal Lutheran—at least, it was his most well-rounded one. On just nine swings, the middle blocker tied his career high in kills with eight. The 6-foot-9 sophomore was also a presence at the net, tallying seven total blocks. On top of that, he had six digs, only behind Bianchi and Schobel on the night.
 
SCOUTING THE MATADORS
Beginning the year ranked 15, CSUN has risen as high as seven in the AVCA National Collegiate Poll. Currently ranked eighth, the Matadors spent last week in Illinois beating No. 15 Lewis but losing to then-No. 8 Loyola Chicago both in five sets.
 
Senior setter Donovan Constable was CSUN's representative in the Big West Preseason Coaches' Team. He has lived up the expectations, dishing 9.90 assists per set. He leads the team with 38 aces and is second in blocks, with 52.
 
Speaking of blocks, freshman Stilian Delibosov is already one of the best middle blockers in the country. With 1.19 blocks per set, he currently sits at fourth in the nation. Opposite Jalen Phillips is up there among national leaderboards, too. His 4.23 kills per set is good for seventh in the nation, doing so at a .314 clip.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Friday's match in Northridge is scheduled for 6 p.m., while Saturday in the Thunderdome is due for the usual 7 p.m. home start time. Fans not attending can enjoy both matches on ESPN+ with live stats available at ucsbgauchos.com/MVBLiveStats.