SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The No. 17 UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team (8-8) begins conference play on Friday night against No. 13 UC San Diego (13-4) in a very stacked Big West. Both teams are well-tested—this is the Gauchos' 10th match against a ranked opponent and the Tritons' ninth. Last year in this matchup, Santa Barbara won a five-setter at home.
LAST TIME OUT
Last week, the Gauchos played two matches against No. 2 UCLA. In the home match on Friday night,
Riggs Guy had 25 kills—the most of any Gaucho this season—on just 34 attempts, hitting .559. The Gauchos had a crowd over 1,000 for the first time in eight years, but the team ultimately fell in four sets.
LOOKING AT THE GAUCHOS
Guy, a true freshman, is at the top of the team's leaderboard in a few categories. His 162 kills (3.31 per set) and 182.5 points (3.72 per set) both lead the team by a wide margin. Defensively, his 64 digs and 24 blocks are both good for second.
Owen Birg continues to be UC Santa Barbara's iron man, playing in every set of every match this season. The 6-foot-8 junior leads the team with 50 total blocks—more than twice as many as Guy's second-place 24. His nine aces are tied for third on the team.
The Gauchos are hoping to get a few key and contributing players back from injury soon, including
Geste Bianchi and
George Bruening. Bianchi, an opposite, is a reigning All-Big West First Team selection and had a massive 5.33 kills per set prior to his season being halted. Bruening, a redshirt freshman, had 14 kills while hitting .476 at No. 6 BYU in his final match played as of yet.
SCOUTING THE TRITONS
UC San Diego, like the Gauchos, has played a strong pre-conference schedule. Their most notable win to date came last Saturday at then-No. 8 Stanford. The Tritons won in five sets, with Big West Coaches' Preseason Team selection Anthony Cherfan tallying 18 kills.
Cherfan, an opposite, leads the team in kills (212) and kills per set (3.59), but he is not all of the Tritons' attack. Outside hitters Josh Schellinger and Leo Pravednikov are close behind him in the team's offensive leaderboard, both with 145+ kills. The trio have combined for 72% of the Tritons' kill attempts.
Defensively, middle blocker Jim Garrison is one of the best in the country. His 1.21 blocks per set is currently the nation's second-most, only behind CSUN's Stilian Delibosov (1.30). However, Garrison has missed the past four matches, so the Tritons may be without his 6-foot-9 presence at the net against the Gauchos.
FOLLOW ALONG
First serve for Friday's match is set for 7 p.m. in the Thunderdome. The program is also celebrating Alumni Weekend, so another substantial crowd is expected. Fans not attending can watch on ESPN+ or follow along with live stats at ucsbgauchos.com/MVBLiveStats.
