HONOLULU, Hawai'i – The fifth-seeded UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team (12-15, 3-7 Big West) travels to the Aloha State in preparation for Thursday's Big West Championship first round matchup against fourth-seeded UC San Diego (17-11, 3-7 Big West). Coming off a Senior Night sweep of two seed Hawai'i, the Gauchos hope to use that momentum to avenge their two losses against the Tritons earlier this year.

LAST TIME OUT
To end the regular season, UC Santa Barbara hosted No. 3 Hawai'i for two matches last weekend in the Thunderdome. Although not playing their best volleyball, the Rainbow Warriors handled the Gauchos in a 3-1 victory on Friday night. Saturday's match was completely different, as all six of Santa Barbara's active seniors started and contributed to a dominant sweep—the program's first win over Hawai'i since 2016.
 
LOOKING AT THE GAUCHOS
One of those seniors, Geste Bianchi, has been limited to playing just 40 percent of the team's sets this season, but he has made the most of his time on the floor. After leading the country with 4.82 kills per set last year, the opposite ended the 2025 regular season with an even 5.00 kills per set and 5.53 points per set. In the sweep of Hawai'i, he had 21 kills (seven per set), a team-leading six digs, and served a walk-off ace.
 
With outside hitter Riggs Guy out, a handful of pin hitters have contributed admirably. George Bruening had 19 kills in the opener against Hawai'i and is averaging 3.18 kills per set for the year. Ethan Saint had 10 kills in the first match and served an ace off the bench to force match point in night two. Ben Pearson started on Senior Night—the only non-senior to do so—and had eight kills; he has a .333 hitting percentage on 114 swings this year. Ben Coordt is the veteran of the bunch, earning seven kills in each of the two matches.
 
Setter Cole Schobel had 40 assists (10 per set) in the first match, but was even better defensively, setting a Big West season-high with 16 digs. Senior Jack Walmer got the start the following night, dishing 38 assists (nearly 13 per set) and facilitating the team's .364 hitting percentage in the sweep.

SCOUTING THE TRITONS
The 10th-ranked Tritons beat the Gauchos in four sets in both regular season matchups to begin Big West play. They won one conference match since then, though, a 3-1 home victory over UC Irvine. It was not a fun time for the Tritons last weekend, as they rounded out the regular season with two sweeps at the hands of No. 1 Long Beach State.
 
Make no mistake, San Diego is led by their pin hitters. Senior Anthony Cherfan (3.78 kills per set) and juniors Josh Schellinger (3.00 kills per set) and Leo Pravednikov (2.59 kills per set) have all appeared in 91 or more of the team's 104 sets played. Schellinger led the trio, and team, with 12 and 14 kills in the two prior meetings with the Gauchos, respectively.
 
Jim Garrison's availability will be something to monitor. The 6-foot-9 middle blocker has a huge presence at the net, totaling 1.04 blocks per set this year. However, he has been limited in Big West play—he missed both matches against the Gauchos and played in just two of the six sets against Long Beach last weekend.

FOLLOW ALONG
The Gauchos-Tritons matchup is the first of the Big West Championship, taking place in Hawai'i's SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time, 4:30 p.m. Hawai'i Time. Fans not making the trip can watch the match on ESPN+ and follow along with live stats at ucsbgauchos.com/MVBLiveStats.