LA JOLLA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Women's Volleyball team defeated UC San Diego 3-1 on Friday night at LionTree Arena. After dropping the opening set, the Gauchos came back to secure the remaining three, hitting .394 across their winning sets.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The opening set stayed even through 5-5, before the Tritons scored four to take a 9-5. The Gauchos pushed back, making it to 10-11, but UC San Diego forged ahead again to 16-12. Santa Barbara put together four straight points from there, starting with a Tomkinson kill and continuing through an Ayva Ostovar ace, a Martinez kill and a Martinez block assist to tie the set at 16-16. The Tritons answered with the next two points and later moved from 19-18 to 22-18. Finally, UCSD closed it out 25-21.
The Gauchos flipped the score in the second, winning 25-21. Though the Tritons built a 11-5, UC Santa Barbara put down five straight points to come just behind at 11-10. They later moved to take a lead at 13-12, then 16-13. The Gauchos proceeded to 20-18, then finished out at 25 with a kill by Auburn Tomkinson.
Santa Barbara kept their momentum in the third, winning with a dominant 25-16. The set was tied through 8-8. A UCSD service error put the Gauchos up at 9-8 and they stayed ahead through the rest of the set. Tomkinson put them four points up at 18-14, then a kill from Martinez made it 23-16. Kills from Emma McDermott and Avery Gibbs took the win, and the Gauchos hit .444 overall.
The Gauchos closed out the fourth and final set effectively at 25-18. Santa Barbara first rose up 5-1 then 7-2. They stayed significantly ahead for the rest of the set, making it 13-8 and 17-10. They made it first to the twenties at 20-13, but the Tritons closed their trail to 16-20. Santa Barbara continued to a 21-18 win, then secured four points in a row to win the match, with McDermott making the final kill. The Gauchos hit .538 in the fourth set.
STAT RECAP
Martinez led UC Santa Barbara with 19 kills and 21.5 points, while also adding five digs and two blocks. McDermott had the best match of her season, finishing with 15 kills, a .394 hitting percentage, 11 digs and three blocks. Auburn Tomkinson also reached double digits, putting up 12 and hitting .429.
Mathis recorded nine total blocks, including one solo block, and her career-best of eight block assists. Cortni Youngblood collected 17 digs and added eight assists.
UP NEXT
The Gauchos head to UC Irvine to take on the Anteaters at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31.
