THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The No. 15 UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team dispatched Cal Lutheran in four sets on Thursday night, pushing their all-time record against the Kingsmen to 5-0 and beginning their two-road match week with a win. 

HOW IT HAPPENED 
Opportunely using their home court advantage, Cal Lutheran opened the match with a 25-19 set win. They held a slight lead through the beginning of the set before pulling ahead at 16-12. From there, the Kingsmen maintained their pace and hedged the Gauchos, keeping them behind by six at the end of the set. 

The first set would be the only victory Cal Lutheran would see, as the Gauchos went on to sweep the remaining three. The Gauchos sped through the second, defeating their hosts 25-13. After reaching a tie at 11-11, Santa Barbara burst ahead and made nearly 14 points in a row while allowing the Kingsmen just two more before the set was through. 

Cal Lutheran regained some ground in the second, but the Gauchos took it 25-19. Save for the set's first couple of points, the Gauchos led the set in its entirety. Santa Barbara eyed a ten-point defeat at 22-15, but the Kingsmen caught up by several points before the Gauchos could close it out. 

Santa Barbara also won the third set 25-13, opening the chapter with five straight points. They reached a ten-point lead with a kill by Riggs Guy at 14-4 and carried on through the rest of the set. 

Guy dispensed a team and match-high 13 kills while hitting a season-high.435. Ben Pearson also reached double-digit kills, notching ten. Both led the team in digs with seven and put up two block assists. 

Cole Schobel hit 1.000, making four kills off of four attempts. Ethan Saint had a 50% kill percentage, landing five. Josh Aruya and Mikey Denver both logged three block assists and hit incredibly efficiently, going 3-6 and 4-5, respectively. 

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will continue on the road, taking on No. 4 USC on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 7:00 p.m. in Los Angeles.