HONOLULU – On Friday night, the No. 8 UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team faced off against No. 2 Hawai'i in the first of two weekend matches, ultimately falling to their hosts 3-1. Despite their loss, Gauchos ultimately trailed the Rainbow Warriors by just six points and produced a nearly-identical statline.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos were a threat to the Rainbow Warriors from the beginning of the match, first getting to a 3-0 start. Hawai'i caught up at 6-6, and the teams remained tied through 16-16. Then, the Gauchos pulled several points ahead and reached a 23-20 advantage. In response, the Rainbow Warriors managed to make five points in a row and ended up with the set 25-23. Cole Schobel began his offensive campaign, dunking two kills to switch up Hawai'i's rhythm. 

Hawai'i had a more decisive win in the second set, taking it 25-18. They found a five-point lead at 16-11 and at 19-14. The 'Bows finished with three straight points from 22-18 to take the set. George Bruening made five kills and Dylan Pilkvist two. 

The Gauchos came back to win the third, preventing a shut out and retaliating against Hawai'i's prior efforts. Santa Barbara took it 25-19 after reaching a 12-9 lead that the 'Bows never came back from. They had 14 kills and hit .294 while Hawai'i hit -.065. Four Gauchos made three block assists each to make 6 total blocks for the team, while the Rainbow Warriors gathered 1.5. 

Hawai'i regrouped to clinch the fourth, though only by three at 25-22. The Gauchos kept up with the Rainbow Warriors throughout the first stages of the set, but Hawai'i floated a couple points ahead of Santa Barbara from 19-16 on. The Gauchos forced a tie at 23-23, but a successful Hawai'i challenge pushed them forward into a match point at 24-22 and a win one point later. 

Bruening came through with 15 kills and Riggs Guy followed with double digits at 11. Schobel had a rattling eight kills off of ten attempts as well as 35 assists. 

Bruening picked up two aces and six digs, while Joe Wallace led the team in digs with 10. Josh Aruya and Guy both had five blocks each.

Both teams had 50 kills and 49 assists, while Hawai'i had just two more digs. Santa Barbara outhit the Rainbow Warriors .240 to .219. 

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will rematch the Rainbow Warriors on Saturday, March 28 at 10:00 p.m. PT.