SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Women's Volleyball team commences its home season this weekend with a two-match tournament, hosting Iowa State and Utah State at the Gaucho Invitational. 

The Gauchos will take on Iowa State at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 3 and Utah State at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 5. Utah State will play Iowa State in a neutral site match at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 4. 

LAST TIME OUT
At the University of Arizona's Wildcat Classic, Santa Barbara took on Tarleton State and Prairie View A&M for the first time in history and defeated both. The Gauchos also vanquished Arizona to become the only Big West team to go 3-0 on opening weekend. Sophia Wendlick earned Big West Player of the Week as well as tournament MVP, while Gabi Martinez and Cortni Youngblood were both named to the All-Tournament Team.

IOWA STATE INSIGHTS
UC Santa Barbara has taken on Iowa State twice in history and has won both contests. The Gauchos first took on the Cyclones in September of 1995 at Cal Poly's tournament and came away with a 3-2 win. Most recently, the Gauchos took on No. 23 Iowa State in 2023 on the road, beating the Cyclones 3-1. Milan Rex is the only current Gaucho to have played in that match, which she paced with 20 assists.

Iowa State is 2-1 on the season, while Utah State is 0-3. 

UNDERSTANDING UTAH STATE 
UC Santa Barbara is 33-3 against Utah State, with its last win being on Sept. 6, 2008. Utah State won 3-0 in the teams' most recent match up on Sept. 2, 2017.

FOLLOW ALONG
The matches will be streamed on ESPN+, while live stats and tickets will be available at ucsbgauchos.com.