The UC Santa Barbara men’s volleyball team picked up its first win of the 2022 season Tuesday afternoon at Rob Gym, hitting at a .484 clip and serving up 12 aces in a sweep of Saint Xavier, 25-20, 25-18, 25-17.
The 12 aces were the most for UCSB (1-2) in just over seven years and tied for No. 9 all-time in program history. Four Gauchos had multiple aces, led by outside hitters Ryan Wilcox and Max Cajuste with three apiece.
Santa Barbara’s .484 clip was over 15 percentage points more than its previous season-best and the highest in 14 outings.
It was thanks in large part to perfect hitting days from middle blocker Brandon Hicks (6-6), setter Patrick Paragas (3-3) and outside hitter Sam Collins (3-3).
Paragas also had a match-high 31 assists and added two aces.
Wilcox led the offense for the first time in 2022 with seven kills. Junior opposite Haotian Xia went 6-for-10 (.500) with two aces.
In his season debut, sophomore middle blocker Donovan Todorov had an efficient 5-for-8 (.625) hitting day while pacing the Gauchos with two blocks.