UC Santa Barbara concluded its first weekend of action with another contentious matchup, as the team downed Albany in four sets (27-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-21) on Saturday morning at the Cox Pavilion.
Lindsey Ruddins continued her tear through the UNLV Invitational after leading the Gauchos with 19 kills on 57 swings with a pair of blocks. Through the tournament, Ruddins finished with a gaudy total of 59 kills, averaging 4.92 per set.
“This team’s strength is definitely our competitiveness,” Ruddins said. “We all have a great fight in us, we all want to win, and we all want to win for each other. We’re young, we still have a lot room to improve and we’re figuring a lot of stuff out.”
Behind her was Phoebe Grunt who exploded with a career-high 17 kills, crushing her previous personal best of 13 which she hit in three different matches last year. The senior starting clicking starting in the second set, as she put away 15 kills in the final three games.
Albany was placing the ball all over the floor and the Gauchos responded with 82 combined digs with four players reaching double figures. Chanel Hoffman and Hannah Juley paced the team with 17 apiece, while Lindsey Ruddins (securing her second double-double of the tournament) and Emilia Petrahci both finished with 12.
UCSB (2-1) will make its home debut next weekend when it hosts the Thunderdome Classic, which will feature Baylor, CSU Bakersfield, seven-time defending Mountain West Champion Colorado State, and Pitt.