Kiersten Schmitt and Cortni Young led a strong defensive effort by the UC Santa Barbara women’s volleyball team, and the Gauchos salvaged a win at the USC Trojan Invitational, beating University of San Diego, 3-1, on Sunday. The game scores were 19-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-18.
Schmitt, a junior transfer outside hitter from Iowa State, picked up a team-high 18 digs, while Youngblood, the libero, had 11 digs and setter Rex Milan scooped up nine. At the net, Schmitt, Emma McDermott and Jordyn Johnson each had three blocks.
It was a well-deserved win by the Gauchos, who earlier lost five-set matches in the tournament against top-25 teams USC and Creighton.
Eva Travis, Green and Gabi Martinez paced the UCSB attack. Travis led the way with 13 kills and scored 15 points; Green had 12 kills and a team-best 15.5 points and Martinez, a freshman outside hitter from Katy, Texas, posted career highs of 11.5 points and 10 kills and added a block assist. Schmitt also scored in double figures, tallying 10.5 points.
Kennedy Osunsanmi led USD with 12 kills and 13.5 points, Kali Engeman and Nemo Beach each had 11 kills and scored 13 and 11.5 points, respectively.
The Gauchos (3-2) make their home debut on Thursday in the Thunderdome Classic against Kansas State. First serve is at 6 p.m. They’ll follow with matches against Vanderbilt on Friday at 4 p.m. and North Colorado on Saturday at 1 p.m.