The UC Santa Barbara women’s volleyball team won its 12th straight match on Friday night after sweeping past UC Davis with ease 3-0 (25-9, 25-15, 25-17).
With the win, the Gauchos improve to 14-1 overall and sit in first place with a 4-0 record to start Big West action. The Aggies, meanwhile, fall to 10-6 overall and 2-1 after dropping their first conference match of the year.
UCSB hit .384 (36 kills-8 errors-73 attempts) on the night compared to just .052 (27-22-97) for UC Davis as the Gauchos dominated every facet of the match. Santa Barbara out-blocked the Aggies 12-3, while registering more digs (44-27), assists (33-24), kills (36-27) and service aces (6-3).
Tallulah Froley led the way with a game-high nine kills while Gigi Ruddins tallied eight and older sister Lindsey Ruddins finished with seven. For the elder Ruddins, the single-digit kill total marked the end of an incredible 65 straight matches in double figures, dating back to Aug. 25, 2017. She did reach double figures in digs, however, scooping up 12 while Zoe Fleck led the team with 15.
Olivia Lovenberg and Romoni Vivao paced the offense with 19 and 12 assists, respectively, while Vivao and Fleck each added two aces apiece. Rowan Ennis sent down five blocks to go with her five kills on .571 hitting, and Deni Wilson hit .750 with three kills on four attempts.
The Gauchos took control early and never looked back, hitting .500 with 14 kills and just one error in the first set for a 25-9 win. With an early 9-4 lead, UCSB ran away with the game after an 11-0 run with Lovenberg back to serve.
The theme continued in the second frame as UCSB hit .444 (11-3-18) and utilized an 8-2 run midway through the set to put the game out of reach. In the third and final set, the Gauchos fell behind 3-1, but turned the tide quickly with a 7-0 run, highlighted by a pair of Ennis kills, and cruised to a 25-17 win.
Santa Barbara will turn right around and host UC Riverside tomorrow, Oct. 5 at 5:00 p.m. in the Thunderdome.