The UC Santa Barbara men’s volleyball team learned Saturday why Grand Canyon was ranked in the top 10 of the AVCA preseason national poll.
The No. 7-ranked Lopes, an experienced group, led by a pair of returning All-Americans, defeated the No. 15 Gauchos, 23-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-20, to complete a perfect 3-0 weekend against Big West teams at the Asics Invitational at Rob Gym.
Grand Canyon also defeated Cal State Northridge and UC San Diego in the three-day event.
“Grand Canyon is a very good, experienced team, and they are also well coached,” said UCSB coach Rick McLaughlin, who saw his team suffer its first loss of the season. “I was very happy with how we were able to compete with them in all of Set 1 and parts of Sets 2, 3 and 4.”
After pulling out a tight first set, the Gauchos had trouble containing Grand Canyon’s attack. Led by All-Americans setter Nicholas Slight (the tournament MVP) and outside hitter Jackson Hickman, the Lopes took charge in the second. Hickman pounded four of his 10 kills, and the team hit a blistering .522 for the set.
Slight did a outstanding job of moving the ball around. Senior outside hitter Camden Gianni was the team’s leading hitter with 17 kills, while Rico Wardlow was a force in the middle, hitting .727 with eight kills.
George Bruening was UCSB’s attack leader with 12 kills, while Ben Coordt had 11 kills.
On defense, libero Jaden Glenn picked up 11 digs and setter Jack Walmer collected 10 to go with his 34 assists.
The Gauchos hit .545 with just one hitting error in the fourth set, but they couldn’t make up an early deficit and seven serving errors.
McLaughlin said the team will continue working hard to improve its game.
“If we can continue to improve on our ability to make our opponent earn their points, we can be a very good team,” he said. “But that only comes through hard training and continual learning in practice and matches. This team is up for the challenge.”
UCSB faces a tough challenge this weekend, hosting No. 8 Stanford on Friday and Saturday.
The Stanford lineup includes brothers and Santa Barbara High alums Will and Alex Rottman. They are the sons of UCSB All-American (1987-88) Dave Rottman, one of the all-time kill leaders in program history.
Will Rottman, a fifth-year senior who led Stanford to the MPSF Championship game last season, is a two-time All-American.
The Rottman brothers will face their former high school teammate Sam Meister, who is a sophomore middle for the Gauchos. Meister and Alex Rottman led Santa Barbara High to a CIF-SS Championship in 2021.
The UCSB-Stanford match has another teammate connection. Dave Rottman and Stanford coach John Kosty played together at UCSB and both earned All-American honors in 1987. Kosty played middle blocker.
