The UC Santa Barbara Men’s Volleyball team (9-17) made the quick trip to Northridge for the final match of the regular season against the No. 14 CSUN Matadors.
The Gauchos were able to grab the first set, but they didn’t leave the Premier America Credit Union Arena with the win as UC Santa Barbara dropped this match in four sets with scores of 25-23, 21-25, 19-25 and 22-25.
The Gauchos came out strong at the start of this set, going up by four early on with the help of Ben Coordt from the service line and Sam Meister from the front row.
But that four-point lead was diminished by the Matadors as they slowly rallied back to tie the set at 17-17. UC Santa Barbara and CSUN went on to tie the score up eight times throughout this set before a winner could be decided.
At the end, it was UC Santa Barbara as Coordt registered the final kill to secure the 25-23 win in the first set.
From there, it was CSUN’s match. Although the Matadors came out strong in this second set, the Gauchos knew how to battle back. Geste Bianchi contributed three aces in four serves to give his team a slight advantage in the middle of the set.
However, the Matadors responded back with multiple aces of their own to regain the lead. Even though the Gauchos tried to rally back, they weren’t able to close out the set as the Matadors took the second set 25-21.
From there, UC Santa Barbara could not get in a consistent flow. Every time they would get close to CSUN, the Matadors would bounce right back.
This did not give UC Santa Barbara many opportunities to battle back in this match. Despite the Gauchos’ best efforts, they dropped the final two sets of this match with scores of 25-19 and 25-22.
Ben Coordt led the offense tonight for the Gauchos as he put up 17 kills with only three errors, allowing him to hit at a .500 clip. Not only that, but he led the front row defense as well with five blocks.
Geste Bianchi was a big contributor to the Gauchos’ offense as well. He finished the match with 15 kills while adding on three aces.
Sam Meister could not be stopped from the middle. He hit at a .667 clip, registering nine kills and only one error on 12 swings. He also contributed to the team’s defensive efforts with three blocks.
Jack Walmer set up the Gauchos’ offense tonight as he notched 43 assists. Jaden Glenn led the team on defense as he was tied for the match-high in digs with eight.
The Gauchos will make their way to Honolulu for The Big West Championships. They will be the sixth seed and play in the quarterfinal round on Thursday, April 18 at 10 p.m. PT.
More information on streaming and live stats will come later this week.