The UC Santa Barbara Men’s Volleyball team faced Cal Lutheran for an early week match up on Tuesday night and defeated the Kingsmen 3-1.
The Gauchos took the first set 25-23. The set tied multiple times, with Cal Lutheran frequently pushing a couple of points ahead of the Gauchos before Santa Barbara came back to tie it.
The teams reached 23-23, then a block and kill by Ethan Saint sent the Gauchos the win. Cole Schobel made 11 assists and George Bruening had six kills to kick off the match.
Santa Barbara decisively took the second set 25-16. After a tie at 9-9, the Gauchos pulled ahead. The Gauchos stayed at least five points ahead of the Kingsmen for the remainder of the set and made the match 2-0.
The Kingsmen came back to win the third set 25-21. Following 10-10, Cal Lutheran led for the rest of the set. The Kingsmen stayed four points ahead and prevented a shutout.
Finally, the Gauchos won the fourth set 25-18. They hovered three points ahead of the Kingsmen after a final tie at 13-13. Santa Barbara became unreachable at 20-16, then Josh Aruya landed the final kill to take the match.
Bruening had a rattling 21 kills off of 35 attempts for his third 20+ point match of the season. He also hit a stunning .514 for his best percentage of the season. Riggs Guy followed up with 11 kills, while Josh Aruya went seven for nine to hit .571.
Both Guy and Wallace had ten digs and Schobel averaged 10.5 assists from 42 overall. The Gauchos gathered 16 total blocks, while Dylan Pilkvist made eight to lead the team.
The Gauchos head to Hawai’i for two matches against the Rainbow Warriors. They will battle on Friday, March 27 and Saturday, March 28 at 9:00 p.m. PT.