Middles Andi Kreiling and Grace Wuischpard combined for nine blocks, and UC Santa Barbara held San Diego State under a .100 hitting percentage in a 25-22, 25-21, 25-16 sweep of the Aztecs Saturday.
The win on the final day of the San Diego State Invitational came a day after the Gauchos suffered their first loss of the season, a 3-0 sweep by sixth-ranked Oregon.
The Gauchos (5-1) held the Aztecs to a .093 hitting percentage and hit .289 as a team
“As I said yesterday, I was excited to see how the team bounced back after their first setback of the season, and they did so nicely,” said coach Matt Jones, who was returning to his hometown. (He attended La Jolla High). “San Diego State was playing really well early on and we sustained that blow and then got it rolling halfway through the first set.
“I thought it was good, disciplined execution of the scouting report, particularly from the service line. Now it’s time to get some rest and get ready to head off to Utah.”
San Diego State came out strong and went ahead by three points early in the first set. But the Gauchos closed the gap and exchanged the lead with the Aztecs three more times before pulling out the win.
A Macall Peed service run pulled her team ahead for the final time.
The Gauchos carried the momentum through the second and third sets and posted their fourth sweep of the season, the most in the first six games of the season since 2004.
Michelle Ohwobete racked up 10 kills to lead the Gaucho attack. She also led the team in aces with two and finished second on the team with eight digs.
Kreiling had six kills on seven swings and no errors for an .857 hitting percentage and added one solo block and three block assists. Wuischpard hit 5 for 11 with one error to go with one solo block and four block assists.
Madison Core led San Diego State with nine kills.
The Gauchos will hit the road again, heading to Salt Lake City for the Utah Classic, hosted by the University of Utah. They’ll play two matches on Friday against the University of San Francisco and Utah.