The UC Santa Barbara women’s volleyball team pushed a pair of top-25 opponents to the limit at the Trojan Invitational on Friday and Saturday at USC.
The Gauchos lost in five sets against the host No. 22 Trojans on Friday (25-21, 21-25, 20-25, 25-19, 15-13) and fell to 13th-ranked Creighton in five on Saturday (19-25, 25-17, 23-25, 25-18, 15-10) at the Galen Center.
Against USC, sophomore Eva Travis delivered 21 kills to pace the UCSB attack. Emma McDermott had nine kills and Kiersten Schmitt contributed eight kills and four service aces.
The Gauchos got a solid match from freshman middle Jordyn Johnson. She had five kills and hit .400. On defense, Cortni Youngblood led the team with 19 digs.
Abigail Mullen, a 6-foot-3 opposite, pounded 23 kills and had five blocks to lead USC. Rylie McGinest, the daughter of USC All-American linebacker and three-time Super Bowl champion Willie McGinest, was a force in the middle with seven blocks.
The score was tied at 10 in the fifth set following an ace by Gaucho setter Milan Rex. USC responded with three straight points on kill from London Wijay, a block by Mullen and a UCSB hitting error.
The Gauchos sided out on a USC hitting error and pulled within one (13-12) on a Travis kill. The teams traded side outs before Wijay scored the winning point for USC on her ninth kill.
Creighton 3, UCSB 2
Travis put up a double-double of 19 kills and 10 digs and added there blocks for the Gauchos against the 13th-ranked team in the country. Ayanna Green added 10 kills and hit .364, and Johnson tallied seven kills from the middle on a .545 average.
Senior outside hitter Ava Martin, an All-American last season, buried 24 kills on a .286 average to pace Creighton.
Ahead 2-1 in sets, the Gauchos tied the fourth set 4-4 before Creighton went on a six-point run to take the lead for good and force a fifth set.
The Blue Jays built a 9-5 lead in the fifth set and finished the match on a kill by Martin.
UCSB (2-2) concludes the tournament on Sunday against University of San Diego.
