Matt Jones is making sure his new group of UC Santa Barbara volleyball players will be battle tested before they enter Big West play later this month.
The second-year women’s coach loaded up the 2024 nonconference schedule with top 25 teams. The Gauchos face their most challenging week of matches as they play No. 2 Stanford in their home opener Tuesday and then face top-ranked Pitt on Saturday in Malibu at the Pepperdine Tournament.
Jones’ Gauchos enter their 7 p.m. match against Stanford at the Thunderdome with a 2-4 record. Three of those losses have come against teams that were ranked in the top 25: No. 25 Georgia, No. 20 Florida State and No. 16 Arizona State.
In his coaching debut last season with an experienced squad, UCSB played just two ranked teams in their first 10 nonconference matches. They lost just once en route to a 27-5 record, which included a Big West regular-season title and a NCAA Tournament bid.
“Last year was pretty special from a win-loss perspective,” said Jones at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Press Luncheon. “But we had a mission going into this year that we wanted to build off a more difficult nonconference schedule for two reasons: one, it gives you higher margins for error in trying to set yourself up for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament; second, we want to prepare ourselves against the best teams we can, be prepared for Big West Conference play, especially with this new model we have that you have to win the conference tournament to get an automatic bid.”
The Gauchos are currently 0-3 against ranked teams, but they took Georgia to five games and fell in four against Arizona State.
“We have competed well against some top 25 teams in the country but we haven’t been able to steal one yet,” said Jones
The Gauchos are coming off a frustrating five-set loss at University of San Diego on Sunday after winning the first two sets.
“It was kind of our first slip-up of the year,” said Jones. “That’s one we probably would like to have back at the end of year. But we’re learning a lot about our team right now and I think we’re making progress with a younger group.”
The Gauchos have a lot of new faces this season. There are 11 freshmen/redshirt freshmen on the roster. The team’s kill leader is 5-foot-10 redshirt freshman outside hitter Eva Travis from Laguna Beach High. She has 64 kills. Redshirt freshman opposite Lois Hansen made the all-tournament team in San Diego. She had 19 kills, a .326 hitting percentage, and five blocks in the loss to the Toreros.
UCSB has an experienced setter in senior Grace McIntosh. Outside hitter Sophie Reavis (second on the team with 55 kills) and middles Andi Kreiling and Grace Wuischpard are also back after playing big roles on last year’s championship team.
Stanford will playing its first match on the West Coast. Now a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Cardinal started the season playing four matches in Wisconsin. They went 4-0, which included wins over Big 10 powerhouses Minnesota and Wisconsin at the State Farm Women’s College Volleyball Showcase.
Junior outside hitter Elia Rubin leads the Stanford attack. She’s scored 74.5 points and has 65 kills on a .345 hitting percentage. Redshirt freshman Ipar Kurt, a 6-1 outside hitter from Turkey, has 46 kills.
Senior setter Kami Miner is averaging 10.42 assists per set. She is a two-time Pac 12 Setter of the Year and a two-time All-American.
Jones encourages the community to come out to the Thunderdome to see quality college volleyball.
“Our gym is air-conditioned, so if you want to see some real high-level volleyball in this heat, I highly encourage you to come out and watch undoubtedly one of the top five teams in the country, and they’re currently undefeated and No. 2.”
Prior to the match, the Gauchos will celebrate their Big West Regular Season Championship last season by giving away 250 t-shirts.
