Matt Jones returned to his home town for UC Santa Barbara’s women’s volleyball Big West opener, and his Gauchos made it a happy homecoming as they swept UC San Diego, 25-20, 25-15, 25-23, in La Jolla on Friday night.
Michelle Ohwobete paced UCSB to its 11th win and sixth sweep of the season, recording 11 kills, three blocks (two solo), nine digs and two service aces.
Briana McKnight played a solid match with eight kills, three blocks and 14 digs.
The Gauchos (11-2, 1-0) continued to do damage in the middle as Andi Kreiling and Grace Wuischpard combined for 12 kills. Kreiling had seven on 12 swings with one error for a .500 hitting percentage. Wuischpard hit. 444, getting five kills on nine swings with one error.
Setters Grace McIntosh and Michelle Zhao combined for 34 assists. McIntosh completed a double-double with 19 assists and 11 digs.
“Credit goes to our team for making life really hard for their outside hitter Ava McInnes,” said Jones. “She’s one of the best point scorers in the conference and we did a nice job of making her uncomfortable. For the most part, we made really good decisions offensively which led to a smooth outing. It’s now time to shift our focus to Long Beach.”
The Gauchos play at Long Beach State on Friday.