One day after defeating Cal State Northridge in five sets on the road, the UC Santa Barbara men’s volleyball completed a two-game sweep of the Matadors with a four-set victory (25-21, 19-25, 25-20, 25-15) at the Thunderdome on Saturday night.
With the win, the Gauchos increased their winning streak to three matches as they seek to play their best volleyball entering the home stretch of the regular season.
“On the court, if one of us isn’t working hard, they get moved to the other side, which provides more fire for the other side to push and want to be on the starting side,” said sophomore setter Cole Schobel, who had an excellent match against Cal State Northridge orchestrating the Gauchos’ balanced attack. “Winning in five sets at CSUN and four sets here just shows how resilient we are and how hard we work in the practice gym.”
Riggs Guy, George Bruening, and Ben Coordt led the way for UC Santa Barbara offensively with 14, 13, and 11 kills, respectively, as Schobel spread the ball around effectively, keeping the Matadors off balance.
In set one, UC Santa Barbara turned a 12-11 deficit into a 17-13 lead following a spike off the block and out by Bruening. The Gauchos extended their lead to 22-16 on a surprise kill by Schobel and clinched a 1-0 set lead on a Cal State Northridge serving error.
The Matadors took control early in set two and never looked back. Jalen Phillips finished with a team-high 10 kills for Cal State Northridge but took 33 swings to do it. Middle blocker Shane Nhem chipped in nine kills.
With the match in the balance, the Gauchos pulled away late in set three. Bruening’s spike off the touch gave UC Santa Barbara an 18-13 lead, and the Matadors struggled with serving errors down the stretch as the Gauchos took a 2-1 set lead.
In set five, Schobel won a joust at the net to put UC Santa Barbara ahead 7-5. Josh Aruya and Schobel combined for a block, increasing the Gauchos lead to 13-8. Aruya finished with seven kills on eight swings and provided a steady attacking presence in the middle.
A solo block by Bruening put UC Santa Barbara ahead 24-15. The Gauchos went on to clinch set four and the match on a Cal State Northridge passing error.
Up next for the No. 18–ranked Gauchos (11-10 overall, 2-2 Big West) is a matchup with the top-ranked Long Beach State at home on Thursday, April 3, at 7 p.m.
“It’s going to be a sweet time to play Long Beach State, especially after this week really showing us as a team what we can do,” Schobel said. “It’s going to be a fun match.”