UCSB Women’s Volleyball Sweeps Cal Poly to Stay Atop Big West Conference Standings

A dominant performance by Tasia Farmer sparked the UCSB women’s volleyball team to a 25-17, 25-19, 25-20 sweep of Cal Poly in a crucial Big West Conference match on Friday night at the Thunderhut.

Farmer finished with 18 kills on 24 attempts and a .667 hitting percentage, displaying extreme efficiency on high volume and the visiting Mustangs had no answer.

“I think she made great choices first of all. She got great sets from Grace McIntosh. I thought our middles were so effective on the 31 that it made it really hard for them to close on the right side,” said UCSB head coach Matt Jones. “Sometimes you also just get some balls to break your way. Some weird swings she took from ten feet off just scored anyway. All around a really nice night for Tasia for sure.”

UCSB came into the match with a perfect 6-0 record in Big West Conference play and Cal Poly was one game back at 5-1. The Gauchos will conclude their weekend homestand against Big West powerhouse Hawaii today. Hawaii is currently 5-1 in conference play.

The Gauchos never trailed in the first two sets against Cal Poly. A spike down the line by Michelle Ohwobete gave UCSB an early 8-3 lead. However, the Mustangs put together a 7-3 run capped off by a Tess Masingale kill that cut their deficit to 11-10.

As the first set progressed the Gauchos dug in defensively and increased their lead to 21-14 on a cross court spike by Sophie Reavis.

UCSB middle blocker Andi Kreiling had a very efficient night with 9 kills on 12 attempts. She finished off the set with a hard spike down the middle off a nice set from Grace McIntosh.

In set two, UCSB jumped out to a 6-0 lead on a kill by Kreiling forcing a Cal Poly timeout. The Gauchos did not let up as a kill by Reavis increased their lead to 13-3 Cal Poly cut into the deficit again as a soft tap over the block by standout outside hitter Tommi Stockham brought the Mustangs within 15-12, but that’s as close as they would get. 

A kill by Farmer put the Gauchos ahead 22-17 and UCSB clinched a 2-0 set lead on a Cal Poly serving error. Farmer spread her production out evenly throughout the match with six kills in each set.

“I was scoring being aggressive, but I also wanted to open up a little bit more. I feel like the middle started to cheat my way so in order for me to do that I feel like I had to mix it up and not just hit hard every single time,” Farmer said. “I think because I did that it opened things up for me a lot more and I was able to score swinging.”

Set three was tight early. UCSB’s Grace Wuischpard and Ohwobete combined for a block that put UCSB ahead 7-6. A solo block by Briana McKnight increased the UCSB lead to 13-8 and prompted a Cal Poly timeout. 

A kill by McKnight clinched the third set and the match from UCSB. McKnight finished with eight kills and led the team with two aces.

The Gauchos will host Hawaii today at Thunderdome with a chance to strengthen their grip in first place in the conference.