Jake Rosener had a career-high seven service aces and added 11 digs and six blocks, but No. 13 UC Santa Barbara was swept by No. 1 Pepperdine Saturday in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) men’s volleyball action. Scores went 30-24, 36-34, 30-18 at Firestone Fieldhouse.
The Gauchos, who lost their third straight match, dropped to 4-11 overall and 2-10 in the MPSF. With their seventh consecutive victory over UCSB, the Waves improved to 10-1 overall, 9-1 in the league.
Usually consistent outside hitter Jeff Menzel had an off night for UCSB, connecting on only 13 of his 45 total attacks while piling up 10 errors. Rosener’s solid performance also included a .368 hitting percentage.
Cullen Irons matched Rosener with 11 kills of his own. Vince Devany had a match-high 46 assists, tallying 21 in the second set, and Andy McGuire had a match-high nine digs.
The Gauchos hit a combined.132 in the first and third sets, but posted a .354 attack percentage in the second frame. Overall, UCSB hit .231 as a team.
Paul Carroll led Pepperdine with a match-high 22 kills. Rodnei Santos hit .714 on the night, tallying 11 kills on 15 attempts with no errors. Setter Kasey Crider totaled 43 assists as he led the Waves to a .455 attack percentage for the match. Pepperdine out-blocked UCSB 14-3 with Tyler Jaynes collecting seven stuffs.
UCSB tried to grab momentum in set two as it took a 31-30 lead on a Moisenco kill. After a kill by Carroll evened the match, Irons again put the Gauchos on top, 32-31 with a kill. Pepperdine would win three of the next five points, giving them a 34-33 lead after a UCSB service error. The Gauchos were able to stave off the second set point of the frame on a kill by Rosener, but ultimately fell after a kill by Brent Schirripa and a block by Jaynes sealed it, 36-34.
It proved to be Schirripa’s only kill on the night.
The second stanza featured 22 tie scores and six lead changes.
Santa Barbara closes out its longest road trip of the season with a visit to Hawai’i on Mar. 5 and Mar. 6. The Gauchos are now 0-5 away from home.
The next home match will be a non-conference tilt against George Mason on Mar. 11 (7 p.m.).
