MALIBU — The UC Santa Barbara women?s volleyball team snapped its five-match losing skid on Saturday afternoon as the Gauchos swept Texas State 25-16, 25-23, 25-18 on the second day of the Pepperdine Asics Classic at Firestone Fieldhouse. With the win,
UCSB improves to 4-7 on the season with all of its victories coming in three-set matches. Texas State falls to 7-9 on the season.
Senior Lauren McLaughlin led the Gaucho attack with 16 kills and a .389 clip. The outside hitter also tallied five digs and two blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Charlene DeHoog tallied 10 kills and a .381 hitting percentage with seven digs.
Sophomore Kasey Kipp was impressive, collecting nine kills on eleven attempts with no errors for a .818 clip. She also had three total blocks in the match.
Sophomore setter Dana Vargas handed out 21 assists and Jessica Welch pitched in 13. Senior Leigh Stephenson had a total of 14 scoops and two aces. As a team, the Gauchos hit .337 during the match (43k, 11e, 95 att) and hit over .300 in each of the sets.
Emily Jones Wilkes, who tallied eight kills, led Texas State. Jessica Weynand totaled 13 digs and Brittany Collins handed out 15 assists while Shelbi Irvin had 14.
The Gauchos dominated the first set, taking the initial lead and never looking back on their way to the 25-16 victory. Sets two and three were more of a challenge as the two squads faced 21 ties and traded the lead on five occasions.
Saturday?’s match marked the final non-conference match-up during the regular season for UCSB. The Gauchos will open their Big West schedule on Friday, Sept. 26 at Cal State Northridge at 7 p.m. Santa Barbara will play at Cal State Fullerton the following day, and after 13 matches on the road, will open at the Thunderdome on Oct. 3 against Pacific.
