Outside hitter Lauren McLaughlin finished her career on a high note, recording a match-high 21 kills to lead the UCSB volleyball team to a 3-1 (16-25, 25-12, 25-23, 25-23) victory over Big West opponent UC Riverside on senior night Saturday at the Thunderdome. The Gauchos snapped a five-match losing streak with the win.
UCSB finished the regular season with a record of 11-16 overall and 7-9 in the Big West. UC Riverside fell to 8-23 overall and 3-13 in the Big West.
McLaughlin hit .353 across the four sets (3e, 51att) and also posted a team-high 14 digs for her 11th double-double of the season. She was supported by eight kills from Nikki Doyle and seven from Lily Lopez, both freshmen. Doyle also posted four service aces.
Leigh Stephenson and Dana Vargas contributed 12 digs apiece. Vargas led all players with 42 assists and also tallied four kills on six attempts (.667). Lindsay Fletcher tallied three kills and a .500 hitting percentage.
Riverside was led by Kelly Fink’s 19 kills with a .169 hitting percentage (9e, 59att) and Dominique Cowling’s 15 kills with a .231 hitting percentage (6e, 39att). Cowling also had a match-high 17 digs.
The Highlanders took the first set with a .333 hitting percentage, their highest of the match. After a 2-2 start, Riverside established a 7-3 lead with a pair of kills from Cowling. The Gauchos would close the gap to 11-12 after three kills from McLaughlin and an ace from Rebecca Saraceno. However, the Highlanders recorded a pair of consecutive blocks from Shannon Moyneur to open up a four-point lead that the Gauchos were never able to recover from.
The second set started well for the Gauchos, who jumped out to a 4-0 lead off two kills from McLaughlin and the first of four aces from Doyle. The teams traded points until 10-5, then Lopez held serve for eight consecutive points to give the Gauchos an 18-5 lead. Lopez had an ace and was helped by two kills apiece from Doyle and Charlene DeHoog. The Gauchos went on to win the set 25-12.
The third set was filled with errors, as Riverside had 10 and the Gauchos had seven. Both teams also hit poorly, with Riverside at .130 and the Gauchos at .087. Riverside held a slight lead for most of the set, at one point holding a 20-17 advantage. Kills from Lopez and DeHoog brought the Gauchos back within one. A pair of errors from Riverside leveled the score at 23-23, and then a kill from Kasey Kipp and a block from Vargas sealed the third set for the Gauchos.
It looked like Santa Barbara would cruise to victory after it opened up an 8-2 advantage in the fourth set, but Riverside was persistent and would not allow the Gauchos to widen the lead. The Highlanders took a timeout at 20-17 and came out energized, winning four consecutive points to take a 21-20 lead. Fink had two kills in a row, but on the next point her attack was blocked by Vargas and Kipp. Doyle followed that up with another timely service ace, and the Gauchos got three more kills from McLaughlin, including the final point, to close out the match.
With the win the Gauchos stayed perfect in the all-time series against Riverside, now owning a 22-0 advantage.
It was the final appearance in the Thunderdome for seniors Fletcher, McLaughlin, and Stephenson.
