Scott Slaughter led the No. 14 UCSB men’s volleyball team with a .769 hitting percentage, but the Gauchos could not crawl back from a two-set deficit against No. 13 UC San Diego in the seventh-place match of the Santa Barbara Invitational, falling to the Tritons 3-2 Friday morning at Robertson Gymnasium.
In the fifth place match, No. 2 UC Irvine dropped the first set but recovered to overtake No. 7 Long Beach State, 3-1. Game scores were 26-30, 30-26, 30-21, and 30-26 in favor of the Anteaters. Santa Barbara native Carson Clark tallied a match-high 20 kills in the win for UCI.
Slaughter, a junior, connected on 10 of his 13 total attack attempts with no errors in his first action of the season. He had missed the previous two matches while nursing a hand injury. Jeff Menzel led the Gauchos with 26.5 points and 22 kills. Cullen Irons added 15 kills and three aces. Setter Vince Devany dished out a season-high 61 assists.
Frank Fritsch led the way for the UCSD, collecting a match-high 27 kills on 49 attacks. Will Ehrman and Cyrus Kiani totaled 17 and 14 kills, respectively.
UCSD out-hit the Gauchos .368 (83-26-155) to .287 (66-23-150).
In the championship match, No. 9 Cal State Northridge defeated No. 6 Brigham Young (BYU), 3-1, to win its second consecutive Santa Barbara Invitational. Tournament Most Valuable Player Kevin McKniff dropped 15 kills in the championship match while swinging at a .538 clip. Theo Edwards led the team with 17 kills. Tanner Nua and Jacek Ratajcak each had 11 kills.
Cal Baptist swept No. 8 UCLA in the third place match, winning by scores of 35-33, 31-29, and 30-19.
Thursday, January 8 – Second Round Scores
Cal State Northridge def. Cal Baptist 3-1 (30-21, 30-32, 30-19, 30-19)
BYU def. UCLA 3-2 (30-26, 24-30, 27-30, 30-24, 15-11)
UC Irvine def. UC San Diego 3-1 (30-28, 22-30, 30-26, 30-21)
Long Beach State def. UC Santa Barbara 3-2 (30-28, 25-30, 25-30, 30-28, 15-10)
Thursday, January 8 – First Round Scores
Cal State Northridge def. UC Santa Barbara 3-1 (31-29, 28-10, 30-17, 30-19)
UCLA def. UC San Diego 3-2 (30-24, 24-30, 26-30, 31-29, 15-8)
BYU def. UC Irvine 3-1 (22-30, 30-26, 30-22, 30-27)
Cal Baptist def. Long Beach State 3-2 (31-29, 27-30, 28-30, 30-28)
Friday, January 8 – 7th/8th place match: UC San Diego 3, UC Santa Barbara 2 (30-22, 30-27, 29-31, 26-30, 15-11)
Friday, January 8 – 5th/6th place match: UC Irvine 3, Long Beach State 1, (26-30, 30-26, 30-21, 30-26)
Friday, January 8 – 3rd/4th place match: Cal Baptist 3, UCLA 0 (35-33, 31-29, 30-19)
Friday, January 8 – Championship match: Cal State Northridge 3, BYU 1 (30-25, 31-29, 30-32, 30-19)
Tournament Most Valuable Player
Kevin McKniff, MB, 6-7, Sr., Cal State Northridge
All-Tournament Team
Jacek Ratajczak, MB, 7-0, Sr., Cal State Northridge
Andrew Stewart, OH, 6-6, Sr., BYU
Futi Tavana, MB, 6-8, So., BYU
Levi Cabral, OH, 6-6, So., Cal Baptist
Garrett Muagatutia, OH, 6-5, Sr., UCLA
Carson Clark, OPP, 6-5, So., UC Irvine Kevin McKniff, MB, 6-7, Sr., Cal State Northridge
