The No. 9 UCSB men’s volleyball team was crowned 2010 Volleyball Hall of Fame Morgan Classic champions after sweeping Ohio State Saturday night at Blake Arena. Set scores were 34-32, 32-30, and 30-17 in favor of UCSB.
Jeff Menzel hit a season-high .452 on the night and leading the team with 20 kills and three aces. Three players hit .500 or better for UCSB, with Scott Slaughter leading the way with a .562 clip (11-2-16). Cullen Irons was second on the team in kills (15) and hitting percentage (.517). Jake Rosener hit .500 and scooped eight digs.
UCSB improves to 9-8 on the year, increasing their winning percentage to above .500 for the first time this season.
The Buckeyes managed just a .291 team hitting percentage on the night, as the Gauchos front line of Slaughter and Sam Moisenco helped UCSB out-block Ohio State 11 to 8. Ohio State’s Shawn Sangrey had 21 kills and five digs. John Klanac hit .344 (14-3-32) with three digs and two blocks.
In an opening set that featured twelve ties and five lead changes, the Gauchos found themselves trailing, 29-30. The teams traded points on kills from Menzel and Sangrey until the Gauchos faced a 31-32 deficit. Menzel cannoned successive kills to give the Gauchos a one-point lead before Irons finished off the set with his final attack to give UCSB the
34-32 victory.
With UCSB trailing 28-29 in the second frame, an Irons kills followed by a Sangrey error gave the Gauchos a 30-29 lead. Irons could not find the court on his next serve, but Slaughter responded on the next play with a kill. Another error by Sangrey would give the second set to the Gauchos, 32-30.
UCSB hit a blistering .679 in the final set, connecting on 19 of 28 total attempts with no errors. Ohio State managed only to hit only .139 as a team in the final stanza.
The Gauchos did not drop a set in the Hall of Fame Classic, as they swept Springfield College on Friday night in the Opening Round, 39-37, 30-25, and 30-28. On February 25, UCSB also swept Harvard in a non-conference tilt, 30-26, 30-22, and 30-21.
The Gauchos’ next home match is Wednesday, March 3 against UC Irvine at Rob Gym. Match-time is set for 7 p.m.
