It’s come down to the wire for the UCSB men’s volleyball team and its goal of making the postseason.
The No. 9 Gauchos made sure of that Friday night by sweeping fifth-ranked Hawaii 30-27, 30-25, 30-28 at Rob Gym.
Now all UCSB has to do is beat Hawaii again and hope first-place Stanford defeats UC Irvine tonight in regular season finales. If that happens, the Gauchos nab the eighth and final berth for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament.
If the Gauchos (13-15, 9-12) felt any pressure going into this weekend’s must-win matches against Hawaii, they didn’t show it Friday. They looked relaxed and in control.
That was exemplified by the play of Todd Travis. The junior opposite, who had played only eight sets coming into the match, performed like a seasoned veteran. He provided a huge boost with his whip-like lefty arm swing and his overall play. He finished with 14 kills (.222 average), seven digs and two solo blocks.
“He was everything,” UCSB coach Rick McLaughlin said of the 6-4 transfer from Santa Monica College. “That was part of our game plan and he followed it, and it was great.”
Travis put away four kills in the first set and he dug a Hawaii blast with his chest on a rally that led to the Warriors hitting into the net for the winning point.
Later in the match, he dug a ball that the Gauchos converted into a Dylan Davis kill, finished a rally after a brilliant diving dig by Andy McGuire and solo stuffed two Hawaii hitters.
His play impressed setter Vince Devany.
“He brings a threat on the right side and (opponents) are going to have to respect that. From the back row and the front row, he brings a lot of offense.”
McLaughlin said injuries have kept Travis from seeing more action.
“He’s been battling shoulders and a bunch of stuff, but he’s ready now and that’s all that counts,” the coach said.
Devany said Travis is like a secret weapon.
“I don’t think (Hawaii) had much film on him, so I think they were surprised, and that’s a good thing.”
“I’ve been working really hard in practice,” Travis said. “The second team has been fighting with the first team. Finally, coach gave me a chance. After BYU (March 26-27), my shoulder was hurt for couple of weeks. I got that rehabbed and came back stronger than I was.”
After getting nailed by nine kills by Hawaii’s 6-9 German import Jonas Umlauft in the first set, the Gauchos adjusted their block, enabling them to dig more balls. Umlauft finished with a match-high 21 kills out of 48 attacks for an average of .250.
“We changed a few things up, but mostly what caused us to dig a lot of balls was our block was taking a real good area,” McLaughlin said. “We did a great job blocking all night, and even though we don’t stuff every time, they made him hit into our defense.”
Devany said that serving also made a difference in slowing down Umlauft. He had two aces using a float serve. Scott Slaughter led the team with three.
“Our serving was putting them in trouble,” Devany said.
Davis and Blaine Nielsen combined to stuff Umlauft for the final point in the second set.
The Gauchos roared back from a 5-1 deficit in the third set. They took the lead at 12-11 on a hit down the line by Travis, but Hawaii (17-9, 13-8) battled back behind the hitting of high-flying Joshua Walker and tied the score at 21-21, when Matt Rawson buried an overpass.
Walker served into the net after a UCSB timeout and the score would go back and forth until a kill by Travis gave the Gauchos the lead for good at 27-26.
Jeff Menzel led the Gauchos with 16 kills and a .353 average and Davis hit a sparking .769 in the middle with 10 kills.
Now it comes down to Saturday night for UCSB.
McLaughlin expects Hawaii to play better and he’s confident his Gauchos will be better, too.
“It should be good tomorrow,” he said.
“From the get-go, we had good energy,” Devany said of the team’s stress-free feeling on Friday. “ I kind of expected it, but I didn’t expect it to this extent. I think we just have to carry it through to tomorrow.”
