MALIBU – A lengthy third set defeat swung things against the UCSB women’s volleyball team on Wednesday night allowing Pepperdine to ride a wave of momentum to a four-game victory.
Match scores were 25-15, 20-25, 31-29, 25-11. UCSB falls to 9-8 overall while Pepperdine improves to 11-5.
Charlene DeHoog led the Gauchos with 12 kills and nine digs while Stacey Schmidt had 11 kills. Dana Vargas passed out 33 assists to go with 11 digs and Kelly Heenan picked up 18 digs.
After dropping the first set, UCSB rallied to win the second set, turning a quick 4-1 deficit into a 7-5 advantage. The Gauchos’ lead swelled to 17-10 and UCSB pushed it to 22-16 on a Pepperdine service error. When the Waves cut the lead to 22-18, UCSB called a timeout and then saw Mimi Cuttrell pick up two kills in the final moments for the win.
Cuttrell, a sophomore from Santa Barbara High, had seven kills and three digs.
In the third set, the Gauchos jumped out to a 7-3 lead only to see Pepperdine tie things at 7-apiece. Santa Barbara then took a 15-9 advantage on a Schmidt putaway. The Gauchos kept Pepperdine at arm’s length, taking a 24-21 lead on one of Kara Sherrard’s four kills, but the Waves weren’t done.
A service error and kills by Emily Cook (17 kills) and Brittney Clark (seven kills) tied things up at 24-24. The Gauchos then had leads at 25-24, 26-25 and 28-27 but Pepperdine kept tying the score. Kasey Kipp gave the Gauchos a 29-28 lead, but a service error and then a service ace from the waves set up Lilla Frederick’s kill for the third game.
That game sunk the Gauchos as Pepperdine used the momentum to cruise to a victory.
The Gauchos will return to Big West play on Saturday night as they face Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo at 7 p.m. The match reignites the Blue-Green Rivalry Series which began between the two schools last season.
