NORTHRIDGE – The 5th-ranked UCSB men’s volleyball team bounced back from consecutive defeats with one of its best offensive performances in a 3-0 win at 11th-ranked Cal State Northridge on Friday night.
The Gauchos easily walloped the Matadors in three sets, 25-22, 25-9 and 25-20. The win gives UCSB an overall record of 4-3 and a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation mark of 2-2. Northridge drops to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in league.
Seniors Jeff Menzel and Cullen Irons were at the absolute top of their games. Menzel had 14 kills, no errors and hit .778 in the three-game sweep. He also added a pair of blocks. Irons led UCSB with 16 kills. He also had just one error and hit .714.
As a team, the Gauchos had their best offensive contest of the season as they had 48 kills and a sparse four errors. They hit a scalding .667 as a team. Northridge, on the other hand, had a paltry 28 kills, to go with 13 errors, and hit a mere .238. The Matadors were paced by Tanner Nua who had six kills and hit .364. John Baxter, Brandon Lebrock and Greg Faulknaer each had five kills.
In addition to Menzel and Irons, UCSB’s Trey Valbuena had 10 kills and just one error in13 attempts to finish with a hitting percentage of .692. In all, UCSB had just four errors. Setter Vince Devany had 40 assists in the win.
UCSB returns home for a pair of matches next weekend. On Wednesday, the Gauchos will host top-ranked USC in a 7:00 p.m. contest at Robertson Gym and on Friday they will host Pepperdine at 7:00 p.m.
