UCSB began a home-and-home series with UCLA on Wednesday night, and could not have hoped for a better opening result.
The Gauchos defeated the Bruins 25-11, 25-23, 18-25, 27-25 and improved to 7-5 and 5-4 in the MPSF. The Bruins dropped to 7-6, 2-5 MPSF.
It was UCSB’s first regular season victory at Pauley Pavillion since 2002, and it came on the back of its consistent hitting, as the team hit a robust .409 for the match.
Senior outside hitter Jeff Menzel paced all players with his 17 kills, while senior outside hitter Trey Valbuena and senior opposite Cullen Irons contributed 10 apiece — Valbuena has reached double digit kills in two of his last three matches.
Menzel matched his season highs in digs and aces, with six and two respectively.
UCSB also received a strong game at the net from sophomore middle blocker Dylan Davis and senior middle blocker Scott Slaughter, who had four and five blocks, respectively. Matching Slaughter’s match-high five blocks was an unusual suspect, senior setter Vince Devany. He set a season high with the night’s output. Devany also dished out 44 assists on the night.
The Bruins were led by Kyle Caldwell, who had 16 kills and a match-high 4 service aces. The Bruins’ had 22 service errors.
The Bruins have lost their past four matches overall and also their last four matches against the Gauchos, dating back to this preseason.
The Gauchos look for the regular season sweep of UCLA on Friday night at Rob Gym.
