LONG BEACH – The fifth-ranked Gauchos played in their last non-conference match of the regular season on Saturday night, defeating the No. 14 Lewis Flyers in straight sets at the Active Ankle Tournament.
Game scores were 25-21, 25-22, and 25-17. With the win, the Gauchos record improved to 12-9, still 9-7 in the MPSF. Lewis dropped to 13-6.
The Gauchos played well despite coming off a disheartening loss against Penn State just the night before. But as has been the case all season, the Gauchos responded well to the adversity – UCSB is now 7-2 this season in matches following a loss.
The Gauchos were led by a trio of hitters. Senior outside hitter Jeff Menzel has a match-high 12 kills, the only player to reach 10 or more kills, on a .391 hitting percentage. Senior outside hitter Trey Valbuena had nine kills and just one error for a .500 hitting percentage. Trey has recorded back-to-back .500+ hitting percentages for the first time all season. In a rare start, senior outside hitter Todd Travis racked up a season-high nine kills.
In his first start of the season, freshman libero Evan Mottram had a career high nine digs. Sophomore middle blocker Dylan Davis led the match with a .636 hitting percentage on eight kills.
The Gauchos will now be on an extended break in order for the team to focus on final exams this next week. They won’t play until Mar. 24 at California Baptist, and do not play at UCSB until Mar. 31 against UC San Diego.
