LONG BEACH – The 15th-ranked UCSB men’s volleyball team was able to steal a set from 10th-ranked Long Beach State, but the visiting Gauchos went down to defeat in four sets, 25-20, 28-30, 25-15, 25-20.
The Gauchos (4-8 overall, 2-6 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) were led by Miles Evans and Kevin Donohue who had 16 and 13 kills, respectively. The 49ers (7-6 overall, 3-5 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) were led by Colten Echave who had 17 kills and five blocks.
Long Beach State pulled ahead midway through the first set en route to a 25-20 victory. It went-back-and-forth before the 49ers scored three unanswered points to go up, 14-11. After playing a sideout game, Long Beach went on a 5-0 run to open up a 21-15 lead. Long Beach State eventually took set point on a kill by freshman John La Rusch, and after UCSB fought off three set points, La Rusch ended it with his fifth kill.
The second set was another back-and-forth struggle with 24 tie scores and 11 lead changes. Neither team was able to pull away, but Long Beach claimed the first set point at 24-23 on a kill from Jeff Ornee. The 49ers held set point two more times before the Gauchos went up 29-28 on an Evans kill. UCSB’s Weston Nielson and Ryan Thompson then put up a big double block on a back row attack by La Rusch to knot the match with the 30-28 win.
Santa Barbara fell behind 10-3 early in the third frame. Long Beach remained in the lead and grew the lead to 22-11 on a 5-1 spurt. Two kills by Echave finished off the Gauchos. The 49ers were on fire in the third set, hitting .485.
LBSU went on top, 11-8, early in the fourth set, but UCSB came storming back after a timeout to balance the score. After trading points, the 49ers took the lead for good at 13-12 on a double block by Brad Hemmerling and Ornee. LBSU would then use a 5-2 run to take a 22-18 lead. A kill from Hemmerling gave the 49ers set point before a double block closed it out at 25-20.
The Gauchos struggled offensively on the night, hitting just .138. Nielsen finished with a team-high five blocks while Thompson and Oliver Deutschman each had four. Donohue had 12 digs and Chad Kingi had 11.
