Dylan Davis was a force at the net with seven blocks, leading the UCSB men’s volleyball team to an upset over No. 8 Pepperdine on Friday night at the Firestone Fieldhouse. The set scores 26-24, 25-21, 21-15, 28-26
UCSB snapped a four-match losing streak and won their first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match. The Gauchos are 3-6, 1-4. Pepperdine falls to 6-4, 5-3.
For the night, the Gauchos recorded 15.5 team blocks, a season high, while also maintaining a .267 team hitting percentage, which ranked as their third best attacking performance of the season. UCSB hit .412 as a team during the fourth game.
Many UCSB players had their best statistical match yet on Friday night. Freshman outside hitter Kevin Donohue stood out the most, pacing the Gauchos with career highs in both kills (17) and digs (9). Junior outside hitter Miles Evans had another strong attacking night, picking up 14 kills.
Junior setter Oliver Deutschman showed off some of his versatility, setting career highs in digs (8) and blocks (4), while also accruing 42 assists. Sophomore libero Chad Kingi tied Donohue for the team lead in digs with 9.
Seeing their most extended action of the season, freshman outside hitter Weston Nielsen picked up five kills and five blocks, and sophomore middle blocker Ryan Thompson had six blocks.
Finally, junior middle blocker Dylan Davis had seven kills and a match-high seven blocks for one of his better all-around performances of the season.
For Pepperdine, Maurice Torres led all players with 24 kills, and Josh Taylor was not far behind with 16. Mike McMahon paced all players with his 12 digs.
Next week, the Gauchos will return to Santa Barbara, as they will host the UCLA Bruins at Rob Gym on Friday, Feb. 10. Tickets for that match and all other home matches this season can be found here.
