UCSB outlasted Cal State Fullerton, topping the Titans 3-2 on Saturday night in a Big West women’s volleyball match at Titan Gym. The set scores for the match went 25-13, 25-21, 18-25, 25-20, 15-12.
The win – UCSB’s second in a row – pushed the Gauchos’ record to 15-16 overall and back to an even .500 in conference play at 8-8.
The Gauchos improved to 5-5 in five-game matches this season. This was the second time this season that UCSB had blown a 2-0 set lead. Both times, the Gauchos were able to prevail in the fifth.
With the loss, Cal State Fullerton fell to 15-14, 9-7.
When the Gauchos were successful, they were able to capitalize on mistakes from their opponent. The Titans racked up a season-high 33 attacking errors on the night. In the decisive fifth game, the turning point came when Cal State Fullerton’s Bre Moreland sent an attack wide and was called for a net violation on consecutive points, giving the Gauchos an 11-7 edge.
Though the Titans would battle back, back-to-back blocks and a kill from junior middle blocker Jenna Wilson set the stage for freshman middle blocker Britton Taylor to score the match-winning kill off the block.
Junior outside hitter Leah Sully led the way for the Gauchos, putting up a line of 20 kills and 22 digs for her third 20-20 night of the season. Sully has now recorded five straight double-doubles and 13 in her last 14 matches. Overall, Sully has 23 double-doubles this season.
Britton Taylor was excellent on the slide all night, picking up 12 kills and hitting .455. Freshman setter Jaylen Villanueva dished out 40 assists, and was also a constant threat on the dump, picking up 5 kills, the most by a UCSB setter this season.
Freshman libero Taylor Formico had another sparking defensive performance, picking up 30 digs. It was the 11th time this season that Formico has recorded 30 or more digs, far and away the most of all players in Division I volleyball.
