The home court atmosphere is doing wonders for the Gauchos, as they maintained their momentum from last night’s victory over Stanford to top the Pacific Tigers on Saturday afternoon in a three game sweep. Set scores went 25-21, 25-16, 26-24.
UCSB’s record jumps to 9-12 overall, 7-10 MPSF. The Tigers are now 5-10, 3-10.
The Gauchos’ energy surged the gym as they took an early lead in the first set. Miles Evans slammed three out of the first five Gaucho points. UCSB ran away early on with a dominant offense led by Evan Licht, Austin Kingi and Evans. The home team had much as a five point lead in the game. A hard kill from Licht ended the first set.
UCSB maintained their strong play through the start of the second set, again starting with a substantial lead. Dylan Davis and Jonah Seif teamed up to shut down the Tiger offense with a pair of blocks. The Gauchos cruised to a second set victory by nine points.
The third set started off as a nail biter and held true until the very end. The teams traded points and the Pacific went up to a three-point lead at 13-10. A UCSB timeout reenergized the Gauchos, who would tie the score at 13-13. Points went back and forth until Licht slammed a kill, giving the Gauchos a 24-22 advantage. The Tigers would not let up and tied the game at 24-24. After a Pacific service error, Miles Evans completed the sweep with a booming kill through the Tigers defense.
Pacific put up a noble effort and had strong performances from individual players. Taylor Hughes led the Tigers with 17 kills and three blocks. Tommy Carmody recorded seven kills and five blocks.
On the other side, Licht continued his court dominance with 18 kills, nine digs, and three blocks. Austin Kingi finished the night with 12 kills, 7 digs, and one block. Seif recorded a notable 41 assists and led the game with 11 digs.
“Our backs are against the wall for the last playoff spot,” said UCSB head coach Rick McLaughlin. “This was a big win for us, and pushes us one step closer to getting into the MPSF Tournament.”
