TUCSON, Ariz. – UCSB made the most out of its final matches of nonconference play as it swept Loyola Maryland and took Arizona to five sets at the Wildcat Classic.
“We raised our level of play as a team today,” first-year UCSB coach Nicole Lantagne Welch said. “We took a nice three-game sweep against Loyola and played Arizona close in their house.”
The Gauchos swept Wofford on Friday.
Seniors Leah Sully and Katey Thompson led the team throughout the weekend and were both named to the all-tournament team. Sully finished the weekend with 25 kills and 35 digs, while Thompson paced Santa Barbara with 30 kills over the three matches.
“Katey was incredible in set five against Arizona, and Leah did so many things well on the court for us handling the ball,” Lantagne Welch said.
After picking up two wins over the weekend, the Gauchos improve their record to 5-7.
UCSB will be back in action next Friday when they host Long Beach State in their Big West season opener at the Thunderdome.
The Gauchos rolled over Loyola, 25-18, 25-11, and 25-17. Sully swung for 10 kills and made eight digs to lead UCSB in both categories, while Thompson was right behind her with nine kills and a .533 kill percentage.
Against Arizona, the Gauchos couldn’t hold a 14-11 lead in the fifth set and fell, 25-13, 25-27, 15-25, 25-18, 16-14. Thompson saved her best for the last set when she rattled off five straight UCSB kills to help break a 7-7 tie in the fifth set. The Gauchos held the lead for most of the set and even found themselves up 14-11 before the Wildcats made their comeback.
“Overall, we played well and put ourselves in a position to win the match, which is exactly where we wanted to be,” Lantagne Welch noted. “We were just one play short.”
