UCSB middle Ryan Thompson hits high over the Stanford block during final pool-play match. (Presidio Sports photo)
The UCSB men’s volleyball team fought off Stanford in its final best-of-three match of the day and finished in a tie for first place in its pool Friday at the 50th Asics Invitational at the Thunderdome.
The Gauchos, however, will be playing for third place based on tournament tiebreaker rules.
UCSB and Harvard shared the top spot in Pool A with 3-1 records, but the Crimson beat the Gauchos in a three-set match and posted a sweep over Pacific to win the group by one point. The Gauchos needed three sets to beat Pacific. (Point system: 3 points for a 2-0 sweep, 2 points for a 2-1 win, 1 point for a 1-2 loss)
The Gauchos face UC San Diego (2-2 in Pool B) in the third-place match at 5:30 p.m. at Rob Gym on Saturday. Harvard and Long Beach State (4-0 in Pool B) will play for the championship at 8 p.m.
In other final-day matches at Rob Gym, Pacific (0-4) and Cal State Northridge (0-4) play at 10 a.m. in the ninth-place match; Stanford (1-3) and UCLA (2-2) square off at 12:30 p.m. for seventh place and Cal Baptist (2-2) takes on Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne (2-2) for fifth place at 3 p.m.
UCSB opened the tournament with a 2-1 win over Pacific, before wrapping up their morning session with a two-set sweep of Cal Baptist.
The Gauchos slipped to a 2-1 defeat at the hands Harvard before rebounding for a three-set victory over Stanford.
UCSB rallied from a 24-21 deficit to tie the second set at 24-all against Stanford. A big block Daniel Tublin won the set for the Cardinal.
The Gauchos regrouped and took a 4-1 lead in the 15-point third set. A block by 6-8 Jonah Seif and 6-9 Ryan Thompson made it 6-3 and a terrific dig by Jake Staal followed by a shot by Matt Hanley gave them a 7-3 lead.
Thompson scored the final two points on back-to-back kills.
UC San Diego was one of three teams in Pool B to go 2-2 on Friday, but the Tritons placed second after all tiebreaking procedures. Former Dos Pueblos standout Jackson Wopat is a freshman middle blocker for the Tritons.
UCSB Asics Invitational Day Two Schedule. All matches at Rob Gym.
10 a.m. (9th place match): Pacific (0-4 on Friday) vs. No. 14 Cal State Northridge (0-4)
12:30 p.m. (7th place match): No. 5 Stanford (1-3) vs. No. 2 UCLA (2-2)
3 p.m. (5th place match): No. 15 Cal Baptist (2-2) vs. IPFW (2-2)
5:30 p.m. (3rd place match): No. 8 UC Santa Barbara (3-1) vs. UC San Diego (2-2)
8 p.m. (championship match): No. 4 Long Beach State (4-0) vs. Harvard (3-1)
