FULLERTON — Behind its best blocking performance of the season, UCSB pulled off a decisive 3-1 win over Cal State Fullerton and picked up its first road victory of the Big West season.
Santa Barbara improves to 8-8 overall and is now 3-2 in conference play, while the Titans slide to 6-12 and remain winless in the Big West at 0-5.
“We played very well in the three sets we took to win tonight,” UCSB Head Coach Nicole Lantagne Welch said. “It was a team effort and we did it through adversity.”
Some of that adversity came on defense, as the team played most of the match without libero Ali Spindt. Stepping in to fill that role was Shauna Klein who had a career match with a personal-best 17 digs.
Ali Barbeau had a standout night with a season-high 18 kills along four total blocks, which included a career-high two solo blocks. Behind her was Chanel Hoffman who picked up 15 kills off an efficient .419 hitting percentage. In leading the team’s offense, Hanna Nielson had the most assists with 22, while Ali Santi added 17 helpers.
“We had outstanding play from Chanel who impacted the game with attacking, blocking, passing, and serving,” Lantagne Welch said. “Barbeau was big for us too. Those two shouldered the load for us offensively.”
The Gauchos dominated at the net with a season-high 32 total blocks, as Allie Sullberg and Phoebe Grunt who finished with seven and six block assists, respectively. The team’s blocks total was the most since they recorded 33 against Hawai’i last season in the Thunderdome (11/9/13).
After an even start for both teams in the first set, Fullerton took the first multi-point lead of the game at 9-7 and would increase its advantage to 11-7 thanks to a pair of kills.
Though it was the biggest lead for either team at that point, UCSB made sure it was short-lived by firing off a 6-2 run in grabbing the 14-12 advantage. Only one of those points came from a Titan error, while the Gauchos recorded three kills, a block, and a service ace during that stretch. Now ahead, UCSB took control of the set and never gave up its lead.
Later in the game, Hoffman swung for consecutive kills to pull UCSB ahead by a game-high four points at 21-17. Though Fullerton tied the game at 23-all, the Gauchos closed out the first set on top thanks to the dynamic play of Barbeau who recorded a kill and a block assist for the final two points.
Looking to even the score, the Titans busted out of the gates with five straight points in opening the second set. Despite the quick start, the Gauchos found their offensive rhythm soon after behind the play of Hoffman. The freshman put UCSB on the board with a kill and recorded another one two plays later. She then made a wall at the net with Grunt to block a Niki Withers attack to put the Gauchos within three at 7-4.
Withers would later get another attack error and gave UCSB service as her Titans led 8-5. But the Gauchos had no plans of giving the ball back as they broke out on a dominant 9-0 run. Hoffman was at the service line through the entirety of the run and dealt a service ace. Leading the charge for UCSB was Barbeau who hammered home three kills, while Grunt also notched a kill and a block assist with Jaylen Villanueva.
Now up 13-8, UCSB kept the Fullerton from threatening the lead, as Taylor added two late-set kills to seal the win at 25-20.
Fullerton would take the third set 25-17, but the Gauchos put on a decisive display of their own with a 25-16 fourth set win that ended with 10 unanswered UCSB points.
Fresh off their big win in the third, the Titans continued with their strong play well into the fourth as they took a 14-11 lead. The Gauchos only trailed for six more plays, as they battled back and knotted the score at 16. A solo block from Elizabeth Meddaugh gave UCSB that tying score, but more importantly it ignited the team’s match-sealing 10-0 run.
Meddaugh followed her block with a kill, while Barbeau made a solo block of her own to put the Gauchos ahead by two. Barbeau would go on to add three kills to the run, including the match-clincher, while Nielson added a pair of service aces.
