The seventh-ranked UC Santa Barbara men’s volleyball team shook off some rust on Wednesday night following an almost two-week layoff, sweeping the Concordia University Irvine Eagles at Rob Gym with set scores of 25-18, 26-24, 27-25.
The Gauchos remained at 13-7 following the exhibition win, while the NAIA member Eagles stayed at 13-8.
UCSB hit a robust .400 as a team on Wednesday, with the Gaucho middle blockers being especially efficient. Junior middle Ryan Hardy finished with a co-team high 12 kills on 15 errorless swings, while fellow middle Jake Staahl had seven kills on 10 swings.
Senior outside hitter Kevin Donohue did the heavy offensive lifting, taking 30 swings, twice as many as any other Gaucho player. For his efforts, he recorded a dozen kills.
Junior All-American setter Jonah Seif recorded one of his better all-around performances of the season, dropping 43 assists (14.3 per game), three kills (on three swings), and a match-high three aces.
The Gauchos’ service game was on point against the Eagles, as the team recorded eight team aces, which is their most since Jan. 10 against IPFW. Besides Seif’s trio, Hardy had a pair while Donohue, outside hitter Spencer Buckley, and senior opposite Weston Nielsen all had single aces.
Concordia ended up putting up more of a fight than may have been expected, as they hit .330 as a team and forced extra points in games two and three.
The Eagles actually had a chance to take the middle game, as they had set point at 25-24, but a big kill from Donohue followed by Nielsen’s ace restored momentum in the Gauchos’ favor.
Outside hitter Devin Ross led them offensively with 12 kills and a .429 hitting percentage. Fellow outside Timothy Moses added eight kills while recording a match-high four blocks, including three solo efforts, the most by a UCSB opponent this season.
The Gauchos will return to MPSF action this weekend, as they take on No. 9 USC and Cal Baptist. They will travel to Los Angeles on Friday to take on the Trojans, their neighbors in the conference standings, before finishing up with the Lancers in Riverside on Saturday. First serve for both matches is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
