A trio of Gauchos finished with double-doubles, led by senior outside hitter Kevin Donohue’s 15-kill, 16-dig performance, but it turned out to not be enough as No. 7 UC Santa Barbara squandered a 2-0 lead to fall to No. 9 USC in five sets on Friday night at the Galen Center.
Set scores for the match were 23-25, 24-26, 25-20, 25-20, 16-14. The Gauchos fell to 13-8, 9-8 MPSF on the season while USC improved to 13-7, 11-6.
Joining Donohue in the double-double club were sophomore outside hitter Jacob Delson (team-high 16 kills, 10 digs) and Jonah Seif (48 assists, team-high 19 digs).
Senior middle blocker Jake Staahl had a nice night at the net, picking up a season-high 10 blocks, while freshman libero Hayden Boehle added 13 digs from the back row.
It was just the second time this season that UCSB, who hit .277 in games one and two compared to .165 in the latter three sets, reached the fifth game of a match.
USC was led by Christian Rivera, who had a match-high 20 kills alongside 12 digs. Alex Slaught had a double-double (10 kills, 11 digs) and Micah Christenson had 68 assists, by far the most by a UCSB opponent this season.
The Gauchos soundly outhit the Trojans in the first two sets (.263-.190 and .294-.222, respectively), with Donohue (nine kills) and junior middle blocker Ryan Hardy (eight kills, three blocks) in particular coming up big.
USC began to turn the tide in the third despite a mediocre attack (.180 attack clip) thanks to a strong serving game (four aces).
Rivera and fellow Trojan outside Andy Benesh chipped in five kills apiece for USC in the fourth as they hit a robust .395, forcing a decisive fifth.
The two teams were tied late in the final set, with six ties from 8-8 and onwards.
USC had the first chance at match point at 14-13, but Delson and Hardy teamed up for a double block on a Rivera swing to level the score at 14-14.
The Trojans would not let the Gauchos have another second chance however, as Slaught turned in kills on the next two plays to clinch the match for the home squad.
The Gauchos will get right back to work tomorrow night, traveling to Riverside to take on Cal Baptist. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
