DAVIS, Calif. – UCSB (4-11, 0-4) was unable to find consistency with their attack on Thursday night, as UC Davis (8-11, 3-2) successfully defended their home court with a 3-0 decision over the Gauchos.
Jaylen Villanueva paced the team with seven kills with Devin Joos behind her with six, while Ali Barbeau and Britton Taylor contributed with five each. Hanna Nielson returned to the floor after missing both of last week’s contests and registered a team-best 19 assists.
On defense, Emilia Petrachi came up with 13 digs through the three games, while Villanueva added a season-high 10 scoops. Elizabeth Sheffield and Taylor were UCSB’s leaders at the net with two block assists apiece.
The most competitive set was the opener, as the Aggies pulled off a late run to end it at 25-21. The Gauchos initially held a solid lead midway though after snapping a 9-9 tie with a 6-1 run. UCSB used three kills to record half the points, while a Petrachi service ace and a pair of Aggie errors gave the Gauchos their lead.
Santa Barbara would maintain its edge until UCD retied the score at 18-18 though Villanueva stopped their momentum briefly with a kill. However, that would be UCSB’s last lead of the game, as the Aggies offense came alive with registering five of their final six points from kills.
Working off that strong finish, the Aggies carried that over to the second game. While the Gauchos did score the first two points, Davis was able to respond with 12 points themselves and would eventually end it at 25-10.
After the break, the Gauchos returned to the floor and held the Aggies to their lowest hitting percentage of the night at .190. Villanueva opened up the scoring with a kill, but Davis quickly answered back with four consecutive points. Soon, the other Gauchos got involved with Barbeau, Taylor, and Joos throwing down kills to cut into UCD’s lead at 7-6. But the Aggies were able to put together a five straight points later in the set to put up a daunting 14-7 edge. While the Gauchos were able to shrink the deficit, the gap was too much as Davis took the match with a 25-10 final.
UCSB will continue this week’s road swing with a visit to Cal Poly on Saturday with first serve set at 7 p.m.
What a joke.