Despite opening the match with a convincing 25-18 first set win, UCSB (4-10, 0-3) succumbed to No. 24 Long Beach State’s (13-4, 3-1) strong .349 attacking performance in the Thunderdome on Saturday night.
Ali Barbeau continued her strong weekend with a match-high 14 kills, while Britton Taylor was close behind her with a season-best 13. With their .227 hitting percentage, the Gauchos managed their best attacking performance in eight matches.
Annie Hasselmann again shouldered the load of setting duties for UCSB and dealt a career-high 39 assists.
Emilia Petrachi came up 14 digs through the four sets, while Alexis Rottman was second on the team with eight. The Gauchos combined four eight blocks with Elizabeth Sheffield leading the way with three block assists. The junior also dealt four service aces, including three early in the first set.
With the score tied at 4-4, Sheffield drilled home a kill to give the Gauchos a lead, as she moved over to the service line. From there, the middle blocker disgruntled the 49ers with three aces in four serves and also forcing a bad set to give UCSB a 9-4 lead.
The streak ended following a Long Beach State timeout, but the Gauchos still held the momentum and never allowed the 49ers to get closer than four points the rest of the way. With score set at 23-18, Hasselmann and Sheffield combined for a block to give UCSB set point, which set the stage for Barbeau to deliver her fourth kill of the game to clinch the 25-18 victory.
Long Beach State was able to respond with a 25-19 win in the second set, as they limited the Gauchos to a .211 hitting clip.
But while the first two sets were won by comfortable margins, the third featured a contentious overtime bout.
UCSB wasted no time in jumping out ahead to a 7-1 lead. The Gauchos’ first three points all came from blocks with Taylor leading the way with two, while three LBSU errors helped build the six-point lead.
The 49ers, though, climbed out of the early hole and tied the game at 9-9 before UCSB called a timeout. From there, the teams swapped big runs until they found the score tied at 21-21. LBSU snapped the tie with three straight points, but UCSB refused to go out easy with a 3-0 run of their own. Jaylen Villanueva registered two of the kills, while Taylor added one as well. But after those strong plays, the Gauchos were unable to retake the lead, as the 49ers finished off the game with consecutive kills.
In opening the fourth game, Long Beach State mustered up a 9-4 lead and managed to keep UCSB at bay with a 25-12 finish.
The Gauchos will hit the road next weekend with visits to Cal Poly (10/8) and UC Davis (10/10). They will return to the Thunderdome on Oct. 16 to host UC Riverside.
