The No. 13 UCSB men’s volleyball team easily defeated Cal Baptist on Wednesday with a dominating 3-0 sweep in their final matchup before league play begins.
UCSB improves to 2-2 on the season thus far, while Cal Baptist falls to 0-3.
Junior outside hitter Miles Evans recorded a game-high 12 kills for the Gauchos, while freshman opposite Chris Hartig added 10 kills for UCSB.
In the first set, UCSB clinched a 25-23 victory when junior middle blocker Dylan Davis converted on one of his eight kills to secure a lead.
The Gauchos continued to show their grit with a 25-17 victory in the second set, displaying a dominating defensive effort over the Lancers.
Finally, in the third set, UCSB closed out the match with a 26-24 victory behind the efforts of many reserves, including junior outside hitter Grant Goswiller and freshman middle blocker Jake Staahl, each with two kills in the third and final set.
Leading the Gauchos on the floor was junior setter Oliver Deutschman with six digs and a game-high of 38 assists. A stellar UCSB defense held Cal Baptist to a miserable kill percentage of .139 in their three-set sweep.
With the victory, UCSB gained valuable playing time for their reserves and a lineup featuring five new starters after last season’s national runner-up team graduated all but one in Davis.
UCSB hosts Pacific in the first match of MPSF conference play on Friday, and No. 4 Stanford on Saturday. Friday’s match against Pacific is set to begin at 7 p.m.