Shengyu Zhang / Daily Nexus
The UC Santa Barbara men’s volleyball team kicked off conference play with Alumni Night at the Thunderdome.
Coming off of back-to-back losses against the No. 2 UC Los Angeles Bruins, the Gauchos set off to face No. 13 UC San Diego in a competitive matchup. The last time these teams faced off, the Gauchos walked away with a five-set win. This year, however, with an energetic crowd of past players and families, it was a tough loss suffered by the Gauchos, as they were beaten 3-1 by the Tritons.
Mark Roberts, a 1983 UCSB men’s volleyball alum, looked back on his time as a Gaucho, telling the Daily Nexus that his favorite memory from being on team was “the camaraderie of the whole thing, being together with the boys and winning a lot of games.”
Gauchos fall behind
After watching UCSB and UCSD face off in the first two sets, Roberts noted that the Gauchos needed to play more cohesively as a unit.
“They don’t seem like they are playing together very well and they get down on themselves pretty quick. It seems like they are waiting for somebody else to do something to me — that never works,” Roberts said.
During the first set, the Gauchos kept the score close, with a timely service ace from sophomore middle blocker Josh Aruya to keep the set tied at 8-8. The teams traded points for the rest of the set until a 5-point run by the Tritons put UCSD in the lead. UCSB went on to lose the set 22-25.
The second set saw the Gauchos fall behind early. Freshman outside hitter George Bruening, who returned to the court after missing the past seven matches, secured back-to-back kills, and senior setter Jack Walmer went on a 4-point serving run, but the Gauchos were ultimately unable to secure a consistent lead. The Tritons took the set 25-17.
Santa Barbara makes a change
When asked what advice he would give to the Gaucho team, Roberts said to “grind away.”
“Keep playing as hard as you can and go,” he said.
The Gauchos did just that, coming back to take the third set in a decisive 25-20 victory. The third set involved an almost entirely new starting lineup for the Gauchos. Coming off the bench, sophomore outside hitter Owen Loncar made his presence known, leading the team with a match total of 11 kills.
Junior middle blocker Sam Meister and sophomore outside hitter Ben Pearson also entered the match and made immediate impacts, working together with Walmer to earn a key triple block to bring the score to 6-3. The set stayed tight until a powerful serve from junior outside hitter and opposite Andreas Schuetz led to a Triton overpass, and a kill by Loncar made it 21-19. With the momentum firmly on their side, the Gauchos went on a 4-point streak and won the set 25-20.
Tritons take the match
After forcing the fourth set, UCSB fell behind early. Trailing 4-0, the Gauchos called a timeout to regroup. Kills by Pearson and Loncar and a service ace by Walmer kept the Gauchos competitive. After trading points to be tied at 19, a 5-point streak for the Tritons and a rally-ending kill by UCSD’s Nick Rigo shifted the momentum decisively in the Tritons’ favor, resulting in a 25-20 loss for UCSB.
Next for the Gauchos
Men’s volleyball will take a full week off for finals and return to face the Tritons away on March 14. The Gauchos will look to improve on their recent performance and take the Tritons down in the upcoming rematch.
