Jan. 5, 2005
Santa Barbara, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara men's volleyball team showed its resiliency in tonight's preseason exhibition match against the University of Calgary, sweeping the Dinos in three straight. Junior setter Bart Kowalski led the Gaucho attack, collecting 81 assists on the night, in addition to pacing the home team with six defensive digs. UCSB now opens its season this Friday when it hosts the 41st Annual Elephant Bar Invitational.
The Gauchos took the opening game handily, topping Calgary 30-21. Senior middle blocker Michael Kennedy led UCSB with six kills in the first game en route to his team-high 15 on the night. The Dinos' Eric von Engelbrechten led the match with 16 kills.
Down match-point, the Gauchos rallied for four straight to take the second frame 31-29. With Calgary up 29-27, head coach Ken Preston subbed in senior middle blocker Mike Nelson, a move that wound pay off as Nelson and sophomore setter Bryan Berman combined to block Brian Nelis' attack, giving UCSB the sideout. Nelson then took to the service line, rattling off three straight points, capping the Gauchos' come from behind win with an ace. Nelson's ace was one of seven on the night for UCSB. Sophomore All-American Evan Patak paced the team with a match-high three.
Game three was tight down to the wire with neither team ever taking more than a two-point lead over the other, the lone exception was a one-time three-point advantage the Gauchos had at 22-19. Knotted at 28-28 both squads traded sideouts until Patek and freshman middle blocker Theo Brunner combined to block von Engelbrechten's attack from the left side, giving UCSB game three, and the match, 32-30.
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Senior outside hitter Nate Wack was second on the team with 12 kills on the night while scooping up a team-high 28 service receptions. With the Dinos decided to stay away from All-MPSF libero Aaron Mansfield, the senior handled just 15 services on the night (1.000%) but he finished the night second on the team with six total assists and four digs.
The Gauchos will now host the EBar Invitational this Friday and Saturday in both Robertson Gym and the Events Center (Thunderdome). UCSB begins tournament play as the No. 4 seed against No. 5 seed Long Beach State on Friday, January 7th at 1:00 p.m. in Rob Gym.
