Jan. 12, 2008
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The No. 11 ranked USC Trojans hit a blistering .429 and out-blocked the 14th-ranked Gauchos 9 to 5.5 en route to a 3-0 blanking Friday evening at the Galen Center. Jeff Menzel was the lone Gaucho with 10 or more kills as he posted 15. Scores of the match were 30-23, 30-26, and 30-19.
USC snapped a seven-match losing streak against Santa Barbara to improve to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the MPSF, while the Gauchos are now 1-4 and 0-2.
USC was in control of the first game from the start, never trailing after forging a 3-1 lead and hitting .500 overall. After falling behind 25-24 in the second game, USC scored the next five points to gain control of that game. In the third game, USC broke away from a 15-15 tie on Gaucho serving error and a combo block from Andrew Vernon and Juan Figueroa to post a lead it never relinquished. The Trojans used an 8-0 run to get to match point.
UCSB, which hit just .210, got nine kills and a .571 attack percentage from Phil Mathews. Mike Fisher added eight kills an setter Mike Runkle ran his assist total to 35.
For the Trojans, Murphy Troy had a match-best 15 kills to go along with six digs, while C.J. Schellenberg added 13 kills, five digs, three aces, and three blocks in the winning effort.
UCSB returns for a five-match home stand beginning with Cal State Northridge on Jan. 19 at 7 p.m.
-- UCSBGauchos.com --
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