April 6, 2002
Santa Barbara, Calif. - The sixth-ranked UC Santa Barbara men's volleyball team nearly broke top-ranked Pepperdine's ten-match win streak, with a 2-1 game lead and up 16-7 in the fourth game, before the Waves stormed back to take the match 27-30, 30-19, 28-30, 30-25, 15-9. The Gauchos fall to 16-9 overall, 10-9 in MPSF play. Pepperdine extends its win streak to 11 matches and improves to 23-4, 18-2 in conference action.
UCSB started strong, holding the Waves to a .116 output in the first game. To balance the defense, senior outside hitter Andy Rivera hammered eight kills on only 11 attempts in game one. The Gaucho block also propelled UCSB to the game victory, with 6.5 total team blocks in game one, headed up by Rivera's two solo blocks.
Pepperdine came back in game two to dominate the Gauchos. The Waves held UCSB to a .027 hitting performance in game two, while they hit at a .360 clip. Senior outside hitter Lance Walker recorded three of his 17 kills in the second game, while Fred Winters added three of his team-high 18 kills in the second game.
UCSB turned it around again in game three, hitting .359 in the set, which was its highest of the match. By the end of the game, Rivera had recorded 17 kills, while junior outside hitter Jan Carlo Zegarra had added 12. Despite only recording one block in the third game, UCSB tallied 22 kills, while holding the Waves to only 15 to seal the game three victory.
The Gauchos looked as if they were going to knock Pepperdine out of its top-ranking by building a 16-7 lead early in game four. However, the Waves rallied to out-score the Gauchos 11-2 to tie the match at 18-18. After battling back and forth, Pepperdine took is first lead of the fourth game at 20-19 on a Winters kill. Winters recorded seven kills in the fourth game, including four after the Waves took the lead to help Pepperdine take game four.
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With a shift of momentum to Pepperdine, the Gauchos were unable to make a charge in game five. UCSB hit at a mere -.062 clip, while the Waves put together a .400 hitting performance to seal the victory.
Rivera finished with a match-high 23 kills, while Zegarra added 16 kills and nine digs. Zegarra also added a career-high three solo blocks. Senior opposite hitter Ben Koski and sophomore middle blocker Justin Adams each added 11 kills. Freshman libero Aaron Mansfield posted a team-high 13 digs, while senior setter Britt Galang added ten. Galang also added 63 assists on the night.
Along with Walker and Winters, Brad Keenan and Sean Rooney joined their teammates in double-digits with 13 kills each.
UCSB will finish their home schedule on Thursday, April 11th when they host MPSF rival Long Beach State. The Gauchos will say good-bye to seniors Andy Rivera, Britt Galang, Ben Koski, Alex Lienert, and Dave Kohl in their 7:05 match-up in Robertson Gym.
