Gauchos lose in 5 now wait NCAA Selection Show

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -The No. 1 UC Santa Barbara Women's Volleyball team (27-4) kicked off The Big West Championships in Long Beach, California. In the semifinals, the Gauchos took on the home team and No. 4 seed Long Beach State. As fans could expect, it was a tough, five-set match between these two teams. At the end of it all, it was Long Beach State who came out on top as the Gauchos dropped the semifinal match 24-26, 25-23, 17-25, 25-16 and 12-15.

FROM HEAD COACH MATT JONES
"From an entertainment perspective, every fan got their money's worth tonight. It was a two-point match if you add up all the scores. It was a competitive match and really went back and forth between both of us. I am sure both teams want the third and fourth sets back, respectively, from an execution standpoint.  I am proud of how our team battled tonight. Obviously, we know we didn't execute at the level we wanted to. It happens, and they are a good team."

HOW IT HAPPENED
The first set did not start in favor of the Gauchos as Long Beach State secured a six-point lead early on. Despite that lead, UC Santa Barbara rallied back to the tie score at 18's before taking a four-point lead and ultimately getting the first set point. Even with that lead, Long Beach was not ready to back down on their home court as they regrouped, tying the set at 24's. The Beach kept going from there, taking the lead and ultimately securing the first set 26-24 over the Gauchos.

Once the second set began, it was Long Beach who came out strong. Despite UC Santa Barbara scoring the first point of the set, the Beach came back to take a six-point lead by the media timeout. Once both teams got back on the court, the Gauchos picked up the pace. They came back to tie the set at 16's, not letting the Beach pull too far ahead. These two teams continued to exchange the lead all the way to 23-23. That's when Sophie Reavis contributed back-to-back points with a block and a kill to give UC Santa Barbara the second set 25-23.

The Blue and Gold started on top in this third set, but it was short lived. The Gauchos could not get in a rhythm as Long Beach went on a six-point run. The lead proved to be too much for the Gauchos as they could not come back in this set, resulting in a 25-17 score in favor of the Beach.  

Two sets down and The Big West title on the line, the Gauchos needed to find a way to make a comeback. The Beach used the home crowd as momentum to go up by four early on in this set. However, Santa Barbara battled back early with a block from Grace Wuischpard and an error by the Beach, taking the lead at 8-7. Long Beach never came back from there as UC Santa Barbara took this match to a fifth set, securing the fourth with a score of 25-16.

A spot in The Big West Championship match was within reach as these two teams went into a fifth set going to 15 points. And as fans could anticipate from the first four sets, this match was coming down to the wire. The score was all tied until the teams switched sides, and that's when the bad guys ran away with it. UC Santa Barbara could not get the ball over the net no matter how much they tried as Long Beach was one away from winning. However, Briana McKnight went on a four-point run to try and rally her team. It wasn't enough, resulting in the fifth and final set going to Long Beach State with a score of 15-12.

LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Michelle Ohwobete had a phenomenal outing for the Gauchos. She put up a double-double in tonight's match, notching 15 kills and 13 digs.
• Briana McKnight was a wall in the front row. She tallied five blocks, four of which were solos. She also added on 11 kills to be second on the team in that category.
• Tasia Farmer also contributed double-digit kills, tallying 10 across these five sets. Along with that, she secured five blocks.
• The setters for the Gauchos also had a significant impact on the team's efforts. Grace McIntosh led the team in assists with 25 while Michelle Zhao added on a double-double with 16 assists and 12 digs.

UP NEXT
Although the Gauchos did not win the automatic bid, they will still look for an opportunity to compete in the NCAA Tournament. Stay tuned for the NCAA Selection Show taking place on Sunday, Nov. 26 at 3 p.m. PT to see if UC Santa Barbara can earn an at-large bid and a chance to compete for a national title. 

(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics)