Gauchos Sweep UC Riverside at the Thunderdome to Move to 5-2 in Big West Play
UC Santa Barbara won 25-18, 25-13 and 25-22 on Friday night in its return home. Auburn Tomkinson led the match with 15 kills and no errors.
In their return to The Thunderdome, the UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team shut out the UC Riverside Highlanders on Friday, UC Santa Barbara Athletics reported. The Gauchos are now 5-2 in Big West play, a conference record tied with UC Irvine, Long Beach State, UC San Diego and Sacramento State.
UC Santa Barbara started strong, winning the first set 25-18. The Gauchos opened 5-0, a lead built in large part on three service aces from Milan Rex, and they never dropped the lead, holding off Riverside closes to 7-8 and 16-17 before taking the set.
The second set went more heavily to the Gauchos, who took it 25-13. Santa Barbara had 18 total kills to the Highlanders' 10 in the set and scored six points in a row to reach 19-10 on the way to a 12-point margin.
Riverside put up more of a challenge in the third set, tying the score at 5-5 and 8-8 and taking a lead at 19-18. The Gauchos tied it at 20-20, and kills by Bella Mathis and Tomkinson made it 24-22 before the two combined on a block assist for the final point of a 25-22 set.
Tomkinson tied her season-high kill count with 15 to lead the match, making no errors on her 20 attempts and hitting .750, according to the UCSB recap. The Gauchos hit .326 as a team, Gabi Martinez followed with nine kills, and Milan Rex led the match in digs with eight and assists with 19. No Riverside player reached double-digit kills or digs.
“I am so proud of this team for bouncing back after last weekend, we've put in the work this week and it's awesome to see that showing on and off the court!” Tomkinson said, in the UCSB recap.
The Gauchos host California Baptist on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. for the teams' first-ever matchup, according to UCSB Athletics.
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