UCSB closes out regular season with sweep at Fullerton, next stop Big West Volleyball Championship
Mike Klan
FULLERTON, Calif. (KEYT) – Following their Friday night victory over UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara Women’s Volleyball finalized their 2025 regular season today with a 3-0 shut out of Cal State Fullerton. The Gauchos exit their final weekend with a sweep to finish with a 14-4 Big West record.
FROM HEAD COACH MATT JONES”Today was a great way to end the regular season,” Jones said. “Got contributions from the whole team and continued our momentum heading into the conference tournament. We’re excited to keep competing with this group for as long as possible.”
HOW IT HAPPENEDFullerton led as far as 4-3 in the first, but their luck ended there. Santa Barbara commandeered the match and scored nine points in a row to make it 12-4. The Titans collected a few more points before the set was through, but the Gauchos added 13 points of their own to end it 25-13.
It wasn’t long before Santa Barbara pulled the lead in the second, getting ahead at 7-6. Fullerton managed to stay tighter with the Gauchos this time around, keeping largely within two points for the first portion of the set. Fullerton tied it at 10-10 and had a chance through the teens, but Santa Barbara closed it out with a six-point run that brought them from 19-16 to the necessary 25 points.
The third set favored the Titans, who led all the way through 17-16. Santa Barbara coordinated their comeback after 17-17 and only allowed one more Titan point to be made. The Gauchos scored eight of the last nine points in the match to come away 3-0 from the Titans for the second time this season.
With today’s win, the Gauchos are on a 25 match winning streak against Cal State Fullerton.
STAT RECAP
Gabi Martinez was up to her usual business of leading the Gauchos in kills, this time bagging 17. She hit an astounding .682, landing the 17 out of 22 attempts
In addition to her copious kills, Martinez picked up a double double with 12 digs
Kate Martin recorded a career-high in both digs and assists with 10 and four
Eva Travis hit .435, landing six kills off of 11 attempts
Michelle Zhao put up 26 assists, breaking 20 for the fifth time this season
Grace Wuischpard had a career-high three solo blocks
NEXT UPUC Santa Barbara Women’s Volleyball will attend the first round of the 2025 Outrigger Big West Championship on Wednesday, Nov. 26 in Long Beach, Calif.
(Article courtesy UCSB Athletics).