Men’s volleyball looks to defeat UCSB, match season-high 3-game win streak

A former conference rival awaits the Bruins as they look to match their longest win streak of the year.

No. 8 UCLA men’s volleyball (7-5, 2-2 MPSF) will play No. 3 UC Santa Barbara (8-2, 0-0 Big West) on Wednesday at Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins will be facing their third top-five opponent this season.

Meanwhile, the Gauchos will be up against their sixth straight game against a ranked opponent, going 3-2 over their past five matches.

Coach John Speraw said while he has not taken a lot of time to scout this year’s UCSB team yet, his experience coaching against the Gauchos in the past has allowed him to notice certain traits the team excels in.

“I know that they are exceptionally skilled,” Speraw said. “They’re not super big, so we’ll have to try to use our size advantage where we can. They’re going to serve the ball and pass the ball really well, and that’s been a little bit of an area of weakness for us.”

While UCLA and UCSB are no longer conference opponents since the Gauchos left for the Big West Conference before 2018, the teams have faced one another in each of the two following seasons.

Last campaign, the Bruins were victorious in their home match by a score of 25-20, 25-16, 25-21 on Jan. 16, 2019. In the rematch Feb. 13, 2019, the Gauchos turned the tables, winning in five sets at the Thunderdome in Santa Barbara.

Senior middle blocker Daenan Gyimah had 21 kills and hit for .557 across those two matchups. He said UCSB always presents a tough matchup for UCLA, but the Bruins will not change their preparation leading up to Wednesday’s home game.

“That’s a really hard match,” Gyimah said. “It’s a very important match. We’re going to go into it like how we do any match and we’ll see how they respond.”

UCLA will enter the contest having just won back-to-back matches against conference opponents Concordia University Irvine and USC. The Bruins have won six of their past eight sets played after losing the previous six sets in a row.

Sophomore libero/outside hitter Cole Pender played in all eight sets against UCSB during the 2019 season. He said the Bruins have been gaining confidence as a team and will approach this match as if the Gauchos need to adjust to their squad, not the other way around.

“If we play our game, I think we’re in a good spot,” Pender said. “UCSB’s a good team. I haven’t really looked at them much but they’re always a good team.”

UCSB is still looking for its first win at Pauley Pavilion since 2015. The Gauchos have won just one set in their last four matches in Westwood since then, getting swept in each of the past three years.

UCLA and UCSB will hit the first serve at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.