UCSB men’s tennis comes back to earn second top-75 win of the week

By ERIC BOOSE UCSB SPORTS

Phillip Jordan caped off a comeback victory for the UCSB men’s tennis team Thursday afternoon, picking up the Gauchos’ second top-75 win on the week and their fifth consecutive win overall.

HOW IT HAPPENED

UCSB fell just short of picking up the doubles point after dropping a tiebreaker on court one. Indiana struck first before UCSB evened up the score, collecting the first tiebreaker of doubles play. On court three Gianluca Brunkow and Lucca Liu defeated their opponents 7-6 (7-4). On court one Phillip Jordan and Kai Brady fell just short of collecting the double point for the Gauchos losing their set 7-6 (7-5) for the second tiebreaker in doubles play. email: sports@newspress.com

The Gauchos came back and in singles play collected three quick points to take a 3-1 lead. Luka Mrsic won in straight sets 6-3 and 6-1 on court five, while Pablo Masjuan also collected a straight set victory on court two 6-3 and 6-2. Kai Brady put the Gauchos up 3-1 after a 6-2, 6-3 victory on court six. Phillip Jordan would clinch the match for Santa Barbara with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 victory on court one.

Eric Boose is assistant director of athletic communications at UCSB.

UCSB men’s volleyball falls to UC Irvine

By ERIC BOOSE UCSB SPORTS

The UCSB men’s volleyball team (5-12, 1-3 Big West) nearly upset No. 6 UC Irvine (13-6, 3-0 Big West) at Rob Gym Thursday night, taking the first two sets before ultimately falling, 3-2 (25-23, 25-22, 15-25, 11-25, 11-15).

HOW IT HAPPENED

The first set saw an intense back and forth, but the Gauchos found their momentum on their hitting as Nick Amoruso entered the game after Owen Birg came off due to an injury. The two teams kept the game tied until UCSB pulled away with a kill by Amoruso and a strong block from the front row to end the set,

25-23.

The next frame was no less exciting, filled with a couple of contentious calls and Irvine coming back in the latter half, but five straight kills from Ryan Wilcox extended the Gauchos lead again, and a service ace from the Honolulu native ended the second frame in UCSB’s favor.

Sets three and four saw the Anteaters’ offensive come alive as the Gauchos struggled defensively to make the necessary plays to respond as UC Irvine forced a fifth set. While Santa Barbara was hungry for the win, the Anteaters’ hits proved to be too much for the Gauchos’ back row and unable to overcome Irvine’s four-point lead in the final frame.

ON THE STAT SHEET

• Nick Amoruso led the Gauchos with his impressive performance, reaching a season-high 17 kills, 10 digs, and totaling 18 points for the night.

• Jack Walmer also had a double-double performance after tying his season-high 12 digs and racking up 39 assists.

• For the fourth game in a row, Ryan Wilcox reached double-digit kills with 11 and also collected six digs and a total of 12 points.

• Dayne Chalmers also contributed to the scoring with 10 kills, nine digs and 11 total points.

Eric Boose is assistant director of athletic communications at UCSB. email: sports@newspress.com