SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The 11th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team saw its four-match win streak come to an end Thursday as it fell in four sets at No. 6 UC Santa Barbara.

Scores from Robertson Gymnasium were 25-20, 23-25, 25-19, and 25-21.

The Tritons fell to 7-6 while the Gauchos improved to 10-4.

It was the first Big West Conference match of the season for both squads.

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HOW IT HAPPENED
After hitting over .300 in its last four matches, including a season-best .427 the last time they played, the Tritons finished at just .128 tonight. They had 39 kills and 24 errors in 117 attack attempts.

Senior middle blocker Logan Clark posted a .308 (5-1-13) hitting percentage, the best by any Triton.

Senior outside hitter Kyle McCauley led UC San Diego with 13 kills while adding three aces and four digs. Freshman opposite Ben Blakely followed with a career-best eight kills and outside Matthew Lim, the reigning Big West Freshman of the Week, had seven. Blakely and senior libero Matt Palma each had nine digs, which was also a career-high for Blakely.

Sophomore middle Nick Rigo had six blocks (one solo), matching his career-best. Freshman setter Gabriel Dyer established a new career-high with 33 assists.

The Gauchos did not have a strong offensive night either, finishing with a .210 (42-20-105) hitting percentage.

Ryan Wilcox led UCSB with a match-high 14 kills. Patrick Paragas put down four aces while Brandon Hicks had seven blocks. Three Gauchos reached a double-figure dig total including Paragas (12), Wilcox (10), and Ryan Pecsok.

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TRITON TIDBITS
• The last time the Tritons and Gauchos met was in the final of the 2021 Big West Championship.
• In five seasons of Big West play, UC San Diego has opened its conference slate against UC Santa Barbara twice.
• Kyle McCauley has finished with a double-figure kill total in all 13 matches played.
• The four-match win streak was UC San Diego's longest of the season.
• The two teams meet again on April 16 in La Jolla.

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UP NEXT
UC San Diego continues Big West action next week at home as third-ranked Hawaii visits RIMAC Arena on March 2 and March 4. Both matches feature a 7 p.m. PT start. Tickets are available here and the contests will be broadcast live by ESPN+.

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About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.