STANFORD, Calif. – The Big West regular-season champion UC Santa Barbara Gauchos fell 3-1 to No. 8 seed Houston in the first round of the 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship on Friday afternoon at Maples Pavilion. Set scores were 21-15, 25-23, 25-16, 25-18 in favor of the Cougars.
UC Santa Barbara caps the year with an impressive 27-5 overall record. This marks just the 12th time in program history that they’ve reached at least 27 wins, with the last occurrence back in 2002 (30-3).
UCSB was paced on the night by 15 kills and seven digs for Big West Player of the Year Michelle Ohwobete. Libero of the Year Macall Peed scooped up a match-best 16 digs with Grace McIntosh assisted on a game-high 26 scoring plays for the Gauchos. Andi Kreiling added seven total blocks for UCSB with Tasia Farmer in on six blocks.
Houston now improves to 19-9 on the season and advances to take on the victor between host and No. 1 seed Stanford and Fresno State being played in tonight’s nightcap. The Cougars are making a second-straight NCAA appearance and 13th overall after reaching the Sweet Sixteen a season ago.
Farmer put the Gauchos on the board first and the team jumped out a a 3-0 lead to start the match. Scoring four unanswered, Houston grabbed their first lead of the night at 4-3 after a Nena Mbonu attack found the floor. It was knotted again at nearly every point in the frame that saw 13 ties and six lead changes. The last tie in the first was at 18-18 after a UH service error, and the only solo block of the match came on the ensuing point as Kreiling gave UCSB the lead with the stuff, which the Gauchos would never relinquish in the 25-21 frame.
UCSB played from behind for a big chunk of the second set, as Houston grew their advantage to as many as five at 19-14 after another Mbonu attack. But the Gauchos would not go away, going on a 7-1 run to jump out to the lead after Kreiling and Farmer combined for the denial with the score at 21-20. An Ohwobete strike pushed the score to 23-22 in favor of the Gauchos, but Houston’s Kenna Sauer was able to record three consecutive kills to knot the match at one apiece.
The Cougars were able to capitalize on their growing momentum to take the third, 25-16, and close out the match with a 25-18 fourth set to advance to the second round. Sauer finished the match with 18 kills for the Cougars with Abbie Jackson contributing 16 in the win.
Normally known for their defense at the net with the seventh-best blocking average in the country, UH was able to edge the Gauchos in the category 10.0 to 9.5 total blocks.
The trip to the NCAA Championship was the 30th in program history for UCSB, and the first since 2019.