Feb. 12, 2009

Courtesy of UCSB Athletics

IRVINE, Calif. – In a near upset, No. 12 UCSB came up short and lost, 3-2, at third-ranked UC Irvine in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) men’s volleyball action Wednesday. Down 2-1, the Anteaters rallied to win, with scores going 30-28, 27-30, 30-32, 31-29, and 15-12 from the Bren Center.
 
With its fourth straight loss, UCSB fell to 3-8 overall and 1-7 in MPSF play. UC Irvine, which has won the past nine meetings between the two squads, improved to 11-2 and 7-1.
 
Vince Devany had a career-high 69 assists on the night, notching 17 in each of the first two sets. Mike Runkle posted a career-high with 22 digs. Four Gauchos hit double-figures in kills, including Jeff Menzel (27), Cullen Irons (15), Scott Slaughter (12), and Jake Rosener (10). Slaughter equaled his career-best with 10 blocks.
 
UCI’s Jordan DuFault led his team in kills with 15. Jon Steller and Kevin Wynne had 14 apiece and Taylor Wilson added 13. Ryan Ammerman and Anthony Spittle split time at setter for the Anteaters, notching 
38 and 27 assists, respectively.
 
UCSB hit .229 for the match, while Irvine swung at .287.
 
Four out of UCSB’s last five matches have gone to five sets, with the Gauchos holding a 1-3 record in those contests.
 
UCSB hosts Pacific on Friday, Feb. 20 and Stanford on Saturday, Feb. 21. Both matches start at 7 p.m. Tickets are available online at UCSBgauchos.com, by calling the UCSB Athletics Ticket Office at (805) 893-UCSB, or by visiting the Ticket Office in the Intercollegiate Athletics building on campus.