All I can say after this weekend's matchup against UCSB this weekend is, "Whew! That was a close one!"
The 'Eaters had to come from behind, down 2-0 to defeat the Gauchos in a match that saw potential All-Americans and All-Conference players "rise to the occasion." For UCSB, Evan Patak, a 6-8 opposite hitter, and for UCI, Jayson Jablonsky, Matt Webber and Brian Thornton.
UCSB was virtually "en fuego" for games 1 and 2 because of great overall execution by the Gaucho team and domination by Patak. In game 3, Coach Speraw made a few timely adjustments-- two of them being the insertion of Nick Spittle at Libero and the utilization of the 6'8" Ryan Ammerman to set, but more importantly, put a bigger block up in front of Patak. The results were apparent as the Eaters started to block/dig Patak and the other UCSB attackers more frequently, which really got the crowd and team more fired up! Passing improved and serving was tougher by UCI as well! All of this to say, this was a character building game for UCI, being that it was the first time in Coach Speraw's tenure to come back down 2-0-- good for Coach, bad for anyone with a heart condition!
Jablonsky, Webber and Thornton had excellent performances, however Taylor Wilson and Nick Spittle came ready to play!
Plays of the night would have to be Harrell "roofing" the larger, thicker MB David Kennedy and Smith and Webber rejecting Patak.
In any case, 'Eaters chalk another one up in the win column!
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