Corey Chavers had 19 kills and Jack Truman added 10 as UCSB rallied to win its season opener in men’s volleyball, defeating Harvard 3-2 in the first match of its own Asics Invitational on Thursday at Rob Gym.
Chavers hit .409 with 44 swings while Truman hit a sizzling .619 on just 13 attempts in the Gauchos’ 25-19, 22-25, 21-25, 25-14, 15-7 triumph.
UCSB hit .371 as a team while holding the Crimson to just .132.
Casey McGarry, who finished with a game-high 49 assists, set up Roy McFarland for the final kill to put the first set away 25-19.
Just as the Gauchos were eyeing a 2-0 lead with a 15-12 advantage midway through the second set, Harvard went on an 8-2 run to take the lead. It also took five of the last seven points to steal the set 25-22.
Another run midway through the third set saw Harvard take a 2-1 overall lead and put the Gauchos on the ropes.
But UCSB responded with the first four points of the fourth set, and cruised to a 25-14 game win. The Gauchos kept the momentum going by hitting .625 in the fifth set.
In other Asics Invitational action, No. 11 CSUN topped No. 12 Concordia-Irvine 3-1 and No. 1 Long Beach State swept No. 14 Grand Canyon 3-0.
UCSB continues tournament play today at 5:30 p.m. against Grand Canyon. The action will begin at 3 p.m. in Rob Gym as Long Beach takes on Concordia-Irvine while CSUN vs. Harvard rounds out the day at 8 p.m.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
WESTMONT 93, MENLO 89
Freshman Cade Roth came off the bench to make 4-of-6 three-pointers and score a team-high 17 points in the Warriors’ victory at Murchison Gym.
Olisa Nwachie added 15 points, six assists and five rebounds, while Desean Scott also scored 15 points off the bench while making both of his threes. Westmont shot 13-for-25 from three.
The Warriors (8-4, 2-2 GSAC) had to survive an offensive barrage in the first half from Menlo (4-9, 0-3), which made 9-of-10 threes in the first 20 minutes while leading by as many as 11 points. The Oaks cooled off (5-19 from three) in the second half.
“One of my coaches said it really well, ‘When they’re shooting as well as they did in the first half, it probably lit a fire under us and made us into a much better defensive team,'” Westmont coach John Moore said. “I thought Desean Scott was a primary guy responsible for that.”
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
WESTMONT 62, MENLO 59
A trio of Warriors accounted for 58 of their team’s 62 points in their victory at Murchison Gym.
Freshman guard Iyree Jarrett made all four of her three-point attempts to lead 15th-ranked Westmont (8-4, 2-2 GSAC) with 24 points. She added six rebounds and four assists against No. 11 Menlo (11-3, 2-2).
Sophomore guard Lauren Tsuneishi chipped in with 19 points while going 5-for- 11 from three. Freshman post player Kaitlin Larson recorded her fifth double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
