Gaucho Women Beat Bruins in Volleyball

For the second consecutive year, UC Santa Barbara defeated UCLA in the second round of the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament.

The Gauchos, seeded third in the Pacific regional, defeated the Bruins, 15-8, 8-15, 15-13, 15-11, Sunday at Santa Barbara.

Junior outside hitter Roberta Gehlke had 19 kills, 20 digs and a career-high four solo blocks for UC Santa Barbara (28-5). Kristee Porter had 24 kills for UCLA (16-12).

A turning point came in the third game when Santa Barbara had five consecutive scores on the serve of freshman outside hitter Heather Hutchison, who had three aces during the run.

The victory was Kathy Gregory’s 599th as the UC Santa Barbara coach. The Gauchos next play second-seeded Wisconsin in a regional semifinal Friday at Lincoln, Neb.

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The Mountain regional will be held at the Pyramid in Long Beach beginning Thursday, with the host, Long Beach State, the nation’s No. 1-ranked team, heading the field.

The 49ers (33-0) play Illinois (22-10) in the second semifinal Thursday night. In the first game at 5:30 p.m., Stanford (27-3) takes on Texas (26-4). The championship game will be Friday at 7:30 p.m.