Box Score

HONOLULU - No. 5 UC Santa Barbara got 31 kills from Evan Patak en route to a five-game win over No. 6 Hawai`i tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Gauchos (14-10, 12-6 MPSF) hit .301 as a team as Patak hit .317 and Theo Brunner was just as hot slamming down 10 kills in 16 swings for a .625 average.

The Warriors (16-7, 12-6 MPSF) were led by the duo of Pedro Azenha's 24 kills and Matt Bender's 23.

The two teams flipped-flopped the first four games as the Gauchos claimed games one and three while posting a .407 average to UH's .236. UH captured games two and four pounding out a .462 kill percentage to UCSB's .175.

Hawai`i took control of game five early rattling off the first five points. But UCSB clawed its way back into it, eventually knotting the score at 10. The Gauchos staved off three match points at 14-13, 15-14, and 16-15, before claiming the final three points on three Patak kills.

The two teams are now tied for third place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Hawai`i embarks on its final road trip of the season next week travelling to Long Beach State for a pair of league matches April 7-8. The match on April 7 will be televised locally on Oceanic Cable channel 16.