91Ö±²¥

The gap between 91Ö±²¥ and the top four teams in the Big West isn’t getting any smaller.

UC Santa Barbara completed a regular-season sweep of the Rainbow Wahine, handling 91Ö±²¥ with ease in a 25-19, 25-12, 25-22 sweep Friday night at the Thunderdome in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Gabi Martinez had a match-high 10 kills and five of a season-high 12 aces for the Gauchos (20-8, 12-4), who have won five of six and seven of the past 11 meetings with UH.

Middle blocker Miliana Sylvester had a team-high eight kills and five blocks for UH, which managed only 27 kills and hit .062.

91Ö±²¥ is 0-6 against the four teams with at least 12 wins in conference play this season, losing three in three sets and the other three in four sets.

All three starting pin hitters hit negative for 91Ö±²¥ (11-15, 7-8), which saw its lead over UC Irvine for sixth place shrink to one game with three matches left in the regular season.

UH plays second-place Cal Poly today at 4 p.m. and ends the regular season at home a week from now against Long Beach State, which is tied for third with UCSB in the conference at 12-4.

91Ö±²¥’s other match is against UC San Diego (4-11) at home Friday. UH swept the Tritons on the road four weeks ago.

The Anteaters play at Cal State Bakersfield, which is tied for last place, today, but end the regular season at home against the Gauchos and the Mustangs.

UH’s starting pins, Cha’lei Reid, Tyla Reese Mane and Ravyn Dash combined for 12 kills and 15 errors against the Gauchos, who outdug 91Ö±²¥ 57-47 despite a match-high 17 digs from sophomore libero Victoria Leyva.

91Ö±²¥’s two aces were a season low against an unranked opponent.

Martinez had five of the Gauchos’ 15 kills in the opening set, which UCSB won by scoring five of the final six points.

An ace by Kahea Moriwaki pulled UH within two at 20-18 before Martinez had back-to-back kills as part of the set-closing run.

UH hit .132 with six errors and also had two costly net violations.

The second set was even worse for 91Ö±²¥, which saw the Gauchos double the Rainbow Wahine up in points while making it look easy.

UH managed only four kills in the second set and was blocked five times.

91Ö±²¥’s three starting pin hitters combined for seven kills and 10 errors as Sylvester was the team’s leader in kills with four through two sets.

91Ö±²¥ trailed 20-14 in the third set before rallying with a 7-1 run to make it 21-all.

Eva Travis put UCSB ahead for good with her second kill and Martinez ended the night on UCSB’s first match point with a kill.

It was the first time in six matches Martinez was held to fewer than 17 kills.

UH sophomore Adrianna Arquette, the reigning Big West Setter of the Week, finished with 18 assists, seven digs and three kills in three attempts.

Senior middle Bri Gunderson, the conference’s reigning Defensive Player of the Week, was held to four kills and a .056 hitting percentage with one block.