Box Score IRVINE, Calif. – No. 14 UC Irvine dropped a 3-0 loss to No. 3 UC Santa Barbara in the home finale at the Bren Events Center.

UC Santa Barbara (25-18, 25-19, 25-19) improves to 10-4 overall and 5-3 in the Big West, while UCI goes to 2-11 on the year and 2-6 in league action.

UCI seniors Joel Schneidmiller, Scott Stadick, Sean Dennis and AJ Faille each contributed in their last match at the Bren Center.

Schneidmiller led UCI with nine kills and an ace. Stadick totaled six kills, three digs and two blocks, while Dennis had five kills and a match-high four block assists. Faille led the Anteaters with eight digs.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>UCI topped the Gauchos in blocks, 6-4
>Freshman Francesco Sani added six kills and setter Dylan Zhai added 28 set assists, seven digs and two blocks assists
>UCSB's Roy McFarland led all players with 10 kills, while Casey McGarry had 33 set assists and 10 digs
>Santa Barbara held a 9-3 ace advantage and out-hit UCI .295-.204
 
FIRST SET
>Sean Dennis had a kill and an ace to help the Anteaters to a 5-1 lead
>A UCI service error, attack error, ball-handling error and a receiving error tied the set at 7-7
>UCSB would score nine unanswered to take a 16-9 lead
>A pair of kills by Joel Schneidmiller drew UCI to 19-13, but the Gauchos would go on to win the set 25-18

SECOND SET
>After trailing 11-8, Schneidmiller took over with three kills to close to 12-11
>A block by Francesco Sani and Dennis knotted the score at 13-13
>Two kills and an ace gave the Gauchos the 18-16 advantage
>Three in a row by UCSB made the gap 21-17
>Santa Barbara won 25-19 on an ace by Casey McGarry

THIRD SET
>A kill by Stadick and a UCSB attack that sailed long put UCI in front 6-4
>A Gaucho block tied the set at 7-7
>Keenan Sanders had two kills and a block assist to move UCSB to a 10-8 lead
>A kill and block assist by Sani tied it at 10 apiece
>A 6-2 run gave UCSB a 18-14 edge
>A kill by Donovan Todorov ended the set 25-19

NOTES
>UCI has out-blocked opponents four times this season
>Schneidmiller has recorded an ace in all but two matches this season

UP NEXT
>UCI is off next week before traveling to No. 1 Hawaii Apr. 16 & 17 to round out the regular season.