SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Junior middle blocker Aima Eichie posted 12 kills and a .450 average to lead four Aggies in double-digit offense, but UC Davis could not force the rubber set, falling by scores of 25-23, 21-25, 25-20, 28-26 to UC Santa Barbara in a Big West Conference women's volleyball showdown at the Thunderdome Thursday night.

The Aggies move to 8-9 overall and 1-3 in league play. The Gauchos improve to 11-6 and even their Big West record to 2-2.

Eichie committed just three errors against her team-leading kills total for her .450 clip. Sophomore Emily Allen added 11 kills while freshman Lauren Matias and senior Kendall Walbrecht added 10 each. Ohiri, Eichie's counterpart in the middle, added a 9-3-15 attacking line for a .400 average to go with her team-high four blocks. Defensively, sophomore setter Maddie Merlino's 16 digs supplemented 27 assists and two aces. Libero Malia Bolko chipped in 12 digs.

For the Gauchos, junior outside hitter Chanel Hoffman had 15 kills and just three errors for a .308 average while freshman Rowan Ennis contributed a 15-1-21 chart for a .524 success rate. Overall, UCSB hit .255, helped also by senior Elizabeth Sheffield's 9-2-17 (.412) line. However, Sheffield's main contribution was her total of eight blocks – among 15 total by the Gaucho team.

Eichie posted four kills in a 13-7 start for the Aggies in the first set. UC Davis held its lead until a Sheffield kill and an Aggie hitting error equalized at 17-17, then additional miscues put the Gauchos in front by a 19-18 margin. The two teams battled to four more ties, with UC Davis taking a 23-22 edge. However, Ennis delivered a kill and a block assist in a 3-0 Gaucho finish to push the hosts to the early match lead.

Walbrecht had two of her team's six kills and Merlino served up an ace during a run of six unanswered that broke open the second frame into an 18-12 lead for UC Davis. Ennis recorded back-to-back stuffs to help pull the Gauchos back to within three, but the Aggies never relinquished their edge. Walbrecht, sophomore Brianna Karsseboom, Ohiri and Matias each scored down the stretch to lift UC Davis to the set win. The teams went to the break in a 1-1 match tie.

For the third straight set, the Aggies crafted an early lead, this time taking a 9-7 edge after consecutive Ohiri kills. UCSB fought back to a 12-12 tie then took its first advantage on an Ennis kill at 13-12. Then it was Sheffield's turn: she scored three blocks during a 5-1 run that surged the Gauchos to an 18-14 lead. The Aggies never regained any traction, and UCSB stayed ahead en route to its 25-20 set victory.

Despite a 7-4 deficit to start the fourth, UC Davis took the lead on four occasions in the set, including a pair of set points. A run of kills from Allen, Matias and Ohiri flipped a 11-9 Gaucho lead to a 12-11 Aggie advantage before UCSB reclaimed the edge. Eichie later broke a tie to make it 15-14 before Hoffman scored two blocks and a kill in a 5-0 run that restored the Gaucho lead to 19-15. UC Davis again scrapped its way back into the match, with Karsseboom firing a cross-court kill and an ace to erase a 24-22 UCSB match point into a 25-24 Aggie set point. Each team traded serves into the net to hold UC Davis at a 26-25 lead. However, Sheffield came through one last time for the Gauchos, dropping an offspeed shot by the block at the middle of the tape, then teaming with Hoffman for a block to make it 27-26 for the hosts. UC Davis had a free-ball opportunity to tie but a line shot missed just wide, closing out the match in four.

Thursday's match also provided the opportunity for two sisters to face off as opponents. Emily Allen's younger sister, Chloe, saw brief action in the second set. Both siblings were playing in front of a hometown crowd as alumni of nearby San Marcos High School.

UC Davis continues its Big West Conference road trip with a Saturday afternoon televised matchup at Cal State Fullerton. First serve is 3 p.m. The match will appear on ESPN3.