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Gauchos fall in final

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The UC Santa Barbara men’s volleyball team, which features four former Corona del Mar High players, including Scott Slaughter and Dylan Davis, nearly won its first NCAA championship, but lost in five sets to Ohio State Saturday at Penn State.

The No. 8-seeded Buckeyes beat the No. 3 Gauchos, 20-25, 25-20, 25-19, 22-25, 15-9, to win their first NCAA title in men’s volleyball. UCSB had defeated Ohio State seven straight times prior to Saturday. It was the first time the Buckeyes beat the Gauchos.

Slaughter, a senior middle blocker, had eight kills and seven block assists. Davis, a sophomore middle blocker, had four kills, two digs and six block assists.

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Brothers Blaine Nielsen, a junior outside hitter, and freshman Weston Nielsen, a freshman outside hitter, who both played at CdM, are also on the UCSB roster.

“You can hang your head if you want, but as long as you left it on the court there’s absolutely no reason to. I thought that we did that,” Slaughter said in a UCSB release. “I thought we left it all on the court. We went to five. There’s nothing you can regret.”

— From staff reports

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