Santi all set in West

Unlike many other NCAA Division I volleyball teams, UC Santa Barbara was quite relaxed while watching the NCAA selection show Sunday.

By virtue of winning the tiebreaker among the tri-champions in the Big West Conference, the Gauchos had already secured the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA tournament that starts this week.

All UCSB was concerned with was where and who it would play in the first round.

The Gauchos will make a short road trip down south to play San Diego in the first round on Friday.

The Toreros, seeded ninth overall, swept the Gauchos in a preseason tournament in September. UCSB — which finished 13-3 in the Big West, including a five-set win over Hawaii — hasn’t been swept by a team since.

"We like it because we’re familiar with USD because we played them earlier in the year and we’re familiar with their gym," junior setter Ali Santi said. "I’m really excited. I think it’s a good opportunity for us and we think we can go pretty far."

Santi, a 2011 Punahou alumna, is a setter for the Gauchos, who are 18-10 overall.

She’s posted four double-doubles this season, including a season-high 18 digs and 17 assists in a five-set loss to Arizona in September.

It’s one of five five-set losses for the Gauchos, who started 5-8 before winning 13 of their last 15.

"We lost a few tight matches early in the year where we just weren’t able to beat teams, but it gave us the confidence that we knew we could do this," Santi said. "From then on, we really took off in conference."

The turning point came in the middle of October, when the Gauchos stunned Hawaii in five sets at the Stan Sheriff Center, handing the Rainbow Wahine a rare home loss in conference play.

Santi has stepped up in the big games, recording three of her four double-doubles against USC, Arizona and Long Beach State.

The Gauchos will need a similar performance against the Toreros, who feature senior libero C’era Oliveira, a 2010 Hawaii Baptist graduate.

Santi said the two were friends in high school.

"I knew her in high school and it will be fun because we definitely respect each other and they’re a good team," Santi said. "They have definitely earned the right to host, but for us, we had an RPI of like 110 or something when we played them before and now we’re up in the top 40, I think, so we’ve definitely changed as a team.

"I’m excited to see how we match up now."

Santi played at Georgia Tech as a freshman before transferring to UC Santa Barbara before the 2012 season.

She played in 11 matches for the Yellow Jackets, then became a full-time starter immediately upon her arrival at UCSB.

"It’s a whole different world in the South," Santi said. "It was a football school and the atmosphere was unbelievable on game days.

"I got to see what it was like and I love being on the West Coast now, closer to family and friends."

Santi is one of 17 women, representing eight different schools, who graduated from Hawaii high schools playing in the NCAA tournament.

Texas, the No. 1 overall seed, features senior libero Sarah Palmer, a 2010 Hawaii Baptist alumna, and sophomore Kat Brooks, who was teammates with Santi at Punahou in 2010.

ALI SANTI’S CAREER STATISTICS