THOUSAND OAKS - UC Santa Cruz finished its trip to Southern California with a pair of losses in the Cal Lutheran Invite.

The Banana Slugs started strong in the morning but fell to Chapman 3-1 (25-23, 19-25, 15-25, 18-25) before losing against Whitman 3-0 (22-25, 13-25, 24-26).

UCSC drops to 2-7 on the season.

Against Chapman, the Slugs hit .163 in the first set, closing on a 3-1 run courtesy of two kills by Shania Andrews and an ace from Claire Okerlund. However they hit just 0.074 the rest of the match as the Panthers won the last three sets for the win.

In the final set against Whitman, UCSC found consistency, opening a 3-0 lead on a kill from Okerlund and a block from Okerlund and Holly Teisher. The set went back-and-forth with five ties before UCSC had set point at 24-22 on another stuff, this time from Teisher and fellow freshman Maddie Fowler. The Blues however rattled off the last four points to take the set and the match.

UCSC returns home to play their home opener on Wednesday against Fresno Pacific in their first-ever game at Kaiser Permanente Arena.