THOUSAND OAKS (1-19) UC Santa Cruz (5-4) competed against New York University (3-0) in their final match of the Cal Lutheran Invitational Sunday. Up 2-1 going into the 4th, the No. 13 Violets bounced back to tie the match 2-2, and the Slugs came up just short in the 5th and final set, as NYU took the dub (25-22, 18-25, 25-23, 19-25, 10-15). UC Santa Cruz ended their SoCal trip 1-2. 

The first set was full of rallies and ties, with neither team up by more than 1 point at a time, until the final two points of the game, when UCSC was able to finalize the win, 25-22.  NYU came out aggressive in the 2nd set, leading 1-6 before the Slugs dug themselves out of the hole, scoring on 5 of the next 6 possessions, with 2 kills each from Aaron Fox and Ian Pizzuti, three assisted by Sam Wittert and one assisted by Rowdy Lennon. Although UCSC made the effort to regain control of the set, the Violets continued to maintain their lead throughout the set, to tie the Slugs 1-1 with an 18-25 victory. 

But UCSC did not give in. The Slugs went into the 3rd set ready to win. Up 6-1 over NYU, UCSC rallied back to regain their edge and their lead. The Violets, wouldn't let the Slugs slide past them just yet. They made the game close, coming within one point of UCSC towards the end of the set, 24-23, but once again, Pizzuti came in clutch to finalize the set with a kill, assisted by Sam Wittert. 

The Slugs fell short in the 4th set, as the Violets hit .348 to once again tie up the score 2-2, forcing the match to go into the 5th. 

The 5th set was close until the final possessions. Tied at 9-9, it was obvious that both UCSC and NYU wanted to win. But errors made by UCSC in the final minutes gave the Violets the advantage. Rowdy Lennon was able to get a kill, assisted by Wittert, to get back on the scoreboard at 10-13, but NYU took the final two points to win 2-3. Fox and Pizzuti led the Slugs with 17 and 13 kills. Wittert had 44 assists on the day, surpassing 1100 for his career. 

Overall, the Violets outhit the Banana Slugs .317 to .197 and outblocked UCSC 10-5.

UC Santa Cruz will be in Rhode Island next weekend, participating in the Johnson & Wales tournament.