ROCHESTER, NY (2-7) - UC Santa Cruz started their second East Coast trip of the season Friday going 1-1 in snowy Rochester. The Banana Slugs started strong with a 3-0 (25-21, 27-25, 25-22) sweep over Medaille College (3-3). The Slugs continued to play hard in their second match of the day against hosts St. John Fisher (9-1), yet could not hold a lead and lost 0-3 (19-25, 18-25, 22-25).

Although the Slugs made it look easy, they worked hard for their 3-0 sweep over Medaille College. UC Santa Cruz played the Mavericks tight in the first set, but once the Slugs tied the game 20-20, they pushed their lead, going on a 5-1 run to finish it, complete by two kills by Zachary Thompson and a kill by Maxwell Mednick, all assisted by Sam Wittert. The second set had 10 ties, and neither team had high hitting percentages, the Slugs hitting 0.054 and the Mavericks hitting -0.059. Yet UC Santa Cruz was able to finish on top, with the finish on a kill by Tennessee Fulks, assisted by Wittert. The Slugs had an eight-point lead at 18-10 to start the third but the Mavericks fought back to stay in the set, getting within two of the Slugs at 24-22, but the Slugs were able to complete their sweep, hitting .346. Anthony Sagely had a season-high 10 kills and Wittert contributed 32 assists. Overall, the Banana Slugs outblocked the Mavericks 8-4.

Against St. John Fisher, the Banana Slugs were ready to continue their astounding performance from the first set, but had a difficult time getting a lead and keeping it throughout their match. Even as the Slugs battled in the third set to stay in the game, their overall hitting at 0.140 would not be enough to compete with the Cardinals' .301, who won the last three points of set three to finish the match. Sagely led the Slugs again with 9 kills and Fulks recorded 15 assists.

After going 1-1 today, the Slugs (8-9) have the opportunity to redeem themselves Saturday against D'Youville and Nazareth at 8am and 3pm Pacific.