Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
LA VERNE - In their home away from home this season, UC Santa Cruz women's volleyball took two more matches in amazing comeback fashion.
The team beat Pomona-Pitzer 3-1 (23-25, 28-26, 25-17, 25-20) in their first match of the day before pulling out an amazing 3-2 comeback over La Verne in the main event 17-25, 19-25, 25-23, 25-17, 15-11.
It's the second-straight weekend the Banana Slugs (6-1) have played at La Verne, and the team with three starters from southern California made the most of the familiar environment.

In the last match of the day, UCSC fell behind 9-2 to the host Leopards and couldn't recover in Set One. Set Two had four ties before La Verne took control after a 10-4 run made it 23-17 and forced a UCSC timeout, but La Verne took the set for a 2-0 lead.
UCSC pulled one back, surviving a back-and-forth Set Three that ended with a Claire Okerlund kill.
In Set Four, back-to-back kills by Isabella Hoglund and Samantha Taylor closed a 10-5 run that gave the Banana Slugs a 20-12 lead before ending the set courtesy of Audrey Gilbert's kill and a stuff block by her and Okerlund to head to UCSC's first Set Five of the season.
The final set was close until UCSC got some luck. Tied at four-all, Trinity Neal's bump dig spiraled the ball back over the net into "No Man's Land" where no Leopard could get it and hit the floor for a 5-4 lead. Now ahead, the Banana Slugs got to Match Point at 14-9 before Okerlund's last kill careened into the La Verne bench for the hard-earned victory.
Okerlund finished with a career-high 20 kills to go with 19 digs. Lauren Bliss had a season-high 35 assists.
UCSC outhit La Verne .268 to .227, and hit over .300 in each of the final two sets. The Banana Slugs also had 7 blocks to La Verne's one.

In the afternoon match, Pomona raced to an early 9-1 lead in set one, forcing UCSC to take a timeout. The Banana Slugs settled down and stayed even from then on. A block by Sydney Ahrendt and Audrey Gilbert got UCSC to within 20-15, forcing a Sagehens timeout. Sinead Beaupain's ace made it 22-19, and Maiya Sears got a kill to get within 24-23 before the Sagehens got the next point to take the set.

Pomona broke open a close Set Two after three aces in a row made it 5-2. UCSC regained their composure, and another Ahrendt/Gilbert combo block plus an Ahrendt kill got UCSC back within 1 at 8-7 and forced a Pomona timeout. However, Lauren Bliss served a sizzling ace to tie it at 8.
Five more ties followed before UCSC had five straight points to reach set point at 24-19. The Sagehens rallied to within one at 24-23, and then UCSC thought they won the set but a referee call at the net reversed it and tied the set at 24-all. UCSC got three more chances at set point before Ahrendt ended the extended set with a kill and tied the match at 1-1.

UCSC pulled away early in the Set Three win. Ahrendt's cross-court "drop shot" finished a 4-0 run that made it 11-7 and UCSC led the rest of the set. In the 4th set, Emily Pasion's ace capped a 6-2 run that gave the Banana Slugs a 19-12 lead and control before Samantha Taylor's kill finished the match.

Ahrendt's career-high 14 kills led UCSC. Okerlund had 10 kills along with a career-high 24 digs. Giovanna Martins bettered her career-high set last week in the same gym with 22 digs. Freshman Kelly Ann Greene had 10 block assists, the most for a UCSC player in 30 years. Overall, the Banana Slugs had 15 blocks and held the Sagehens to .126 hitting for the match.

The Banana Slugs finish the weekend on Saturday with a pair of matches down the road at Whittier.