CLAREMONT - UC Santa Cruz played two excellent matches in the first day of the Pacific Coast Classic, splitting the two matches.
In the early game, they pushed hosts Claremont-Mudd-Scripps before falling 3-1 (21,25, 23-25, 27-25, 23-25). They then rebounded to sweep Wheaton 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-21).

Against the tenth-ranked Athenas, the Banana Slugs (2-1) stayed close but eventually lost the two first sets . The Slugs found their rhythm in set three, staying with CMS all the way through.
With the Athenas up 12-10, UCSC tied it at 12 thanks to a quick-thinking dump by Sinead Beaupain and a massive putback kill by Audrey Gilbert. Six more ties followed after that, including at 25-all when an Isabella Hoglund kill took away the Athenas' match point. Another kill by Hoglund gave the Banana Slugs the set to keep them alive in the match.
Set four followed the same script of the teams being evenly matched. After four ties, the Athenas raced ahead, but again UCSC came back and tied it at 22 courtesy of consecutive aces by Trinity Neal. However, the hosts had 3 of the next four points to survive the young Banana Slugs.
Claire Okerlund had 12 kills, becoming the third UC Santa Cruz player ever to reach 800 career kills. Hoglund added 11.

After a 40-minute rest, UCSC regrouped to face Wheaton of Illinois. UCSC outhit the Thunder .245 to .103 to win the first two sets.
Wheaton found their composure in set three and had a 18-12 lead. The Slugs however roared back with a 11-2 run. Sydney Ahrendt's kill made it a 23-20 game and forced a Thunder timeout. UCSC however kept their momentum and an Okerlund kill ended the match to give UCSC the sweep.
Overall for the match, UCSC outhit the Thunder .225 to .080. Okerlund had 9 kills, while Hoglund and Samantha Taylor added 8. Okerlund had a team-high 14 digs while Giovanna Martins added 12.

The tournament finishes up the road in La Verne on Saturday, where the Banana Slugs will face Cal Lutheran in the morning before finishing with St. Norbert (Wisc.) at 2pm.