LA VERNE - Never is a word the UC Santa Cruz Volleyball team does not like to use.
They got rid of one lingering 'never' on Saturday when they beat long-time rivals Cal Lutheran 3-0 at the Pacific Coast Classic. The team finished the day beating St. Norbert of Wisconsin 3-1 (13-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-19) to go to 4-1 on the season.
In the forty-one years of NCAA membership, the Banana Slugs had never beaten Cal Lutheran, one of the dominant powers in West Coast Volleyball.
"That was a specific goal of ours going into the game. We wanted to make history," said head coach Gabby Houston. "Overall, it was great teamwork & team chemistry."
The Regals had more kills and a better hitting percentage. However, the Banana Slugs had an 11-4 edge in aces and outblocked their opponents 7-0.
Claire Okerlund finished with team-highs of 13 kills, 3 aces and 4 total blocks. Sinead Beaupain had 17 assists with two aces and Trinity Neal had 4 aces in the sweep.
"Everyone plays well together," Houston said. We don't think freshmen, sophomores, juniors or seniors. All the classes are on the court;it's one big team and we're learning and getting better every game."
In the second match of the day, the Banana Slugs dropped the first set to St. Norbert, but rebounded to take the last three. 
Samantha Taylor had a team-high 14 kills. Okerlund had 11 kills but 2 aces and 4 blocks and made the All Tournament team. Giovanna Martins had a career-high 21 digs.

"We scouted St. Norbert but they changed it up," Houston explained. "So we went 'let's get back to basics and play our game.'
We go into every match determined to do the things we've been training on in the gym. We just trust the training and it's paying off. I'm proud of all of them."

The Banana Slugs return to southern California next weekend, starting Friday back at La Verne to face Pomona-Pitzer and the host Leopards.