UC Santa Cruz fell in a pair of Division III matches to finish their Slug Slam tournament on Saturday.
In the morning opener, the Banana Slugs stayed even early with Stevenson of Maryland before falling in three sets (22-25, 11-25, 18-25). In the afternoon against SUNY New Paltz, UC Santa Cruz lost 18-25, 19-25, 22-25.
There were nine ties in the first set against the Mustangs. However, Stevenson closed with a 7-2 run to take the first set. The Banana Slugs were up 4-2 in the second set before a 10-1 run by Stevenson swung control to the visitors' favor and eventually allowed them to take the set for a 2-0 lead. In Set Three, the Mustangs again took control midway and held off the Banana Slugs for the sweep.
Ethan Makishima and
Colton Jeffrey each had six kills to lead the Banana Slugs.
The afternoon game against the Hawks had UCSC present a different starting lineup. After SUNY New Paltz took the first two sets, UC Santa Cruz was up 12-8 in Set Three after a 4-0 run that included a kill by
Chicory Roth and a block from
Zachary Thompson and
Tennessee Fulks and another kill by Thompson.
New Paltz however came back to tie it at 13-all, and eventually took the set and match in a back-and-forth effort.
Fulks had a team-highs of eight kills with six digs.
Zac Pittard had five block assists.
Mohan Duvvuri had 12 assists and made the All Tournament team.
The Banana Slugs look for their first win next weekend when they begin a two-match road trip at UC Merced on Friday.
