NEWPORT NEWS, VA - UC Santa Cruz rallied after a tough first set to defeat Mary Washington 3-1 (24-26, 25-21, 25-22, 25-17) at the C2C Invite in Newport News.

Set One had 14 ties before the Eagles (11-4) had a pair of kills to win it and take a 1-0 lead. UC Santa Cruz trailed 11-7 in Set Two before a 5-2 run, punctuated by Samantha Taylor's ace, tied it at 12-all. It was tied at 19 before UC Santa Cruz closed with a 6-2 run, with Sydney Ahrendt's kill providing set point to tie the match 1-1.

The Eagles led Set Three 20-18 before consecutive kills by Peyton Tazelaar and a Lauren Bliss ace put UC Santa Cruz ahead 21-20 and forced the Eagles to call a timeout. The Eagles tied it the next point, but a 4-1 run by UC Santa Cruz closed the set to give the Banana Slugs a 2-1 advantage.

The Eagles had a 4-3 lead in Set Four before an 8-1 UC Santa Cruz run - finished off by consecutive blocks by Ashley Magley and Audrey Gilbert - that put UC Santa Cruz ahead 11-5 and forced the Eagles to call timeout again. The Eagles scored two points out of the timeout, but UC Santa Cruz responded with a 4-0 run to go up 15-7 and the Eagles never got within four points again. Gilbert ended the match with a kill down the middle.

Taylor finished with 14 kills, with Magley adding 13 and Ahrendt having 12. Gilbert led the team with a season-high six block assists. Bliss had 24 assists and Sinead Beaupain added 22. The Banana Slugs had 60 kills total, and served 10 aces to UMW's 3. Both teams collected 71 digs.

UC Santa Cruz, now 13-4 on the season, will host an exhibition next weekend against Feather River College before they head into the regular season's closing stretch with five Division III matches.