CLAREMONT- No. 25 UC Santa Cruz couldn't keep up a hot start and was defeated by UT-Dallas 3-1(25-13, 15-25, 22-25, 23-25) in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament First Round.
The Banana Slugs end the season 19-6 after making the tournament for the third time in program history.
 "Super proud of the team. One of the more challenging seasons because we were on the road so much," said Head Coach Gabrielle Houston. "We came out super strong. I'm really proud of how we played our game."
UC Santa Cruz hit .393 in taking the first set. However, UT- Dallas (21-5) outhit the Banana Slugs .333 to .129 to win Set Two and tie the match.
The Comets were up 23-17 in Set Three before Sinead Beaupain tried to serve UC Santa Cruz back in the contest. A 5-0 run with kills by Samantha Taylor, Audrey Gilbert, and a pair from Sydney Ahrendt got the Banana Slugs within one. However, a pair of kills gave UT Dallas the set and a 2-1 lead.
In Set Four, the Comets were up 8-4 and 13-9 before a Beaupain ace started an 8-1 run that gave UC Santa Cruz a 17-14 lead. The Comets tied it at 18-all, but UC Santa Cruz regained the lead to get ahead 21-18. Another run by the Comets gave them the lead at 23-21, but UC Santa Cruz answered with kills by Peyton Tazelaar and Taylor to tie it at 23. The Comets responded again however, scoring the last two points to take the set and match.

Overall, the Banana Slugs had a slight edge in kills (54-53) and digs (65-59) over the Comets. Each team had seven aces. UT Dallas finished with a .247 hitting percentage compared to the Banana Slugs' .238. Ahrendt led UC Santa Cruz with a career-high 22 kills. It was the fifth-highest single match total in the rally-score era.
"We saw we would score a lot on the right side, so the game plan was to set Sydney a lot," Houston said. "Full-on 'championship play' from Sydney. She was a big part of the game plan, and I think she delivered.
Beaupain added 46 assists and two aces, finishing her Banana Slug career in the school's top five for both categories. Emily Pasion had a team-high of 15 digs to finish off the season with a total of 424, the most for a UC Santa Cruz player since 2013. Taylor had 13 digs and a team-high three aces to become one of only three women in program history with 50 service aces in a season.