Box Score WHITTIER, CA – The UC Santa Cruz women's volleyball team opened their five-match SoCal trip with an impressive 25-20, 25-12, 25-21 sweep over the Whittier Poets on Tuesday night.
UC Santa Cruz improves to 8-2.
The Banana Slugs opened the match staying even with the hosts. However, with the Poets leading 14-12, an
Audrey Gilbert kill opened a 10-0 run that gave the visitors a 22-14 lead. Whittier answered with a 4-0 run to get within four, but UC Santa Cruz finished with three of the last five points to take the set. Set Two saw UC Santa Cruz taking control early. They opened up with a 10-2 run capped by a pair of
Lauren Bliss aces and led as much as eleven at 17-6 before putting the Poets away and going up 2-0 in the match.
Set Three was close again. There were five ties before
Samantha Taylor delivered a kill to begin a 9-1 run which gave UC Santa Cruz a commanding 23-15 lead. Whittier had a brief rally before a service error gave the set and match to the Banana Slugs.
Peyton Tazelaar led a balanced offense with nine kills. Taylor had eight and
Kelly Ann Greene had seven. Libero
Emily Pasion had a team-high 13 digs.
Sinead Beaupain and
Lauren Bliss each had 14 assists, with Bliss adding a career-high five aces.
Overall, UC Santa Cruz outhit the hosts .206 to .053 and served 13 aces. It was the eighth time in ten matches this season the Banana Slugs reached double-digit aces.
