THOUSAND OAKS- UC Santa Cruz women's volleyball couldn't dig out of an early hole and fell 3-0 (13-25, 21-25, 19-25) to top-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps to open the Cal-Lu-fornia Invitational.
UC Santa Cruz had their three-match win streak broken and fell to 9-3 after their second loss to Claremont this month.
 
The Athenas improved to 8-0.
 
UC Santa Cruz started out slow, hitting just .032 with just seven kills in dropping the first set. 
CMS led 4-0 to start the second set, but the Banana Slugs tied it up at 7 and then took an 11-7 lead, thanks in part to two Drew Bryant aces and a tandem block from Kelly Ann Greene and Ashley Magley. UC Santa Cruz still had the lead at 16-12 before CMS ran off four straight points to tie it. After taking a timeout, the Banana Slugs regained the lead at 18-16 after another Greene/Magley block. The Athenas, however, answered with a 9-3 run to close the set and win.
 
The Athenas were leading 18-10 in the third before a 6-0 UC Santa Cruz run got the Banana Slugs to within 18-16. Despite Greene's three kills, CMS closed with a 7-3 run to extinguish the comeback attempt and remain undefeated for the season.
 
The Athenas outhit UC Santa Cruz in the match .318 to .087, in part due to a 41-30 dig advantage. Greene led the Banana Slugs with 12 kills as well as four total blocks. Audrey Gilbert added five kills. Bryant and Samantha Taylor each had a pair of aces while Lauren Bliss had a team-high seven digs. 
UC Santa Cruz will play two in Thousand Oaks on Saturday, beginning with Whittier at noon.