CLAREMONT - It wasn't easy, but it sure was fun.

For the second straight year, the UC Santa Cruz women's volleyball team went through an opening weekend gauntlet and came out with a winning record. The Banana Slugs finished the Pacific Coast Classic with a sweep of Redlands before winning a five-set classic with Cal Lutheran (19-25, 27-25, 25-22, 16-25, 19-17). UC Santa Cruz is now 3-1 on the season.

"The whole day was amazing. Great contribution from everyone and a gritty performance vs. Cal Lutheran," said head coach Gabrielle Houston. "I'm really proud of the team and how they adapted and played hard all weekend. It's a great start to the season!"

The Banana Slugs made quick work of the Bulldogs In the morning match, hitting .405 in the 25-10, 25-10, 25-10 sweep and serving 14 aces. Redlands had just one ace and was held to a .000 hitting percentage. Samantha Taylor had 10 kills and a block. Sydney Ahrendt and Ashley Magley had eight kills each. Emily Pasion and Peyton Tazelaar each had five aces, while Pasion had her third-straight match with double-digit digs finishing with 17.

In the final match, the Banana Slugs went up two sets to one when they finished set three on a 10-5 run. The Regals however won Set Four going away after hitting .286. That set up the wild final set, which featured ten ties and the Banana Slugs having Match Point three times before a Tazelaar kill and a CLU Ball-Handling Error finally gave UC Santa Cruz the victory.

It was the third-straight win over Cal Lutheran for the Banana Slugs, who overcame All-American Maci Haddad's 24 kills. Tazelaar, from nearby Ontario, led UC Santa Cruz with a career-high 18 kills. Taylor added 16 kills and a team-high 15 digs. Sinead Beaupain had a career-high 40 assists.

UC Santa Cruz will have their home opener on Tuesday September 6th when they host William Jessup at Kaiser Permanente Arena.