CAMBRIDGE, MA—UC Santa Cruz finished their New England roadtrip with a pair of losses on Saturday.
The team dropped a hard-fought early match 3-0 (20-25, 23-25, 24-26) to Springfield College and then the finale to sixteenth-ranked MIT 3-0 (13-25, 13-25, 20-25). The Banana Slugs go to 12-7 on the season after splitting this weekend's four matches 2-2.
Match One
The first set was very close, but Springfield finished with the last four points to take the lead. The second set saw Springfield open with a 5-0 lead, forcing the Banana Slugs to play catch up. A combo block from
Ashley Magley and
Kelly Ann Greene got UC Santa Cruz within one at 16-15. Springfield again got the lead to 4 at 21-17 but
Olly Gordon's kill started a 6-2 run that tied it at 23-all before two Springfield kills ended the set in their favor. The exciting third set had the lead go back and forth throughout. Magley had a kill to give UC Santa Cruz a 22-21 lead. The teams then tied the next three points before once again Springfield ended with the two consecutive points needed to escape with the win.
Greene had nine kills to lead the offense plus an ace and two block assists.
Peyton Tazelaar and Magley each had six kills, while
Kate Lau had five kills plus a team-high 12 digs.
Match Two
The Banana Slugs struggled on offense in the first two sets where they fell behind 18-7 in the first and 18-10 in the second and couldn't catch up. The third set saw them regain their composure.
Sydney Ahrendt's kill and consecutive aces by
Emily Pasion put UC Santa Cruz up 3-0 early. Consecutive kills by
Gabia Paliulis capped a 4-0 run that gave them their biggest lead at 16-12 and forced MIT to take a timeout. The hosts then rallied with an 8-1 run that gave them the lead for good at 20-17 before ending the set and match with three consecutive points.
Ahrendt had a team-high seven kills while Greene and Tazelaar each had six. Pasion had three of UC Santa Cruz's five service aces, as well as 11 digs. The Banana Slugs have a week off before hosting the C2C Challenge, starting October 6
th against Colorado College at the West Field House.