WALLA WALLA, Wa. – The UC Santa Cruz women's volleyball fell to Whitworth Pirates 3-0 (29-27, 27-25, 25-18) following three hard fought sets at Whitman College. The Banana Slugs were held to a .098 hitting percentage while the Pirates recorded a .183 clip. Ashley Magley led the team with eight kills and a .120% while Audrey Gilbert recorded 11 digs and six kills. Margo Melgoza dished out 15 assists for the Slugs.
 
The Banana Slugs fought their way to a 3-2 (18-25, 25-17, 25-22, 21-25, 15-8) victory over the Pacific Lutheran Lutes to end the day 1-1. The Slugs recorded a .241 hitting percentage with 57 kills in the contest as Drew Bryant led the team with 16 kills while Ashley Magley ended the game with 15. Kelly Ann Greene recorded three aces and four blocks while Heidi Collins recorded two service aces. Michaela Augustine led the team with 21 assists with Margo Melgoza chiming in for 17 while Abigail Lee ended the night with 18 digs.
 
UC Santa Cruz 0, Whitworth 3
The Banana Slugs suffered an early 5-2 deficit and slipped to a 9-3 gap before starting to chip away at the Pirates lead. After kills from Ashley Magley and Audrey Gilbert, the Slugs pulled within three at 14-11 but the Pirates continued to push forward. Whitworth managed to take a 20-15 lead before the Slugs went on a 5-1 run to pull within one at 21-20. Whitworth was able to cut the run short with two points to make it 23-20 but four-straight points from UCSC gave them their first lead of the contest at 24-23. Whitworth battled back to regain the lead at 25-24 but UCSC forced ties at 25-25, 26-26, and 27-27 before the Pirates used two kills to take the set 27-25.
 
In set two, the Slugs jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with a block from Kelly Ann Green and Ashley Magley along with an ace from Margo Melgoza but the Pirates were able to storm back and take an 8-5 lead. The two teams traded attacks with the Slugs working to a slight 11-10 edge after kills from Olly Gordon and Anna Hospodar. The set remained a tight battle down the stretch with Whitworth working to a 17-14 lead before a 5-0 run from the Slugs put them back on top 19-17. Whitworth managed to make a late counter, fighting to a 24-22 lead but a kill from Drew Bryant and a block from Kelly Ann Greene tied the set at 24-24. Whitworth was able to push past the late tie and earn a 27-25 in set two.
 
Set three saw the Pirates take control early before surging to a 14-5 lead. The Slugs attempted to close the gap, but Whitworth kept the pressure on, working to a 21-10 lead. Despite the strong performance from the Pirates, the Slugs were resilient down the stretch, using a 7-1 run with cut the lead to 24-18 but a service error ended the set 25-18, giving the Pirates a 3-0 victory.  

UC Santa Cruz 3, Pacific Lutheran 2
The Lutes were able to take set one against UC Santa Cruz, but the Slugs bounced back in sets two and three to take a 2-1 lead in the contest. The Slugs took an early 3-0 lead in the second set before going back and forth with the Lutes until a 6-0 run gave UCSC a 14-7 lead. The Banana Slugs used that momentum to make push their way to a 20-13 lead before earning the 25-17 second set win with a kill from Olly Gordon. The third set featured a much tighter battle as the two teams worked to a 10-10 tied before PLU took a 15-11 lead. From there, the Banana Slugs chipped away, tying the contest at 17-17 with three-straight kills from Drew Bryant to highlight a 5-1 run. The set stayed tight with the two teams fighting to a 21-21 tie, but the Slugs outscored the Lutes 4-1 in the end to win 25-22 and take a 2-1 lead.
 
Pacific Lutheran managed to take set four 25-21 and force a fifth set despite a late surge from UCSC thanks to kills from Bryant and Heidi Collins. The fifth set proved to be a hard fight in the early moments as the Slugs and Lutes traded attacks with UCSC holding a slight 7-6 advantage. From there, the Slugs were able to surge to the finish line, using an 8-2 run to close out the match with Bryant, Ashley Magley, and Collins recording kills down the stretch to seal the 15-8 set win and the 3-2 victory over Pacific Lutheran.