WALLA WALLA, Wa. – The UC Santa Cruz women's volleyball team earned a 3-1 victory over Clarkson to start the second day of action at the Whitman Classic. As a team the Slugs hit at a .170 hitting percentage with 53 kills. Kelly Ann Greene and Ashley Magley both recorded 12 kills with Heidi Collins earning 10 with Greene, Drew Bryant, and Kate Lau all dishing out two service aces. Olly Gordon led the team with seven blocks while Margo Melgoza dished out 21 assists with Michaela Augustine picking up 18 of her own. Abigail Lee anchored the defense with 18 digs with Kate Lau recording 13. 

In the final match of the weekend, the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs picked up their first sweep of the 2024 season after defeating Whitman 25-15, 25-19, 25-18 to end the weekend with a 3-1 record. Kelly Ann Greene was a standout performed for the Slugs, ending the contest with eight kills, five blocks, and three service aces while picking up seven digs. Olly Gordon also recorded eight kills while Abigail Lee anchored the defense with 18 digs and three aces. Margo Melgoza had 14 assists on the night with Michaela Augustine finishing with 12. The Banana Slugs will be back in action on September 6th and 7th when they take on Pacific (Ore.), La Verne, Chapman, and Whittier at the Whittier Invite in Southern California.
 
UC Santa Cruz 3, Clarkson 1
The opening set of action featured a back and forth battle that saw the Slugs trail 5-2 early before taking the lead at 7-6 with a block from Drew Bryant and Olly Gordon. The Banana Slugs continued to press forward but Clarkson was able to narrowly get back on top and hold a lead at 14-12 before UCSC tied things up at 14-14 to spark a 4-1 run with kills Olly Gordon to go up 18-16. The Banana Slugs held Clarkson to just three points the rest of the way in set one while ending the game on a 4-0 run, highlighted by kills from Heidi Collins, Drew Bryant, and Kelly Ann Greene, giving UCSC a 25-19 victory in set one.
 
Set two looked very similar to the opening set with Clarkson holding a slight edge in the early going but the Banana Slugs quickly surged from an 8-4 deficit to a 15-11 lead with kills from Collins, Hanson, Greene, Bryant, and Magley. The Slugs continued to build their lead, making their way to 20-15 with kills from Magley and Kate Lau. Clarkson made a late run to cut the lead to 23-18 but Kelly Anne Greene and Ashley Magley recorded the final two kills to take the second set 25-21.
 
Clarkson managed to take the third set after building an early and maintaining that the whole way through the game. UCSC closed the gap to two points at 19-17 but Clarkson was able to close out the set despite the pressure from the Slugs to take set three 25-21.
 
UC Santa Cruz went down 4-0 in the fourth set but used a 7-2 run to answer and take a 7-6 lead before extending their gap to 15-10 with kills from Drew Bryant and Olly Gordon. Clarkson outscored UCSC 12-10 from that point on but the 10 points were all the Slugs needed to complete the 25-22 victory in set four to earn the 3-1 victory over Clarkson.

UC Santa Cruz 3, Whitman 0
The Slugs struck first with a kill from Kelly Ann Greene and never looked back as the team quickly worked their way to a 10-5 lead. UC Santa Cruz used a 7-1 run with kills from Heidi Collins and Kate Lau to extend their lead to 17-6. Whitman managed to counter with a short 4-2 run, but the pressure was short-lived as the Banana Slugs earned their final six points of the set, ending it with a service ace from Abigail Lee followed by a kill from Kelly Ann Greene to take the game 25-15.
 
In set two, the Slugs jumped out to an early 6-2 lead, but Whitman successfully closed the gap and tied the set at 7-7. UC Santa Cruz was able to regain the lead at 11-8 with a block by Drew Bryant and Greene along with a Margo Melgoza service ace but a 6-0 run from Whitman put the Blues up 14-11. The two teams traded attacks with UC Santa Cruz tying things up at 18-18 before using a 7-1 run to take set two 25-19.
 
The Blues had the early edge in set three, taking the lead at 4-3 and 8-5 shortly after but the Slugs used kills from Olly Gordon, Heidi Collins, Ashley Magley, Kelly Ann Greene, and Kate Lau to build a 15-10 lead over Whitman. Despite the heavy pressure from UCSC, Whitman rallied back into the set with a 6-0 run to regain the lead at 16-15. The Banana Slugs responded promptly, using an 8-0 that saw two service aces from Greene along with kills from Magley, Gordon, and Greene to regain the lead at 23-16. The Slugs benefited from a Whitman service error before Olly Gordon recorded another kill to put the finishing touches on the 25-18 set win to cap off the 3-0 victory.