THOUSAND OAKS, Ca. - The Banana Slugs started the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational strong with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-23) victory in a rematch against the Chapman Panthers. A hard-fought rematch for the Slugs ended successfully with Drew Bryant scoring 10 kills and Margo Melgoza and Michaela Augustine with 18 and 15 assists, respectively.The Slugs had a quick turnaround with just over an hour break before taking on Pomona-Pitzer, dropping a five set 3-2 (23-25, 25-23, 25-21, 19-25, 19-17) battle to end the night 1-1.
UC Santa Cruz 3, Chapman 0
The Banana Slugs had their game faces on, scoring the first two points of the game. After a series of back-and-forth points, the Slugs and Panthers tied things at 10-10 before three kills by Drew Bryant pushed the Slugs into a 13-10 lead. Chapman quickly caught up and the two teams went back and forth, with the Panthers pulling ahead to 18-16. The Banana Slugs quickly regained control of the game and maintained the lead finishing the first set with a kill from Ashley Magley, ending the set 25-21. It was a neck-to-neck first set, with the largest lead being only four points by the Slugs.
The Banana Slugs took the first point of the second set and went back and forth with the Panthers before Olly Gordon, Drew Bryant, and Kate Lau pulled the Slugs into the lead with back-to-back kills, landing a four-point lead on Chapman with a score of 8-4. Chapman struggled to come back from this early break by the Slugs and never retook the lead, allowing the Slugs to build an 8-point gap multiple times throughout the match. Using this momentum, the Banana Slugs ended the set 25-15.
The Panthers came back swinging, taking the first two points of the third set, and built a 4-point lead on the Banana Slugs at 7-3. After a slow start, the Banana Slugs found their groove and worked their way back up with Kelly Ann Greene landing a kill tying the two teams up at 8-8. The Slugs pulled into the lead with kills from Gabia Paliulis, Heidi Collins, and Ashley Magley, bringing it to 19-12. Chapman fought back hard and came within one point of tying the game up at 22-21. However, the Slugs maintained the lead, and Abigail Lee scored the final kill, securing a win for the Slugs with a score of 25-23.
UC Santa Cruz 2, Pomona-Pitzer 3
The Slugs came out swinging in the opening set of the contest, going on a 4-1 run to start the night before extending their lead to 7-3. The Banana Slugs pushed their lead to 15-10 with kills from Kelly Ann Greene, Aubrey Gilbert, and Ashley Magley but slowly let the Sagehens sneak back into the set as Pomona-Pitzer pulled within two points at 17-15. A 4-1 run put UCSC back in the driver's seat at 21-16 but the lead was erased with a 6-1 run from PP to tie things at 22-22. UC Santa Cruz made quick work at the end of the set, using a block from Greene and Magley along with a kill from Magley and a Greene service ace to take set one 25-23.
Set two and three featured a similar story line as the two team's fought through back and forth action with Pomona-Pitzer going on a 7-2 run to start the second set before charging forward to a 22-14 lead. From there, the Slugs regrouped and surged back into the set with a 9-1 run with kills from Heidi Collins, Drew Bryant, and Kelly Ann Greene, tying the set at 23-23. Unfortunately, the Slugs dropped the set after back-to-back kills, tying the match at 1-1. As mentioned, set three featured similar play as the Sagehens jumped out to an early 6-2 lead before making their way to a 13-6 gap. UC Santa Cruz tried to cut the momentum off with two points, but the Sagehens pressed forward to a 20-10 lead before the Slugs could begin their comeback. A 6-1 run provided life on the sidelines with the Slugs closing the gap to 22-17 and later 24-21 but the Sagehens held off the comeback to take set three 25-21.
In the fourth set, the Slugs dropped two quick points but responded with seven-straight as they went up 7-2. UCSC worked to preserve their lead as PP nearly tied the set at 11-10 but the Slugs responded quickly to take a 17-13 advantage. Despite the pressure, the Slugs were able to hold on down the stretch, using a 5-2 run to take set four 25-19.
The fifth set had all the highs and lows as the Slugs started behind 4-0 but stormed back with a 5-1 run with kills from Kate Lau, Olly Gordon, and Heidi Collins to make it 5-5. UCSC continued to use their momentum, going point for point with the Sagehens before taking an 11-10 lead thanks to an ace from Margo Melgoza. From there, the Sagehens countered with a 4-1 run to take the lead at 14-12. Despite the match point, UC Santa Cruz outscored the Sagehens 5-2 from there to take the lead at 17-16 but couldn't find the game-winner as the Sagehens scored three-straight points to steal the fifth set 19-17 in a hard fought heartbreaker for the Banana Slugs.
