NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The UC Santa Cruz women's volleyball dropped a pair of 3-0 matches to end their weekend at Christopher Newport, falling to Salisbury 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-13) and Mary Washington 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-17). UC Santa Cruz is now 8-13 on the season and will return to Santa Cruz to host Feather River College for Senior Night on Oct. 25 at 7:00 p.m. Kate Lau led UCSC's attack against Salisbury, recording eight kills while Shiraz Benyoucef picked up 10 digs on the back line. Alessandra Ponzo dished out 12 assists with Margo Melgoza recording nine of her own against the Sea Gulls. Kate Lau and Heidi Collins both recorded seven kills against Mary Washington with Ella Zniezek leading the team with 11 digs while Margo Melgoza earned 12 assists in the contest.  
 
UC Santa Cruz 0, Salisbury 3
The Banana Slugs fell behind early and never quite recovered as the Sea Gulls took a 3-0 lead and eventually climbed to a 14-8 advantage. UCSC was able to cut the deficit to two points on three separate occasions in that stretch with kills from Charlotte Skulte and Ella Sniezek, but Salisbury continued to charge forward, using a late 8-0 run to go up 23-10. UCSC brought the run to an end with back to back kills from Olly Gordon, but a kill and a service ace gave Salisbury set one 25-12.
 
After a tighter opening back and forth battle in set two put Salisbury up 4-3, the Sea Gulls rattled off six unanswered points to put UCSC behind 10-3. The struggles continued as Salisbury worked their way to a 16-6 lead before UCSC managed to score three straight off a block from Skulte, a kill from Gordon, and a kill from Mia Ngo, narrowing the gap to 16-9. After a 5-1 run from Salisbury put the Sea Gulls up 21-10, UC Santa Cruz responded with their best offensive showing of the day, going on a 7-1 run with kills from Gordon and Collins to close the gap to 22-17. Unfortunately, the Sea Gulls outpaced UCSC 3-2 to take set two 25-19 despite the late rally from the Banana Slugs.
 
In set three it was UCSC who jumped out to the early advantage, taking a 6-3 lead with kills from Kate Lau and Olly Gordon. Salisbury was quick to regroup, using a 9-1 run to take the lead at 12-7 before reaching the 20 point mark with an 8-4 run, putting UCSC behind 20-11. The Slugs were held to just two more points in the contest as Salisbury closed the match on a 5-2 run to take set three 25-13.
 
UC Santa Cruz 0, Mary Washington 3
The Eagles struck first but UC Santa Cruz had the early advantage as they jumped out to an early 7-3 lead with kills from Heidi Collins and Kate Lau. UMW fought back to tie the contest at 10-10 but the Slugs were able to hang on to their lead at 13-12 with two kills from Collins. From there, the Eagles took over as they used a 10-3 run to take the lead at 22-16. The two teams went an even 3-3 down the stretch as UMW won set one 25-19.
 
Set two saw UC Santa Cruz take an early 4-1 lead with aces from Shiraz Benyoucef and Kate Lau along with two kills from Heidi Collins but UMW answered with a 6-0 run to take the lead at 7-4. UC Santa Cruz responded promptly as they used a 6-2 run with to regain the lead at 10-9. Mary Washington rallied from there, going on a 12-2 run to put UCSC behind 21-12. The Slugs were able to outscore UMW 6-4 at the end, but the four points were all Mary Washington needed to take set two 25-18.
 
In set three, UCSC took the lead from the start once again with a quick 3-1 advantage, but Mary Washington took a 10-4 lead following a 9-1 run. The Banana Slugs were able to rally back into the set, outscoring the Eagles 6-2 with kills from Kate Lau, Margo Melgoza, and Heidi Collins, cutting the UMW lead to 12-10. UMW used a quick 4-1 run to extend the lead to 16-11 but UCSC fired back with a 4-1 run of their own with two kills from Ella Sniezek and an ace from Benyoucef, pulling within two points once more at 17-15. From there, the Eagles managed to close out the set on an 8-2 run, taking set three 25-17 to earn the 3-0 sweep.