SANTA CRUZ, Ca. – The UC Santa Cruz women's volleyball team dropped a hard fought 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 30-28) C2C Semifinal match to the Christopher Newport Captains on Friday evening in the West Field House. The Captains used an efficient offense to down the Slugs, recording a .402 clip on the night while holding UCSC to a .091 hitting percentage. Kate Lau and Margo Melgoza both recorded seven kills with Melgoza dishing out 19 assists while Lau picked up six digs. UC Santa Cruz will be back in action tomorrow at noon for the third place game against Mary Washington. 
 
How It Happened
The Captains got off to an electric start and didn't look back as they used an 11-1 run to set the tone before taking a 16-3 lead in set one. UC Santa Cruz was able to go on a brief 4-0 run with kills from Alice Taylor and Kate Lau along with an ace from Ella Sniezek but a 6-2 run from CNU put the Captains on top 22-9. CNU picked up their remaining three points on a small 3-2 run to take set one 25-12.
 
Set two saw the Captains continue swinging as they took a 7-1 lead before UCSC countered with a 5-2 run to cut the deficit to three points at 9-6. The Captains proved to be a tough opponent to slow down as they extended their lead to 14-8 but the Slugs began to get their offense going as Kate Lau, Mia Ngo, Gabia Paliulis, and Margo Melgoza all recorded kills. The late offense wasn't enough as CNU pulled away down the stretch to take set two 25-16.
 
Set three was the most exciting as the two teams traded attacks in the early going with UCSC working to a 5-4 lead with kills from Maddie Marshall, Mia Ngo, and Chisom Okaforize. The Captains briefly worked to a 9-6 lead and later a 13-8 advantage but UCSC outscored CNU 10-5 to tie the contest at 18-18. From there, the Slugs and Captains traded attacks with UCSC working to a 23-22 lead following a 3-0 burst that saw two aces from Margo Melgoza. The Captains were able to respond with two unanswered points to go up 24-23 but a kill from Mia Ngo and block from Maddie Marshall fended off match point, putting UCSC back on top at 25-24. The two teams went an even 3-3 with UCSC leading 28-27 but three straight points from the Captains sealed the 3-0 sweep, taking the third set 30-28.