MARSHALL, Tx. – The Banana Slugs went 1-1 on Saturday, earning a 3-1 (20-25, 29-27, 25-12, 25-20) victory over Howard Payne before falling to the No. 2 East Texas Baptist Tigers 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-12). Kate Lau and Olly Gordon both had strong showings against Howard Payne with 14 kills and 11 kills while Margo Melgoza dished out 39 assists with five service aces against the Yellow Jackets. Gabia Paliulis led the attack against the Tigers with seven kills while Melgoza recorded 23 assists.
 
UC Santa Cruz 3, Howard Payne 1
The opening set featured a close back and forth battle in the early stages with both teams holding slight advantages before UCSC broke through with a 6-0 run to go up 11-7. The Slugs extended their lead to 16-12 with kills from Kate Lau and Charlotte Skulte but HPU rattled off five straight points to regain the lead before closing out the set on 8-4 run to take set one 25-20.
 
The second set proved to be the biggest challenge as it featured another tight battle with the two squads working to an 11-11 tie before HPU went up 14-11. UCSC battled back and pulled within one at 16-15 as Margo Melgoza and Olly Gordon both recorded kills. After a quick 3-0 run put HPU ahead 20-16, the Slugs surged forward with a 7-0 run to take the lead at 23-20 with two aces from Melgoza along with kills from Skulte, Mia Ngo, and Kate Lau. Another kill from Lau put UCSC up 24-21 but HPU battled back to tie the set at 24-24. The Banana Slugs and Yellow Jackets had a series of errors, resulting in ties at 25-25 and 26-26 before HPU took a 27-26 lead. The Slugs regrouped and closed the set on a 3-0 run to take set two 29-27 with Olly Gordon closing things off with a solo block.

With momentum on their side after the strong set two victory, UCSC didn't look back as they jumped out to an early 5-2 advantage and kept the pressure on, extending their lead to 17-9 with kills from Gabia Paliulis, Kate Lau, Olly Gordon, and Ella Sniezek. UCSC made quick work of the rest of the set as they closed with an 8-3 run to take set three 25-12 with Margo Melgoza recording the final kill.
 
HPU took the first three points of set four and was on the better side of small two points advantages on seven different occasions, working all the way to 15-13 before UCSC countered with a 3-0 run to regain the lead at 16-15.  HPU quickly worked to tie things at 17-17 but UCSC rattled off six straight with kills from Skulte, Ngo, Lau, and an ace from Melgoza to go up 23-17. Howard Payne managed to respond with a 3-0 run but a kill from Skulte and a Kate Lau ace gave UCSC the 25-20 victory, sealing the 3-1 match win.
 
UC Santa Cruz 0, East Texas Baptist 3
The Banana Slugs came out swinging against the undefeated ETBU Tigers as they jumped out to an early 7-3 advantage with kills from Lau, Skulte, Gordon, and Paliulis. From there, the two teams went back and forth for 12 straight points before ETBU managed to score two in a row to change the rhythm. Gabia Paliulis put UCSC up 13-10 with another kill but ETBU made a 5-0 run to take their first lead of the day at 15-13. UCSC made quick work to tie things at 16-16 but ETBU went on a 9-2 run to take set one 25-18.

Set two saw both teams record quick 4-0 runs to tie at 4-4 but UCSC held a narrow edge at 7-5 following a 3-1 run with two kills from Paliulis. From there, ETBU used a 3-0 run to take the lead at 8-7 and never looked back. The Slugs pulled within on four different occasions but a 5-1 run from ETBU put the Tigers ahead 21-15 later in the set. UCSC tried to rally with a 3-0 run, cutting the deficit to 21-18 but a 4-0 run from ETBU gave them the 25-18 set two win.

The Tigers put the pressure on early in set three, jumping out to an 11-3 lead and extending it to 19-6 later in the game. UCSC was able to close the gap to 20-11 with a 5-1 run with kills from Gordon and Chisom Okaforize but ETBU pulled away to finish the match on a 5-1 run of their own, taking set three 25-12 to earn the 3-0 sweep.