WASHINGTON, D.C. –  The UC Santa Cruz women's volleyball team earned a reverse sweep over the University of Mount Union Purple Raiders on Friday evening. After dropping the first two sets 25-23 and 25-9, UC Santa Cruz fought back, winning the next three sets 28-26, 27-25, and 15-9 to improve to 7-5 on the season. The Banana Slugs were led by Chisom Okaforize who recorded 14 kills with a .407 clip while Kate Lau, Olly Gordon, and Drew Bryant earned 13, 12, and 11 kills respectively. Margo Melgoza nearly had a 50 assist night, dishing out 48 in the contest while Kate Lau anchored the defense with 25 digs with Shiraz Benyoucef and Drew Bryant picking up 14 and 13 digs on their own. Lau and Benyoucef also led the team at the service line with the duo both recording four aces. UC Santa Cruz will be back in action tomorrow as they take on Gallaudet at 9:00 a.m. and Mary Washington at 11:00 a.m.
 
How It Happened
Mount Union took an early 6-1 lead in set one before extending it to 14-6. From there, UCSC managed to rally back, outscoring Mount Union 16-9 to pull within one at 23-22 with kills from Kate Lau, Charlotte Skulte, Olly Gordon, Drew Bryant, and Chisom Okaforize. Despite the momentum swing, Mount Union managed to escape with a 25-23 set one win with two kills down the stretch.

The Purple Raiders made quick work of set two, jumping out to a 7-1 lead before pushing to a 15-6 lead. After a Drew Bryant kill, Mount Union scored seven straight to go up 22-7 and later took the set 25-9 to go up 2-0 on the night.

With their backs against the wall, the Banana Slugs got to work in set three. The early stages of the game featured a 5-5 tie and an 8-5 Mount Union lead, but UCSC surged to a 12-8 lead thanks to a convincing 7-0 run with four kills from Kate Lau along with kills from Olly Gordon and Margo Melgoza. UC Santa Cruz pushed their lead to 15-11 but the Purple Raiders rallied back to tie things at 15-15. With both sides trading heavy attacks, the contest found itself gridlocked at 22-22 with UCSC working to a 24-22 lead courtesy of a Kate Lau ace and block from Gordon and Melgoza. Mount Union fought off the set point with a 3-0 run to regain the lead at 25-24. The Banana Slugs stayed in it, regaining the lead at 26-25 but Mount Union used a kill to tie things once again at 26-26. UCSC dug deep as Okaforize recorded a kill before Melgoza ended the set with an ace, giving UCSC the 28-26 victory in set three.

UCSC used that momentum in set four, starting the set on an 8-4 run but Mount Union continued to fight back, scoring five straight to go up 9-8. UC Santa Cruz didn't back down, regaining the lead at 17-13 but much like set three, the two teams found themselves tied late in the set at 21-21. Both teams managed to earn two points each, working to a 23-23 but UCSC took a 25-24 lead with kills from Bryant and Lau. The Purple Raiders managed to knot things up again at 25-25 with a kill but a Drew Bryant kill and block from Olly Gordon and Margo Melgoza gave UCSC the 27-25 set win, forcing a decisive fifth set.

The Banana Slugs wasted little time in the fifth set as they jumped out to an early 5-2 lead before Olly Gordon, Kate Lau, and Alice Taylor all recorded kills to take a 10-6 lead. From there, the Banana Slugs couldn't be stopped, outscoring the Purple Raiders 5-3 down the stretch with kills from Chisom Okaforize and Margo Melgoza along with a solo block from Okaforize and an ace from Shiraz Benyoucef. The fifth set surge gave UC Santa Cruz the 15-9 victory to complete the reverse sweep, defeating Mount Union 3-2.