CLAREMONT, Ca. – The UC Santa Cruz women's volleyball team earned a hard fought 3-2 (28-15, 25-23, 14-25, 25-20, 16-14) victory over the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens on Saturday afternoon. Drew Bryant and Charlotte Skulte led the attack with 12 kills and 11 kills, respectively with Skulte ending the game with a .500 clip and 11 block assists. Margo Melgoza continued to dish out assists with 28 overall while adding 11 digs and four aces to the stat sheet. Kate Lau anchored the defense with 20 digs.
The Banana Slugs suffered a 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-9) loss at the hands of the No. 7 University of La Verne Leopards in their second match of the day.
UC Santa Cruz 3, Pomona-Pitzer 2
UC Santa Cruz opened the night with confidence, racing to a 3–0 lead behind a block from Skulte and Bryant and a kill from Skulte. Pomona-Pitzer briefly grabbed momentum midway through the frame, but the Slugs responded with kills from Bryant and Skulte to push ahead 18–14. From there, UCSC controlled the tempo, closing strong on a 7–4 stretch capped by a service ace to take the opener 25–18.
The Slugs carried that energy into the second set and came out blazing. With Melgoza on serve, UC Santa Cruz ripped off a stunning 10–0 run that featured four service aces and kills from Taylor, Bryant, and Skulte to seize full control. Pomona-Pitzer managed to rally late and closed to within one at 23–22, but the Slugs turned to Bryant on the right side for the set-clinching kill to secure a 25–23 win and a two-sets-to-none lead.
Pomona-Pitzer answered emphatically in the third, jumping out to a 7–2 lead and never looking back. UC Santa Cruz battled to climb within 17–13 behind a spark from Benyoucef, who delivered a kill, an ace, and a block assist in quick succession. But the early deficit proved costly as the Sagehens closed the set on an 8–1 run, handing UCSC a 25–14 loss and cutting the Slugs' lead to 2–1.
The fourth set was back-and-forth until UCSC seized control midway through. After the Sagehens tied it at 14–14, the Slugs responded with a decisive 6–0 run fueled by a service ace from Lau, a pair of forced errors, and a kill from Gordon that stretched the margin to 20–14. UCSC never looked back, finishing the frame 25–20 behind steady contributions from Taylor, Ngo, and Melgoza to force a winner-take-all fifth.
The deciding set turned into a slugfest. UCSC grabbed a 3–1 lead on a pair of blocks by Skulte and Bryant, only for Pomona-Pitzer to rally ahead 9–6. The Slugs dug deep once more, clawing back with kills from Lau and Skulte and a big block from Taylor to tie it 10–10. In the closing moments, Benyoucef delivered a clutch service ace to give UCSC match point, and Skulte finished the night with a thunderous kill off a perfect set from Melgoza. The Slugs secured a dramatic 16–14 fifth set and a 3–2 victory, showing resilience and poise to outlast the Sagehens in one of their most thrilling wins of the season.
UC Santa Cruz 0, University of La Verne 3
The Leopards started the match on a 3-0 run but UCSC responded evenly with kills from Claudia Moeller and Charlotte Skulte, along with an ace from Moeller. The Slugs continued to push forward, working to an 8-5 lead with kills from Gabia Paliulis and Olly Gordon. From there, the Leopards rallied back, tying the set at 10-10 before surging to an 18-12 lead. La Verne managed to close out the set on a 7-3 run to take set one 25-15.
The Banana Slugs and Leopards traded early attacks in set two, working to a 6-6 tie before the Leopards gained control of the game with an 8-2 run to make it 14-8. La Verne kept their foot on the gas, taking set two 25-14 despite a small 3-0 run from UCSC midway through the set with kills from Chisom Okaforize and Gabia Paliulis.
La Verne continued to pull away in set three, starting the game on a 5-0 run before taking a convincing 13-2 lead. The Leopards jumped out to a 19-5 lead and narrowly outscored UCSC 6-4 down the stretch to take set three 25-9, earning the 3-0 sweep over the Banana Slugs.
