Sweet Home Chicago! Banana Slugs Upset No. 14 UChicago in Instant Classic

Sunday, October 18

Chicago, Ill

11:00 AM PT | 1:00 PM CT

UC Santa Cruz Athletics

13-7,0-0CAC

University of Chicago

18-4,3-2UAA

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
UC Santa Cruz	17	13	25	29	15	3
UChicago	25	25	22	27	9	2

Sweet Home Chicago! Banana Slugs Upset No. 14 UChicago in Instant Classic

10/18/2026 3:34:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

CHICAGO, Ill. – Instant Classic! The UC Santa Cruz women's volleyball team pulled off the reverse sweep over the No. 14 University of Chicago Maroons to close out their Midwest weekend at the Gargoyle Classic. After dropping the first two sets 25-17, 25-13, UC Santa Cruz responded to take the next three sets 25-22, 29-27, 15-9. With the victory, the Slugs have now won 11 of their last 12 games and are on a four game win streak after a strong weekend in Chicago. Against the Maroons, Alice Taylor led the team with 15 kills while Margo Melgoza had a stellar all-around game with 38 assists, 11 digs, and seven kills. Shiraz Benyoucef anchored the backline as she normally does, picking up 26 digs while leading the team from the service line with three aces.

How It Happened
The Banana Slugs struggled to find their footing early against No. 14 U Chicago with the Maroons scoring four straight points to start the day. Chicago continued to climb working to a convincing 20-11 lead before taking set one 25-17. Set two was much of the same as the UCSC offense continued to try to sort things out while the Maroons fought to take the set 25-13, going up 2-0 in the match.

After the set break, the University of Chicago took the first point of set three, but UC Santa Cruz began to answer the call, outscoring the Maroons 10-9 to tie it at 10-10 with kills from Alice Taylor, Sydney Janowitz, Riley Sawyer, and Charlotte Skulte. Skulte and Taylor kept the attack going as they recorded three kills to put UCSC up 13-10, forcing a Chicago timeout. The Banana Slugs preserved their lead the rest of the way with the Maroons pulling within two on multiple occasions before closing the gap to one point at 22-21. Despite the late push from Chicago, the Slugs took the set 25-22 as Janowitz recorded a kill before Margo Melgoza earned a kill to take set three.

With momentum on their side, UC Santa Cruz charged forward in set four, jumping out to an early 12-6 lead with kills from Taylor, Gabia Paliulis, Melgoza, and Skulte. University of Chicago began to slowly chip away, outscoring UCSC 9-6 to cut the lead to 18-15 and force the Slugs to take a timeout. Out of the break, Chicago scored five straight points, putting the pressure on the Slugs down the stretch. Gabia Paliulis earned a kill to end the run, but the two teams went back and forth as University of Chicago got to match point at 24-22. Kate Lau and Alice Taylor put an end to that with the duo both recording a kill before a bad set by UChicago put UCSC up 25-24. The game continued to go back and forth, working itself to a 27-27 tie but Charlotte Skulte and Sydney Janowitz delivered the final kills to seal the 29-27 victory, sending the contest to a decisive fifth set.

After Chicago earned the first point, UC Santa Cruz rifled off a 9-4 run with kills from Gabia Paliulis, Charlotte Skulte, Alice Taylor, and Sydney Janowitz, putting the Banana Slugs up 9-5. Despite their best efforts, UChicago couldn't hold off the fiery Banana Slugs squad as UC Santa Cruz outscored the Maroons 6-4 down the stretch to take set five 15-9 and upset the No. 14 University of Chicago Maroons on their senior day.