Banana Slugs Battle in Five Set Loss to Millikin University

Saturday, October 31

Bloomington, Ill

8:00 AM PT | 10:00 AM CT

UC Santa Cruz Athletics

13-10,0-0CAC

Millikin University

13-14,3-4CCIW

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
UC Santa Cruz	20	25	21	25	12	2
Millikin	25	18	25	16	15	3

10/31/2026 10:45:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, ILLI – The UC Santa Cruz women's volleyball team lost a back-and-forth five-set battle versus Millikin University (20-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-16, 12-15) to close out the last away contest of the regular season. Margo Melgoza and Ella Sniezek posted game-highs in the contest with Melgoza bringing in 32 assists and Sniezek swinging four service aces. Kate Lau had a strong performance for the Banana Slugs all-around with a team-high 14 kills and 12 digs behind Shiraz Benyoucef with 13. Lau now holds the second most digs in UC Santa Cruz women's volleyball history with 1072 and counting, and is the fourth Banana Slug to achieve over 1000 digs in a career. UC Santa Cruz will return to action on Friday, November 6th at 6:00pm versus Ohlone College played at Kaiser Permanente Arena.

How it Happened:
UC Santa Cruz had a slow start to open the contest, giving away the first four points to Millikin. A kill from Sniezek got the Banana Slugs firing on a run of their own to tie up set one early at 4-4. UCSC continued to force ties and lead changes throughout the set with early points coming from Charlotte Skulte and Benyoucef. After leading 11-10, UC Santa Cruz began to have miscommunications on offense that led to multiple attack errors to get down 11-15. UC Santa Cruz kept working for points late in the set with kills from Khloe Pavia and Mia Ngo and a service ace from Alessandra Ponzo to put together a 4-0 run to bring the set within three, but the Banana Slugs ultimately would have two costly errors to end set one.

Pavia opened set two with multiple kills for UC Santa Cruz as the Banana Slugs started strong with a 5-2 lead. The kills kept coming as UCSC maintained a steady lead in the set and Lau began to heat up offensively at the net. Sniezek delivered another service ace to put the Banana Slugs up 10-7 midway through the set. The Banana Slugs continually pieced together multiple points in a row during set two hold a confident lead, including service ace from Melgoza to cap off a three-point run to jump ahead 17-11. Sydney Janowitz and Pavia closed out the set with a kill apiece in an impressive response for the Banana Slugs as UCSC never faced a tie or deficit in set two.

Lau secured the first point for UCSC on a dominant kill in a back-and-forth opening to set three. The game saw a tie at every point from 1-7 in a competitive start to the set. After three straight points for Millikin, UCSC called a timeout to regroup in a crucial set three. The lead continued to grow for Millikin, but UCSC responded on a 4-0 run including a service ace from Rylan Vlasich. The Banana Slugs kept fighting for points late in the set, including another 4-0 run on kills from Janowitz and Pavia, but the Banana Slugs couldn't make up the entire deficit to fall in set three.

Early points in set four came from Lau, Pavia, and Benyoucef as both teams continued to force ties and lead changes to open. After a 5-5 tie, UC Santa Cruz exploded on a 6-0 run to take over the set at 11-5. Lau and Skulte kept the energy high at the net for UCSC on the run as Vlasich secured another service ace. UC Santa Cruz remained calm with the lead and continued to work the offense with confidence as multiple Banana Slugs earned kills late in the set, including Melgoza on a skip set to expose Millikin's defense. Lau closed out set four for UC Santa Cruz with a kill and a service ace to force a fifth and final set.

The battle continued into set five, but the Banana Slugs proved to still have the fight left in them. Pavia secured the first point for the Slugs to tie at 1-1, and UCSC kept firing on a run to lead 5-1 early. Skulte continued a dominant day at the net while Benyoucef continued a strong day all-around the court to swing a service ace for UCSC. A scoring streak by Millikin slowly ate away at UC Santa Cruz's lead as the Big Blue put together a 7-1 run to put the Banana Slugs down 10-12. Lau swung one more kill for UCSC, but the Banana Slugs had late errors get the best of them.