UC Santa Cruz Athletics
1-1,0-0CAC
Webster University
1-3,0-0SLIAC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Webster | 23 | 23 | 21 | 0 |
| UC Santa Cruz | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Back-to-Back Sweeps Give UC Santa Cruz the First Wins of the Season
9/5/2026 12:31:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
ST. LOUIS, Mo – The UC Santa Cruz women's volleyball team brought out the brooms to post a clean sweep on the day and earn their first wins of the 2026 season. They first faced Webster University in the opening contest, winning 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-21) to start off the early morning. Sydney Janowitz led with a game high nine kills, and Alessandra Ponzo and Miya Casci both led with 12 assists apiece. Gabia Paliulis added 14 kills, the senior's second most in a single game in her career. After facing large deficits in all three sets, including a seven-point deficit in the first set, the Banana Slugs rallied to come from behind to steal game one.
UCSC came out focused in game two, controlling all sets to win 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-16) against Wheaton College (IL.). Margo Melgoza facilitated the offense all game long, tying her career high of six service aces, posting a season high 26 assists, and collecting five kills. Charlotte Skulte led game two with nine kills, boosting her total to 15 for the day. Shiraz Benyoucef helped the defense dominate with her 11 digs in the matchup. UC Santa Cruz will finish their tournament in the 2026 Bear Invite on Sept. 6th against Washington University in St. Louis.
UC Santa Cruz 3, Webster University 0
The Banana Slugs struggled early with offensive errors to open the matchup, and Webster took advantage and posted a 10-3 lead to start the contest. Momentum slowly found its way with UCSC on a pair of kills from Paliulis and Skulte, which started an 8-1 run for the Banana Slugs to take the lead at 15-13. UCSC either faced a tie or led the rest of the set, and Janowitz crushed a commanding kill to seal set one. UC Santa Cruz hit 11 kills in the opening set compared to Webster's seven.
UCSC opened set two with a 4-0 start with kills from Mia Ngo and Janowitz. The teams traded ties and leads, and eventually the Banana Slugs went out to a 16-14 lead midway through the set. The Gorlocks then immediately exploded on a 5-0 run while taking advantage of UCSC errors, putting the Banana Slugs behind three with the end of the set near. Webster led 22-19 before UC Santa Cruz put together a run of their own, tying things up at 22 apiece. With another tie at 23-23, UCSC sealed the set with back-back kills from Ngo and Olivia Phillips, giving the Banana Slugs sixteen total kills in set two.
After the Banana Slugs fell behind early again in set three, the Gorlocks took a 9-4 lead and prompted UCSC to call a timeout and regroup. UC Santa Cruz slowly crawled back to tie things up at 14-14 with a Skulte kill, and she came firing back for more with another kill to give the Banana Slugs the lead at 15-14. UCSC took advantage of Webster's errors to secure late set points, and ultimately Khloe Pavia hit the final kill to give the Banana Slugs the 3-0 win.
UC Santa Cruz 3, Wheaton College (IL.) 0
Game two began with a commanding first set win, showcasing control in the 25-12 opener. After Wheaton brought the set within two at 7-5, the Banana Slugs erupted on an 18-7 run. Skulte swung a pair of kills early in the set to get the Banana Slugs going, and Melgoza had a handful of assists and kills late in the set to help seal closed the set. Kate Lau finished set one with a service ace as the Banana Slugs solidified a strong start to game two.
Dominance continued into set two with UC Santa Cruz as they popped off on a 7-0 run to open things up, including three service aces by Melgoza. The Banana Slugs' lead reached as high as 11 as Melgoza continued to help facilitate kills of her own alongside assists that led to Phillips, Lau, and Skulte kills. Wheaton strung together a late run in the set to challenge the UC Santa Cruz, but ultimately the Banana Slugs closed out the set 25-15.
UCSC continued their streak of a strong start to the set, but Wheaton didn't let the Banana Slugs have feel comfortable to kick off the third. Wheaton took the lead at 10-9, their first lead of the match since 1-0 in the opening set, and challenged UC Santa Cruz to remain focused to clinch the final set. The Banana Slugs pieced together a run to tie things up at 11-11, and found their rhythm to get a lead and sustain it throughout the rest of the set. Skulte swung back-to-back kills within the Banana Slugs' 7-1 run to close out their second sweep of the day.
