THOUSAND OAKS, Ca. – The Pomona-Pitzer volleyball team drooped a four-set match to the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs (25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 25-19) on Saturday evening. Paige Mountanos and Chloe Gill led the Sagehens attack with 12 kills and 10 kills, respectively, with Mountanos ending the day with a .417 hitting percentage. Lauren Asato anchored the defense with 17 digs while Kylie Mies recorded 10 of her own while dishing out 21 assists. Lauren Asato and Kylie Mies were both selected to the All-Tournament team for their performance on the weekend. The Sagehens are now 5-3 on the season and will begin their conference slate on Tuesday, Sept. 20 when they travel to Chapman.

The Banana Slugs recorded the first point of set one, but the two teams traded blows in the early going, working their way to a tie six times before UC Santa Cruz managed to take a 10-7 lead with a 5-0 run, forcing the Sagehens to call a timeout. Kellan Hayes and Chloe Gill recorded a block right out of the timeout that sparked a Sagehens 8-5 run to tie the game at 15-15. UC Santa Cruz countered with a 7-2 run to regain the lead at 22-17 but the Sagehens fought right back with four unanswered points with blocks from Grace Fan and Natalie Potter. The 4-0 run brought the Sagehens within one at 22-21 to force a UC Santa Cruz timeout but out of the break, the Banana Slugs were able to take the next three points to win set one 25-21. 

The Sagehens started set two on top with a kill from Grace Fan, but the Banana Slugs surged ahead with a 13-5 run. Pomona-Pitzer pulled within three at 16-13 with a 7-3 run but UC Santa Cruz brought the run to an end with a quick 3-0 run, forcing a Sagehen timeout trailing 19-13. Out of the break, Pomona-Pitzer benefited from two errors and saw kills from Kellan Hayes and Savanna Cespedes to cut the lead to 20-17. The Sagehens continued to battle down the stretch, going on a 3-0 run late in the set trailing 24-22 but a Banana Slug timeout froze the run as the Sagehens recorded a service error out of the break to end the set 25-22 in favor of UC Santa Cruz. 

With the threat of a sweep looming coming into set three, the Sagehens came out swinging as they went on a commanding 11-4 run to get things going. The run saw kills from Mountanos, Gill, and Paige Wilson, along with a block from Potter and Hayes. From there, the Banana Slugs began to fight back, chipping away at the Sagehens lead and eventually pulling within three points at 21-18 to force a Sagehen timeout. Chloe Gill recorded a kill right out of the break, but the Banana Slugs recorded the next two points, cutting the Sagehen lead to 22-20. The Sagehens were able to end the set on a 3-1 run, maintaining momentum through a UC Santa Cruz timeout at 24-21 with Wilson ending the set 25-21 with a kill. 

UC Santa Cruz started set four on a quick 4-1 run before pushing their lead to 8-4. The Sagehens responded with a 5-1 run, utilizing back-to-back service aces from Hayes along with a kill from Mountanos to tie the set at 9-9. UC Santa Cruz managed to pick up some steam and go on a 10-3 run to take a 19-12 lead over the Sagehens. Pomona-Pitzer recorded four of the next five points to cut the lead to 20-16 but UC Santa Cruz was able to end the set 25-19 with a 5-3 edge in points down the stretch, taking the 3-1 victory over Pomona-Pitzer.

See below for the full All-Tournament team:

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