CLAREMONT, Calif. — Pomona-Pitzer women's volleyball fell in five sets to UC Santa Cruz before defeating Whitman College in a reverse sweep Saturday at Voelkel Gymnasium. 
 
Season Impact: The results put the Sagehens at 3-4 on the season. 
 
Sagehens 2, UC Santa Cruz 3 (25-18, 23-25, 25-14, 20-25, 14-16)
 
Tene Ariyo paced the Sagehens in a close loss to the Banana Slugs with a career-high 23 kills on a .269 clip along with three digs and two blocks. Paige Mountanos notched 15 kills while Corrina Benson tallied a career-high-tying 31 digs.
 
Pomona-Pitzer pulled away late and held on for a 25-18 set one win, as Sophie Mies closed the game with a service ace. Trailing 23-20 in the second, Mackenzie Bravo Woo and Mountanos notched kills to tie things at 23-23. But UCSC scored the next two to tie the match at 1-1. 
 
Everything worked for the Sagehens in set three, as the team scored the game's final seven points to take it 25-14. The Banana Slugs used a 5-0 run to take a 21-18 lead late in set four, going on to take it 25-20 and set up a fifth set. The Sagehens led 13-10 in the deciding fifth set following a Bravo Woo ace and kills from Ariyo and Mountanos. But the Banana Slugs scored six of the match's final seven points, taking the fifth set 16-14 and winning the match, 3-2. 
 
Sagehens 3, Whitman 2 (21-25, 19-25, 25-20, 25-23, 16-14)
 
Mountanos led the Sagehens offensively with 25 kills on a .290 hitting percentage, while Samantha Grabb added 18 kills and Ariyo had 17. Butler dished out a career-high 50 assists while Benson anchored the defense with 33 digs. 
 
Pomona-Pitzer dropped the first two sets before fighting their way back into the match with a hard fought set three win. Leading 21-20 late in the third, Mountanos posted a pair of kills and Charlotte Sekerka notched an ace to give Pomona-Pitzer the set, 25-20. The Sagehens then fought back from a 22-21 deficit late in set four, with another pair of kills by Mountanos and one from CC Porter tying the match up at 2-2.
 
The Sagehens again had to come from behind late in the deciding fifth set, finding themselves down 13-12 before a Mountanos kill made it 13-13. The Blues then scored to push it to match point, but two more Mountanos kills made it 15-14. A Blues attack error then sealed the match for the Sagehens, who came back to win 3-2. 
 
Up Next: Pomona-Pitzer will travel to Kentucky Sept. 19-20 to take on Muskingum, Maryville and Transylvania.