Womens Volleyball
UC Santa Cruz 3, Menlo 2
Date of competition: Wednesday, September 19, 2018
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Menlo College struggled through fatigue in Wednesday night's 12-25, 25-18, 15-25, 25-21, 15-12 loss to visiting UC Santa Cruz in a non conference match. The Oaks dominated in sets one and three but struggled through the rest of the night as the Banana Slugs(4-10) took advantage of Oak errors to grab the victory. Menlo fell to 6-2 overall.
DiMartino Makes Presence Felt
In her first collegiate start, junior outside hitter Nicole DiMartino did not disappoint. She rattled off four kills in the first set to lead all Oaks en route to the win. She followed with a kill in each of the next three sets on her way to a career high seven. DiMartino also did a reliable job behind the serving line with a 100 percent success rate.
Santa Cruz Dominates the Block
A big factor that led to the Banana Slugs victory was out blocking the Oaks 10-4. This effort was led by Alexandria Everett and Claire Okerlund who had 8 and 5 blocks, respectively. The Oaks block went missing, as only Moea Kekauoha recorded more than one block.
No Quit Mentality
Late in set five, the match looked all but over with the Oaks trailing, 12-5. The Oaks showed no quit, however, as they went on a 5-0 run behind kills from Maggie McDonald and Sofia Salim and a service ace from Sierra Buscher. When Santa Cruz curtailed the run, they brought the set to match point at 14-10. The Oaks still didn't go down quietly, tacking on points on a Buscher kill and a Pamela Dungo service ace before finally falling.
Up Next...
The Oaks return to GSAC play at home Friday, taking on the Ottawa University of Arizona Spirit. This marks the first ever meeting between the two schools. The Spirit is 5-4, coming off of a Southern California sweep of Life Pacific and Hope International. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
-- Ryan Barnett
UC Santa Cruz d. at Menlo, 12-25, 25-18, 15-25, 25-21, 15-12
Oaks leaders
Kills: Salim, Kekauoha, Buscher 10
Aces: Dungo, Kekauoha 2
Assists: Rockwood 24
Digs: Buscher, Kekauoha 17
Blocks: Kekauoha 2
posted by Rick Eymer on Sep 20, 2018 at 12:28 am
![]() Nicole DiMartino. Photo courtesy of Menlo Athletics. |
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