LOS ANGELES — Megan Olayinka (Corvallis, Ore.) was in on 10 of Oxy's 15 blocks, Dana Michels (Kirkland, Wash.) was in on seven and the Occidental College women's volleyball team picked up a non-conference win over regional opponent UC Santa Cruz on Saturday 25-15, 25-22, 22-25, 25-18.

Olayinka had at least two blocks in every set.

 "We did a great job of sticking to the game plan and focusing on all of the specifics from the scouting report," Occidental coach Heather Collins said. "Overall, the big difference was disciplined defense, smart blocking and aggressiveness."

Oxy looked sharp in the first two sets. Alyssa Mort (Tucson, Ariz.), who hit .355 on the match, had four of her 13 kills to lead the Tigers to a blowout win in Game 1.

In Game 2, Logan Boyer-Hayse (Boulder, Colo.) had six of her match-high 18 kills to give Oxy the edge in a more competitive set. Then, with Oxy up 23-21, Michels teamed up with Stephanie Gann (Tacoma, Wash.) for a block and finished the set with a kill on two of the next three points to finish Game 2.

UC Santa Cruz stepped it up in Game 3 and the Tigers committed eight attacking errors to fall behind early. Boyer-Hayse put away four points to during a 5-2 that brought Oxy within one, 23-22. But Elisabeth Trambley had one of her team-high 15 kills and Helen Milne added another for the 25^th to give the Banana Slugs (10-13) the game.

The Tigers responded in Game 4. Mort had five kills, Boyer-Hayse had four and Oxy cruised to relatively comfortable win.

It was the second of three matches Oxy has against non-SCIAC competition this weekend and an important victory to beef up the Tigers' NCAA tournament at-large candidacy should they need it come tournament time in November.

"It's a big win because it's against a regional opponent and it's a big confidence booster for us," Collins said.

Jessie Altman (La Jolla) dished out 30 assists for the Tigers.

The Tigers play their second match of a Saturday doubleheader at 7 p.m. against Mills College in Rush Gymnasium.