UC Santa Cruz 3, Occidental 1

Set Scores: 22-25, 25-20, 25-17, 27-25

Players of the Match: Claire Strohm errupted for 21 kills and Tiareh Cruz dished out 47 assists to go along with 15 digs, but Oxy ended a long weekend with a loss to the Banana Slugs.

Turning Point: Despite an outstanding defensive effort in the fourth set, led by Alex Melikian who had nearly all of her 13 digs during the frame, and a rally that tied the scored at 25, Oxy couldn't complete the comeback and force a Game 5. 

Play of the Match: Two of Melikian's best digs were during a long rally with her team facing match-point (24-22). 

Stat of the Match: The Tigers hit just .086 in Game 2 and .050 in Game 3.

From the Coach: "I like the fight we showed toward the end of Game 4. We just weren't able to make the handful of plays we needed to finish off the run," Oxy head coach Heather Collins said. "We have a young team and we took some growing pains this weekend. We will bounce back."

Season Impact: Dropping a handful of matches for the Tigers isn't the way they wanted to finish off the weekend, but Oxy has four more non-conference matches next weekend before beginning SCIAC play against La Verne on Sept. 19.

The Tigers fall to 1-3.

Next Match: The Tigers return to action against Dallas on Sept. 5 as a part of another four-match weekend.

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