LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Occidental lost to UC Santa Cruz 3-1 on Thursday at Rush Gymnasium. Occidental won the opening set 25-15 before dropping the next three 22-25, 23-25 and 23-25.
Occidental took control early in the first set, answering UC Santa Cruz's opening point with a 7-0 run highlighted by
Eyleen Sanchez's two service aces and kills from
Corinne Van Haeren and
Anna Curtis-Revelle.
Chloe Jeong's serving stretch later pushed Occidental from 8-3 to 14-3, with Van Haeren adding a kill during the run. Van Haeren closed the set with a kill and a service ace as Occidental won 25-15.
Occidental's biggest push in the second set came from 17-21, when it won five straight points to move ahead 22-21 behind Van Haeren's serving, a Curtis-Revelle kill from Jeong and a Van Haeren ace. Earlier, Occidental had cut an 11-3 deficit to 13-11, including a Curtis-Revelle service ace during that response. UC Santa Cruz answered after Occidental's late lead, scoring the final four points to take the set 25-22.
Occidental cut a 21-15 deficit to 23-22 in the third set, with
Audrey Makler adding a kill,
Kendall Taylor serving an ace and
Jasmine Shum finishing a kill from
Eyleen Sanchez during the late push. UC Santa Cruz held off the comeback, and Khloe Pavia closed the set with a kill for a 25-23 visitor win.
Occidental answered a 13-9 deficit with four consecutive points, getting a block from Makler and
Sloane Shoop, an
Eyleen Sanchez ace and a
Sloane Shoop kill from Taylor to tie the fourth set at 13-13. Occidental continued to respond late, with Curtis-Revelle kills tying the set at 21-21 and 22-22 before
Abby Werbel's kill from Jeong made it 23-23. UC Santa Cruz scored the final two points to take the set 25-23.
Occidental Top Performers
Corinne Van Haeren
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- team-high 15.5 points
- team-high 13 kills
- 7 digs
- 2 service aces
Eyleen Sanchez
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- team-high 17 digs
- team-high 4 service aces
- 5 assists
Anna Curtis-Revelle
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- team-high 5 blocks, including 1 solo block
- 7 kills on .278 hitting
- 11.0 points
- 1 service ace
Kendall Taylor
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- team-high 17 assists
- 2 service aces
- 4 digs
Sloane Shoop
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- 8 kills
- 2 blocks
- 9.0 points
