Christopher Newport fell in both of their matches on Saturday, losing to UC Santa Cruz and Mary Washington in the C2C Invitational.

UC Santa Cruz 3, Christopher Newport 0 | (25-21, 25-19, 25-20)

First Set

The margin for error was tight in the first set with the two teams staying close throughout. Maddie Carter kept the Captains within one with a kill that made the score 22-21 UC Santa Cruz, but UCSC took the final three points to win the first set.

Second Set

The Captains led by as much as three early in the second set, but Santa Cruz tied it up at 12. The Banana Slugs took seven of the next eight points and sprinted out to a lead, and later took the last four points to secure the second set.

Third Set

The Captains came roaring back from an early deficit with two kills from Mackenzie Wright and an ace from Anna Dean that were part of a 7-0 run that brought CNU within one. But UC Santa Cruz responded with six straight points to build back their lead. Julia Gleason provided some late resistance in the form of back-to-back aces, but UCSC took the third set to take the match.

Mary Washington 3, Christopher Newport 2 | (19-25, 20-25, 25-16, 25-18, 15-7)

First Set

Mary Washington tied the score at 18, but Lainie Putt's kill put CNU back on top before UMW tied it again at 19. The Captains dug deep and took the set's final six points behind two kills from Wright and kills from Sammy Carroll and Megan James.

Second Set

UMW took the set's first five points, but CNU wasn't deterred. They fought back to keep the score close, and three straight kills from Maddie Carter put the Captains ahead, and two more kills from Carroll and Carter gave CNU a 23-20 lead. Two errors from the Eagles gave CNU the second set and a 2-0 match lead.

Third Set

Two kills from Sammy Carroll and two more from Lainie Putt helped CNU out to an early lead, and two aces from Anna Dean set the Captains up with a 10-6 lead. Mary Washington withstood the early onslaught, and tied the score at 13. From there, UMW scored 13 of the next 16 points to take the third set and force a fourth.

Fourth Set

Mary Washington forced a fifth set after a 9-3 run put them up 14-7. Four kills from Megan James weren't enough as five blocks from the Eagles stifled the Captains attack and forced a deciding fifth set.

Fifth Set

Megan James got the set started with two kills and two UMW errors helped CNU out to a 4-2 lead. But after equalizing, the Eagles caught the momentum and quickly downed CNU in the fifth set with a 12-3 run to close the match.

News & Notes

• Mackenzie Wright was tied for the lead in the match against UC Santa Cruz with seven kills, and led the Captains with 15 kills in the match against Mary Washington.
• Sammy Carroll reached 40 assists for the ninth time this season with 42 assists against Mary Washington.

Next Up

The Captains close out the C2C Invitational with a match against Salisbury on Sunday at 1:30pm.