Evie Borchard and Tyler Hoyt represented the Slugs in the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships in the women’s and men’s competitions, respectively. In the women’s 6k race, sophomore runner Borchard took 121st with a time of 22:54.8, while senior runner Hoyt finished 139th in the men’s 8k race in 25:56.5. Both men’s and women’s cross country will graduate three seniors this year.

Golf

The women’s golf team is currently ranked 18th for Division III nationally, but have already beaten four teams with higher rankings this season. The team has finished in the top three of all three tournaments they’ve played in, including a victory at the Lady Bulldog Classic in Seguin, Texas on Sept. 11. Coach Paulette Pera is ecstatic about her team’s results.

“This is the best golf team I’ve ever had and we’re only halfway through the season,” Pera said. “All my players could be a number one player.”

The team will resume their season against Rhodes College in Santa Cruz on March 13.

Swimming

Men’s swimmer Daniel Hurst performed well for the team’s recent showing at the Finis Winter Invite held in Salinas, CA Nov. 30–Dec. 2. Hurst finished second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.96 seconds and swam the second best preliminary round time of 22.35. He also finished fourth in the 100-yard butterfly and first in 100-yard backstroke preliminaries and finals.

At the same invite, women’s swimmer Josanne Van Der Wilk finished first in both the 1,650-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle, with times of 17:55.88 and 5:12.46 for each respective event. Van Der Wilk also placed seventh in the 200-yard freestyle, winning her final heat with a time of 2:04.55.

At the competition, the final scores for the women swimmers were UC Santa Cruz 3,130 points, Cal Lutheran 1,679 points and La Verne 1,172 points. For the men swimmers, UCSC scored 2,852 to Cal Lutheran’s 1,720 and LaVerne’s 1,164. Their next meet will be on Jan. 12 of next year against Cal State East Bay at the Office of Physical Education, Recreation and Sports (OPERS).

Volleyball

Women’s volleyball finished with a 13–14 season. Coach Todd Hollenbeck said the injuries the team sustained this season led to a weaker campaign. Returning team captain Kat Grow had to sit out eight games after sustaining an injury in the first game of this season’s Trinity National Invitational before returning for women’s volleyball’s senior night on Oct. 16. Hollenbeck acknowledged Elisabeth Trambley, Helen Milne, Jaime Weber and Kim Rabii’s contributions during the period that Grow was out. The team will graduate six seniors this season.

The UCSC men’s volleyball team finished last season ranked third in the country, according to the AVCA Coaches poll. Coach Hollenbeck singled out returning starters Salvatore La Cavera III, Kevin Crosby, Mauro Salinas, Harland Frost and Jory Hollander as having a big role in the Slugs hopes to return to Nationals. Hollenbeck expects a special performance out of La Caverra this season.

“Sal returns as two-time, all-American, our conference player of the year, and this will be his third year as team captain,” Hollenbeck said.

The team’s first game will be at Concordia on Jan. 4.

Basketball

Women’s basketball currently has a 4–3 record with their recent three-game win streak coming to an end. Forward Sarah Mackey continues her assault on UCSC record books, as she is currently ranked eighth in blocked shots per game in Division III, with 3.57 per game. The team will play at Caltech and Whittier on Dec. 7 and 8, respectively.

Men’s basketball currently has a 2–5 record in Coach Ron DuBois’ first season. The team is in the middle of their season, with an upcoming game at Redlands on Dec. 7.

Soccer

Men’s soccer finished with a 7–9–2 record. After a scandal-packed season, with several players being barred from playing due to a hazing incident, according to an email sent out from UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal on Oct. 4, the team quickly returned to play. Zach Hummel, Sean Sprague and DJ Fuller were named to the Division III Independents’ first team.

Women’s soccer finished with a 10–7–1 record, ending their season by outscoring opponents 30–0 in their final three games. The Slugs narrowly missed the playoffs this season.

Tennis

The men’s tennis team is currently ranked eighth in the preseason Intercollegiate Tennis Association polls. The team will open their season on Jan. 19 against Santa Clara, before returning for their home debut against Bates College on Feb. 18.

Women’s tennis will begin their season on Jan. 13 at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Their first home games will be on Feb. 16 and 17 against Chapman, Cal Tech and Mills. The team features seven returning players from last season’s nationally ranked squad.

Co-Captain Katherine Grow leaps to spike the ball across the court toward players from Holy Names University. Photo by Toby Silverman

By the fifth set, everyone in the West Field House was standing, tightly crossing their fingers and holding their breath as UC Santa Cruz women’s volleyball co-captain Katherine Grow served the ball. The fact that the Banana Slugs were down and nearly out in the final set didn’t even register with Grow.

“I didn’t think we were going to lose,” said Grow, a junior and a College Eight history major. “I have always had faith in my team.”

UCSC’s women’s volleyball win over Holy Names University on Friday night was climactic. With both sides splitting the first four sets, a UCSC victory was hardly assured.

The game featured numerous heated rallies exchanged by both sides. In the fourth set, UCSC took a seven-point lead, which Holy Names nearly overcame twice, only to be shut out by the rallying Slugs.

By the fifth and final set, Holy Names had an 8-4 lead before UCSC fired back six unanswered points thanks to some nasty spikes from junior middle blocker Ginger Berryman and outside hitter Grow. Finally, the Slugs had the momentum they needed to put away Holy Names. Game over. Holy Names had no answer for the Slugs’ onslaught.

“When you lose rallies, it’s important to keep your head up,” Grow said.

Before the comeback rally, UCSC huddled up to find their resolve. College Eight sophomore setter Jessica Peng, starting for the first time this season and the smallest starter on the team, had big words for her teammates.

“I said ‘infiltrate, destruct and destroy,’ in the huddle,” Peng said. “It completely worked.”

The set scores of 17-25, 25-17, 22-25, 25-22 and 15-13 show it was anyone’s game right until the end.

Holy Names furiously returned UCSC’s spikes throughout the fifth set, yet UCSC blocked their shots and continued putting points on Holy Names. UCSC’s blocking at the net was no surprise to Berryman.

“Blocking is one of our greatest strengths,” said Berryman, a College Eight student. “We had nine blocks, which is a big number.”

UCSC’s win over Holy Names was a “revenge game,” according to the team’s Facebook page. In an away game earlier in the year, the Banana Slugs suffered a heartbreaking loss in five sets to Holy Names in Oakland. It was their first loss to Holy Names University in four years.

“Every time we play Holy Names University, I expect to have a battle,” said UCSC women’s volleyball coach Todd Hollenbeck. “Holy Names is playing better than I’ve ever seen them play before.”

Hollenbeck placed Peng as setter for the first time this season. Peng delivered, recording 59 set assists out of 60, finding Berryman, Grow and freshman outside hitter Kim Rabii for some thunderous kills. Her total was the most in the game, and the most of any Slug this season. Peng was unaware of the statistic.

“It’s all about playing for your team,” Peng said. “Not just for yourself.”

Berryman was happy to get revenge.

“I absolutely thought we got revenge,” Berryman said. “Once we started our passing game, we just crushed them.”

Despite the Banana Slugs beginning this season with a 1-4 win-loss record, Hollenbeck has big plans for his upstart program. He wants to take the team to the NCAA tournament, where he thinks their style of play can upset a few of the tournament’s big names.

“Our game is more about defense than offense,” Hollenbeck said. “We’re fast and scrappy and we can handle multiple swings easily.”

Hollenbeck noted that the women’s volleyball team’s record has improved dramatically in the last few weeks. Indeed, since then the Banana Slugs have been on a 4-1 tear. Their record is a solid but not too showy 6-5.

“If you look at all those losses [during the 1-4 stretch], we lost to some of the top-rated Division III programs in the country,” Hollenbeck said. “We stood toe-to-toe with the No. 11 program [Cal Lutheran] in the nation and barely lost.”

The Banana Slugs face a slew of tough challenges with a game at Dominican University on Sunday, before entering the La Verne and Colorado Classic tournaments in the coming weeks. Hollenbeck said he expects big things from his Slugs when they return home to play Mills College on Oct. 18.

“I fully expect us to be 9-5 after the [La Verne] tournament.”

Photo by Nick Paris.

Recent results:

Men’s soccer
Oct. 10: UCSC vs. Occidental College (away) 1-0 (win)

Women’s soccer
Oct. 10: UCSC vs. Cal Lutheran (away) 2-0 (loss)

Upcoming events:

Swimming/diving
Oct. 16: UCSC vs. Alumni (home) at 12 p.m.

Women’s cross country
Oct. 16: Bronco Invite in Cupertino (away) at 9 a.m.

Women’s volleyball
Oct. 15: UCSC vs. Pomona-Pitzer (away) at 12:30 p.m.
Oct. 15: UCSC vs. University of Redlands (away) at 5 p.m.

Photos by Devika Agarwal and Isaac Miller.

On the northern outskirts of town just past the 7-Eleven, old shipping containers lay behind barbed wire in parking lots of deserted shipping warehouses. The Mission Street extension hits a dead end at an unkempt field of concrete, dying trees and weeds. Hiding behind a larger warehouse stands CrossFit, the second-to-last building, a small garage with its doors rolled all the way up. Just before 5 p.m., CrossFit trainee Dave Cianciulli pulls into the driveway for a Tuesday night workout session. A man in a black hooded sweatshirt waves as the trainee drives up and pulls off his hood, rolls back his sleeves and walks into the warehouse, observing the nearly empty gym.

Patrick Barber, a trainer at CrossFit Santa Cruz, is only one of many people working at CrossFit locations now all over the globe.

“I just got back from spending two months in New Zealand,” Barber said. “I helped my girlfriend set up a few things for CrossFit there.”

CrossFit, now an international conglomeration of fitness centers, focuses their programs on high intensity strength training and conditioning. In 2004, CrossFit gyms totaled only four, but since their humble start in Santa Cruz, they have now grown to 1,700 locations worldwide. It offers a high caliber workout that is even used to train police academy recruits, tactical and special operation teams, and hundreds of professional athletes everywhere. CrossFit offers clients a level of intensity and personalization of workouts they can’t find at Gold’s Gym or 24 Hour Fitness.

“We’re different because we don’t say, ‘I want to work on just getting my arms strengthened’ or ‘I just want to tighten my core’,” Barber said. “Instead we want to swim the fastest, run the longest, weight lift the most — we want to do everything.”

Every day a Workout of the Day, or ‘WOD,’ is posted on CrossFit’s website. During each session, the small garage of CrossFit Santa Cruz houses at most 15 people, a shocking contrast to the 50 running on treadmills at 24 Hour Fitness. Barber explained that each member completes the workout with the aid of a trainer, altering the exercises to cater to each person’s abilities.

“Our goal is to maximize work capacity over broad time,” Barber said. “We do as much in every way possible. We push every boundary and constantly expand people’s borders.”

Athletes are always looking for better alternatives to the standard gym, and many have found CrossFit to fill the void.

“The advantage of CrossFit workouts as opposed to standard gym workouts is that CrossFit is constantly varied, consists of extremely functional movements, and is executed at high intensity,” said Selene Teitelbaum, a trainer from CrossFit West Santa Cruz. “[CrossFit] prepares you for anything and everything by constantly changing the stimulus in the workout.”

Teitelbaum is also the women’s head volleyball coach for UC Santa Cruz and a certified CrossFit instructor. She integrates her CrossFit training with her team’s practices.

“CrossFit is the best regime I have found, not only for myself, but for my athletes,” Teitelbaum said. “It is suitable for all sports, especially those like volleyball and basketball which require speed, strength, agility, endurance and power.  CrossFit provides improvement in all of these areas.”

Now with Teitelbaum spreading the word of CrossFit on campus, many UCSC teams are using the service to truly pioneer a new way to train. CrossFit’s use of weight-bearing workouts is new to many teams, but also may bring a higher pay-off when the team regroups during the season for competition. CrossFit approaches fitness in a unique way, giving UCSC teams a leg up over others.

“I haven’t heard of a single NCAA running program in the nation incorporating CrossFit into their training plan,” said Adam Boothe, the UCSC women’s cross-country coach, “so we are really flying on our own here.”

Many athletes have picked up the habit of working out with CrossFit, giving them more than their average, typical training — UCSC’s men’s soccer and women’s volleyball teams along with Boothe’s team have all integrated parts of CrossFit’s techniques into their own workouts.

“CrossFit is also highly competitive, so athletes naturally gravitate towards that,” Teitelbaum said. “It makes the workouts fun, challenging and very satisfying to complete when they are competitive. It also motivates them to improve and is easily measurable to mark your fitness gains.”

With a CrossFit trainer now working in the athletic offices of UCSC, other NCAA-sanctioned teams are picking up CrossFit as another supplemental training tool.

“CrossFit does a few things that I believe can help the cross-country team,” Boothe said. “One, it builds more overall strength than just running, allowing the runners to train at the level they need to, and not get injured. Two, it makes them more competitive, and trains them to deal with competitive pressure.”

Many coaches, like Boothe, are beginning to incorporate CrossFit into their regimen, but they agree the best time to use the program is during the off-season.

“Most of our CrossFit training occurs during the off-season to prepare for season in the fall,” Teitelbaum said. “During season, our practices and competition are physically intense enough and we don’t do CrossFit more than once a week.”

“I’d like to have the team doing CrossFit three to four days a week in the off-season, and cut back to one or two days a week during our competition phase,” Boothe said.

CrossFit’s involvement with UCSC athletics is becoming more prominent, but some safety concerns have arisen even as popularity climbs.

“I’ve been overall really happy with it, some of the concerns that I have are that some of the repetitions are dangerous, such as squats and lunges,” Runeare said. “The workouts are usually timed and sometimes when athletes go as fast as they can, they put themselves in danger because technique goes out the door. I’m weary of that portion of the exercises but we try to keep an eye out for that and we make sure that we teach them the proper instructions.”

With Americans valuing healthy living now more than ever, a massive expansion to the CrossFit name only helps those who are trying to change their lives for the better.

Working out during a 5 p.m. Tuesday night session, the lone trainee knows the truth about CrossFit better than anyone. Dave Cianciulli, who works for a manufacturing company in San Jose and lives on the Westside, takes a water break after an exhaustive warm-up. Grabbing his bottle, Cianciulli wipes the beads of sweat off his forehead with his sleeve, taking a slow swig of water.

“Seven years ago, I started working out at CrossFit under Lauren Glassman, the founder’s wife. I was [just] off the couch, heavy smoker, heavy drinker, horrible diet, couldn’t do a pull-up or more than five push-ups, and weighed 50 pounds more,” Cianciulli said. “CrossFit changes everything, changes your life pattern — even my kids come and workout.”

Cianciulli is hardly out of breath after a constant, fast-paced warm-up.

“It has a huge impact on self esteem; I was in a really sad state. What CrossFit does is it brings you to a much more sustainable state.”

Sustainable, indeed. While the CrossFit pace is hard and fast, their beginners are not always athlete types — that is much appreciated among the trainers such as Barber and Jesse Bazarnick, a UCSC graduate and alumni of the highly-ranked men’s volleyball team.

“It’s impressive to see someone like Jesse, who’s played volleyball all his life and has always worked out, come in and do well. What’s more impressive is when a 45-year-old housewife with no athletic background comes in, and you get them moving. That’s amazing,” Barber said.

The emerging movement due to a rise in the popularity of CrossFit may have also caused a divide between those who live for CrossFit and those who use CrossFit to live.

“Many CrossFit gyms, or ‘boxes’ as they call them, have become far too cultish,” Boothe said. “Many ‘boxes’ attempt to affect every aspect of your life — what you eat, what sports you play, where you workout, et cetera … Some ‘boxes’ also don’t respect that you’re doing CrossFit to help with other pursuits. Not everyone simply likes to be good at working out.”

Other issues have also emerged and are gaining attention in the community. Many are finding the price of a session at CrossFit creeping higher and higher, almost out of reach. Rates are set by each individual CrossFit gym and while figures are still around the same ballpark, it will not be long before the costs skyrocket.

“CrossFit was invented in Santa Cruz as an alternative to expensive gym memberships that never got you in great shape anyway,” Boothe continued. “The original CrossFit website has WODs you can do on your own, however now these CrossFit ‘boxes’ cost members more per month than any gym.”

For some, CrossFit is a movement sweeping the world, something that becomes a lifestyle or a religion. But the true grassroots purpose of the original CrossFit still holds meaning to many in Santa Cruz — to develop their athletic prowess for whatever reasons.

“I would recommend [CrossFit] to any person whether they be an athlete or not, to improve their physical and mental state,” Teitelbaum said. “Almost everyone can benefit from CrossFit and the beauty of it is that any workout can be scaled to match your level of fitness.  So you can have a 70-year-old grandmother, a collegiate athlete and a high school student, all doing the same workout, simply scaled to their ability.  It builds a sense of competition and camaraderie at the same time.”

While there are problems that need attention, the overall impression of CrossFit is a positive one.

“As a training program, I think it’s amazing,” Boothe said. “It doesn’t take much equipment, it doesn’t take much time, and it’s constantly changing, so you don’t get bored. It’s the best ‘bang for your buck’ training I have ever found. I feel it can be a valuable addition to any sports training program.”

Photo by Devika Agarwal.

The fall quarter is quickly coming to a close, which also means the end of several campus sports for the year. City on a Hill Press gives you the lowdown on how UC Santa Cruz’s teams did this season.

~~~~~

Men’s Soccer
Record: 13-4-4 (8-2-3 in Division III)

With new head coach Michael Runeare at the helm, the UC Santa Cruz men’s soccer team greatly improved over last year’s record of 8-7-2 and made the NCAA postseason for the fourth time in five years. They started off the year strong with two overtime road victories over University of Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran, and went on to win 12 straight games. The second half of the season proved to be more difficult for them, however, as they lost four games on the road. These losses included their last two games of the season, after seven players were suspended from the team during the last weekend of October for an undisclosed team misconduct incident. The Slugs then hosted Claremont Mudd-Scripps in the first round of the playoffs on Nov. 14, but were defeated 2-1 to end their national championship hopes.

~~~~~

Women’s Soccer
Record: 12-6-0 (8-5-0 in Division III)

The women’s soccer team slightly bettered last year’s final record with two fewer losses and made the playoffs for the fourth straight year. They had two significant winning streaks during the season, winning four in a row after a first game loss as well as three straight wins at the beginning of October. Unfortunately, they too also suffered a first-round playoff loss at the hands of Claremont Mudd-Scripps, and will have to wait until next year for a chance at redemption for their early postseason exit.

~~~~~

Women’s Volleyball
Record: 20-11 (10-8 in Division III)

The Lady Slugs had a successful season, nearly equaling their impressive 2008 record of 22-8. After losing their first game of the year to Carthage University, the team went on to win six in a row and 13 out of 14 games in a single stretch. They had a difficult October, however, losing seven games straight on the road at two tournaments, in Thousand Oaks and Colorado Springs. Unfortunately, this losing streak lessened the team’s playoff chances, and they were unable to make the NCAA postseason roster this season.

~~~~~

Women’s Cross Country

The team started off the year with the University of San Francisco 5K Invitational on Sept. 5, where they placed sixth of 10 colleges and junior Mikayla Murphy finished second out of 100 participants with a time of 18.25.70. Their most successful meet of the year proved to be the Bronco Invite on Oct. 17, as the team finished fourth overall out of 14 teams in the open portion of the event. They then met at the NCAA DIII West Regionals in Claremont on Nov. 14 where the team finished 11th out of 17 teams. While this was not enough to continue on to the championship in Cleveland on Nov. 21, Murphy’s performance at the Regionals meet (where she placed seventh out of 113 runners) was enough for her to make it to nationals on an individual level.

Men’s Soccer
10/30 at Chapman (away) 1-0 (win)
11/1 at Cal Lutheran (away) 2-1 (loss)
11/4 at Holy Names (away) (1-0) (loss)

Women’s Soccer
10/30 at Claremont Mudd Scripps (away) 3-2 (loss)
11/1 at Chapman (away) 5-0 (win)

Women’s Volleyball
11/3 at Dominican (away) (3-1) (win)

{Upcoming Athletics}

Men’s Basketball
11/6 at Merced (Club) (away) at 6 p.m.
11/11 vs. SF State (home) at 7 p.m.

Women’s Volleyball
11/6 vs. Mills (home) at 7 p.m.*

*indicates last regularly scheduled game of the year

Men’s Soccer
10/24 at Austin College (away) 2-1 (loss)
10/25 at University of Dallas (away) 2-1 (win)

Women’s Soccer
10/23 vs. Academy of Arts (home) 1-0 (win)

Women’s Volleyball
10/23 vs. Colorado College (away) 3-0 (loss)
10/23 vs. Chapman (away) 3-0 (loss)
10/24 vs. Millikin (away) 3-2 (win)

{Upcoming Athletics}

Men’s Soccer
10/30 at Chapman (away) at 7 p.m.
11/1 at Cal Lutheran (away) at 12 p.m.
11/4 at Holy Names (away) at 1 p.m.*

Women’s Soccer
10/30 at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (away) at 7 p.m.
11/1 at Chapman (away) at 12 p.m.*

Women’s Volleyball
11/3 at Dominican (away) at 7 p.m.
11/6 vs. Mills (home) at 7 p.m.*

*Indicates last regularly scheduled game of the year

Men’s Soccer
10/11 at La Sierra University (away) 2-1 (win)

Women’s Soccer
10/16 vs. Chapman (home) 2-1 (loss)
10/18 at Cal Lutheran (away) 3-1 (loss)

Women’s Volleyball
10/16 vs. Cal Lutheran (away) 3-0 (loss)
10/16 vs. Pomona Pitzer Colleges (away) 5-3 (loss)
10/17 vs. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (away) 3-0 (loss)
10/17 vs. University of Redlands (away) 3-0 (loss)

{Upcoming Athletics}

Men’s Soccer
10/24 at Austin College (away) at 1 p.m.
10/25 at University of Dallas (away) at 12 p.m.

Women’s Soccer
10/23 vs. Academy of Arts (home) at 4 p.m.

Women’s Volleyball
10/23 vs. Colorado College (away) at 3 p.m.
10/23 vs. Chapman (away) at 5 p.m.
10/24 vs. Millikin (away) at 1 p.m.

Men’s Soccer
10/8 at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (away) 1-1 (tie)
10/10 at Cal State San Marcos (away) 2-0 (loss)
10/11 at La Sierra University (away) 2-1 (win)

Women’s Soccer
10/8 vs. Menlo College (home) 5-2 (win)

Women’s Volleyball
10/9 vs. Holy Names University (home) 3-0 (win)
10/10 vs. Dominican (home) 5-2 (win)

{Upcoming Athletics}

Men’s Soccer
10/24 at Austin College (away) at 1 p.m.
10/25 at University of Dallas (away) at 12 p.m.

Women’s Soccer
10/16 vs. Chapman (home) at 3 p.m.
10/18 vs. Cal Lutheran University (away) at 1 p.m.

Women’s Volleyball
10/16 vs. Cal Lutheran University (away) at 3 p.m.
10/16 vs. Pomona Pitzer Colleges (away) at 7 p.m.

Any athletic teams, clubs or programs that wish to have sports scores and information listed in future issues of City on a Hill Press, please send schedules, results and contact information to sports@cityonahillpress.com.

Men’s Soccer
10/2 vs. Chapman (home) 1-0 (win)
10/6 vs. Fresno Pacific (home) 4-3 (win)

Women’s Soccer
10/2 vs. La Sierra (home) 3-0 (win)
10/4 vs. Whittier (home) 6-0 (win)

Women’s Volleyball
10/3 vs. Menlo (home) 3-1 (win)

{Upcoming Athletics}

Men’s Soccer
10/8 at Claremont-Mudd Scripps (away) at 4 p.m.

Women’s Soccer
10/8 vs. Menlo (home) at 3 p.m.
10/16 vs. Chapman (home) at 3 p.m.

Women’s Volleyball
10/9 vs. Holy Names (home) at 7 p.m.
10/10 vs. Dominican (home) at 7 p.m.

Any athletic teams, clubs or programs that wish to have sports scores and information listed in future issues of City on a Hill Press, please send schedules, results and contact information to sports@cityonahillpress.com

Women’s Soccer
Record: 9-2-0 (6-1-0 in Division III)

The UCSC women’s soccer team reminded everyone on Oct. 4 that they are a force to be reckoned with with a 6-0 rout of Whittier at home. Led by new head coach Josh Schelhorse, the team needs only three more victories in their last six games to match last year’s win total and (hopefully) secure itself a spot in the postseason for the fourth year in a row. They will play an equal amount of games home and on the road for the rest of the season, with two upcoming home games against Menlo College this Thursday, and against D-III rival Chapman on Friday, Oct. 16. The team plays the last game on the schedule at Chapman on Nov. 1.

Men’s Soccer
Record: 9-0-1 (6-0-1 in Division III) (game on 10/6, record will change before issue prints)

The UC Santa Cruz men’s soccer team came into this season looking to improve on last year’s 8-7-2 record, and so far this year they’re well on their way to doing that. The team already has more wins than in 2008 and is currently undefeated and ranked fourth in the nation in Division III play. After shutting out D-III independent rival Chapman 1-0 on Oct. 2, the team faced another independent team, Fresno Pacific, on Oct. 6 and came away with an important 4-3 win. They will spend the second half of the season out on the road and finish up the schedule at Holy Names University on Nov. 4. With the way the team is playing, however, that game will likely not be their last of the year, as they have a good chance of making the playoffs if they can keep the current momentum going.

Women’s Volleyball
Record: 15-3 (9-3 in Division III)

With an impressive 15-3 record, the Lady Slugs volleyball team is on track to have one of the best seasons in the history of their program (see page 9 for story). After losing the first game of the year to Carthage University, the team went on a six-game winning streak that included four decisive 3-0 victories. The team will play two of their last home games of the year this weekend against Holy Names University and Dominican, then go on the road for eight games (four of which will be against Division III opponents) before finishing the regular season at home against Mills on Nov. 6. While the team hopes to make the playoffs this year, they are also setting their sights on making the NCAA Regionals for the first time in team history.

Women’s Cross-Country

So far this season the team has seen success on a collective and individual level. At their first event of the year, the USF 5K Invitational on Sept. 5, the UCSC women placed sixth out of 10 colleges with an average runner time of 20:07.50, and junior Mikayla Murphy finished second out of 100 participants with a time of 18:25.70. The team did even better overall the following weekend at the Irvine Invite, finishing fourth out of 11 teams. Most recently, the cross country team appeared in the West Region Preview Meet hosted by Pomona Pitzer and finished third overall out of 10 teams with junior Murphy winning the race. The team is currently ranked eight out of 20 teams in the Western region with three meets left in the season, including the Bronco Invite hosted by Santa Clara University on Saturday, Oct. 17 and the NCAA Division III West Regional meet on Saturday, Nov. 14.

The women’s volleyball team throw up their arms in a quick celebration as they score another point against Menlo College team. Photo by Alex Zamora.

Senior Amy Knight spikes the dreams of Menlo college down as she slams in the points for the women’s’ volleyball team. Photo by Alex Zamora.

It’s a cool October night, but inside the West Field House the temperature is high. The gym echoes with the sounds of yells and the squeaks of shoes on its hardwood floor. This is where the UC Santa Cruz women’s volleyball team conducts its practices, plays its home games and hones its skills.

Coach Selene Teitelbaum led the 2008 team to a 22-8 season, but with the team currently 15-3 she believes they could improve on last year and possibly have the best season in UCSC women’s volleyball history.

“The team this year is the best it’s ever been,” Teitelbaum said. “We did lose three starters last year, but the team has filled in the gaps and we’re looking stronger than ever. Our goal for the season is to make it to NCAA Regionals for the first time in school history.”

The players, including senior outside setter Katie English, share their coach’s sentiments about gunning for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Regionals.

“Making it to the Regionals is a huge goal and motivator for the team because we would be the first team to ever do that,” English said. “And this year is the year it could happen. A lot of us have been playing together since freshman year so we have that team chemistry that sets us apart from the pack.”

This team chemistry has proven to be a powerful force when the team goes on the road.

“It’s a different atmosphere playing away games [because] we don’t have our fans there, so we have to motivate ourselves and each other,” English said. “Our team thrives off of energy from one another. We are always trying to build up momentum in the game, always trying to stay ahead of our opponents in any way we can.”

Senior setter Amy Knight feels as if the team is playing for more than just victories.

“Our coaches always stress that we have goals other than winning,” Knight said. “We’ve come back from so many games because we are playing for more than just the win — we’re playing for each other.”

Despite this philosophy, though, the team has been so successful this season that some players are still taken aback by a loss.

“We kind of expect to win every game now, so it’s kind of a shock when we do lose,” English said. “Right now we are at the top of our game, and every school we go to [is] kind of out to get us because of our record and how well we are doing.”

The women’s volleyball team, which has a 9-1 record in its last 10 games, showed their strength again this past Saturday night at home with a decisive victory in four sets against Menlo College (6-7).

Though the team has a solid fanbase, Knight hopes more UCSC students will recognize the team’s success and come out to support them at future matches.

“A lot of people show up right now. A lot of regulars, mostly friends and family, but there are a lot of locals who show up, too. Come out and watch us play; we’re a fun team to watch and we’re the best we’ve ever been.”

Men’s Soccer
9/22 vs. Menlo (home) 2-0 (win)
9/27 vs. La Sierra (home) 4-0 (win)

Women’s Soccer
9/25 vs. Southwestern (home) 5-0 (win)
9/27 vs. La Verne (home) 2-1 (win)

Women’s Volleyball
9/26 vs. Luther (home) 3-2 (loss)
9/26 vs. La Sierra (home) 3-0 (win)
9/29 at Mills (away) 3-0 (win)

Upcoming Athletics:

Men’s Soccer
10/2 vs. Chapman (home) at 2PM
10/6 vs. Fresno Pacific (home) at 4PM

Women’s Soccer
10/2 vs. La Sierra (home) at 4PM
10/4 vs. Whittier (home) at 12PM

Women’s Volleyball
10/3 vs. Menlo (home) at 7PM

Any athletic teams, clubs or programs that wish to have sports scores and information listed in future issues of City on a Hill Press, please send schedules, results and contact information to sports@cityonahillpress.com