SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The UCSC Slugfest Tournament wrapped up with two down to the wire matches for Whitman College volleyball Sunday. The Whits opened up the day with a 3-1 loss, but pushed Whitworth University to the brink on several occasions. In its final tournament game, Whitman downed Menlo College 3-2 after falling behind 2-0 early.

Coming off of a win Saturday afternoon against Whitworth (3-1), Menlo (5-5) was looking to remain unbeaten in tournament play; however, Whitman (2-2) had other things in mind. The Oaks jumped out to a quick two-game advantage with 25-14 and 25-13 wins. The Whits stormed back after a quick intermission taking games three through five, 25-16, 25-22 and 15-12.

Head coach Matt Helm was pleased at his team's fight in the second game of the day saying, "We came out flat versus Menlo and needed to clear the Whitworth game. Once we relaxed and played together we were able to stay in system and run our offense. Our sophomores did a great job making key plays down the stretch and Breanna Mehling came in and set in the back row."

The senior duo of Shae Kanakaole and Natalia Zea contributed 20 kills with Kanakaole adding 13 digs and Zea assisting with four blocks. Megan Henry added 11 kills of her own, along with three aces and five blocks in the comeback win.

"Shae (Kanakaole), Natalia (Zea) and (Anna) Dawson's leadership on the court really helped keep our players focused and calm. They have so much experience that they get players to feed off of," Helm continued.
 
While falling 3-1 to Whitworth was not ideal for Whitman, it does show how much more improved the team is from a season ago. Sunday, the Whits dropped games one, three and four by scores of 27-25, 27-25, and 25-20 respectively. To put those numbers into perspective, last year the Whits stayed within five points of the Pirates just three times in seven matches.
 
Sophomore, Henry led the team with 12 kills, while Brooke Randall assisted six blocks. Codie Conching led the Whits with 16 digs and Miranda Taylor's four service aces were a match high. Kanakaole and Zea combined for 13 kills, six blocks and four service aces in the early session Sunday afternoon.

Helm finished by addressing his team's level of play throughout the weekend saying, "I am overall happy with the way we competed. I [felt] we had a good chance to be successful with all the teams in this tournament."
 
It was an all-around great outing for the Whits in the UCSC Slugfest Tournament. The team will continue their preseason play next weekend in Colorado Springs, Colo. at the 2016 Molten Colorado College Invitational hosted by Colorado College.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: 

Senior, Shae Kanakaole was named to the 2016 Slugfest All-tournament First Team and sophomore Megan Henry was named to the 2016 Slugfest All-tournament Second Team. Kanakaole totaled 32 kills, five assists, 41 digs and four blocks. Henry had a team high 36 kills along with seven service aces and nine block assists.