Swimming and Diving heats up next quarter as the men’s and women’s teams host the Finis Winter Invite in South Gate, Calif. This is a lead-up to the National DIII Championships in Indianapolis, Ind. from March 21-24.
Women’s Golf is a spring sport, but the team has already placed in three tournaments. Charlotte Gibson took second place and Alice Trisri tied for fifth place at the Lady Bulldog Fall Classic in Texas. The team will grow in spring with the return of Sharlene Dahlstrom. March 26-27 the team will be hosting the UCSC Spring Invite, taking place at the Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz.
Cross Country
Men’s cross country had its first season as an NCAA sport at UCSC. Both the men’s and women’s teams raced six different meets, including the Shoreline Open in Mountain View, Calif. and the Willamette Open in Salem, Ore. Slug women’s placed seventh while men’s placed ninth
at the San Francisco State Gator Invite. In their last race of the season, Slug women’s placed 14th overall at the Bronco Invite in Santa Clara.
Volleyball
Led by coach Todd Hollenbeck, men’s volleyball will open their season on Jan. 7 at University of the Pacific.
The women’s volleyball team finished 8-8 in Division III competition, with a total record of 14-9. Despite the winning record, the team missed out on qualifying for the Regional Championships, bringing their season to an end.
Basketball
The men’s basketball team is currently 1-3, with losses to Division I UC Davis, Whitworth and Whitman.
UCSC men’s basketball has been playing at a high level. Despite a record of 1-3, coach Gordie Johnson expects big things from his team.
“They took Division I UC Davis to the limit,” Johnson said. “We should have beat them.”
Johnson noted UCSC’s ball movement is better this year. In UCSC’s four games, there have been four different leading scorers.
“They share the ball really well,” Johnson said. “This year our players fit the offense better.”
This week men’s basketball will play in the University of Redlands tournament. Coach Johnson believes UCSC will make a splash.
“We have an easier schedule and there’s no one close to the teams we lost to,” Johnson said. “Our ultimate goal is 20 wins.”
The women’s basketball team is off to a slow start, losing their first three games. They will look to rebound their way to the National Championship in February. This week, the Slugs will have a two-game home stand against Whittier at 6 p.m. in the West Gym on Friday, and against University of Redlands at 2 p.m. in the West Gym on Saturday.
Tennis
After the departure of Bob Hansen, former head coach and founder of men’s tennis at UCSC, Bryce Parmelly will lead the team starting in January. The team will begin their season against Santa Clara University on Jan. 15 at Santa Clara.
Led by coach Erin Ness, the women’s tennis team will begin its season in January, opening against Santa Clara University at Santa Clara.
Soccer
The men’s soccer team finished 9-8. The team missed the playoffs this season, ending their season with a 3-1 away win against Cal Lutheran.
Slug women’s soccer was successful this season. The team finished with a 10-8-2 record for the season and a visit to the NCAA regional semifinals. The team beat Cal Lutheran in the first round of the playoffs. Junior forward Brooke Atkinson said the last loss to Concordia-Moorehead was most memorable.
“It definitely stung a little,” Atkinson said. “I mean, we beat them [initially] in the season 1-0.”
Coach Josh Schelhorse will be stepping down at the end of the season and assistant coach Emily Scheese will be taking over. Atkinson said the team was an underdog this season. She feels the team can improve despite Schelhorse leaving.
“Hopefully we will get further than we did last year,” Atkinson said. “It’s going to be interesting.”
