Women's volleyball, soccer teams to compete in NCAA championship

Women's soccer team
The UCSC women's soccer team
The UCSC women's volleyball team

The UC Santa Cruz women's volleyball and soccer teams are headed to the NCAA Division III championships.

Both teams will compete Friday in the first round of the Western division tournaments.

The women's volleyball team will play Washington University of St. Louis at 3 p.m. Friday at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.

The women's soccer team will go up against Hardin-Simmons University at Trinity University in San Antonio.

"The women on both these teams are incredible ambassadors for UC Santa Cruz," said Cliff Dochterman, director of athletics, sports and intramurals.

The volleyball team has rebounded from a stretch of losing seven of 10 matches and a coaching change to go on to win five matches in a row, and 15 of their last 16 sets, he said.

The team is really growing and promises to be a top 10 team next year, if not by the end of the tournament, Dochterman said.

The soccer team is riding a three-game winning streak, with a double overtime victory this past weekend in Atlanta.

"Their dramatic victory, in a driving thunderstorm, is indicative of the incredible character of our Slugs," Dochterman said.