PASADENA, Calif. — The Caltech volleyball team picked up its first win of the 2023 campaign on Saturday, defeating the University of Antelope Valley Pioneers in a four-set home contest. It was a quick turnaround for the Beavers, who opened their season on Friday night before scooping the 25-17, 25-15, 14-25, 25-14 victory the following morning. The Beavers improved to 1-1 on the season before falling to Life Pacific later in the afternoon.

Saturday's action against Antelope Valley began with an impressive first set from the Beavers, who closed on an incredible 14-8 run to pick up the 25-17 set victory. Sophomore Sophia Parker led all players in kills in the set with six while senior Halle Blend led the group in assists with five. The squad showed their serving prowess as well, landing an exceptional five service aces en route to the 1-0 set score.

Set 2 proved to be an even more dominant performance for the Beavers, who opened the set on a spectacular 11-0 run, electrifying the bench and forcing the Pioneers to use both timeouts.

The team was led in the second game by sophomore Giulia Murgia, who connected on all 11 serves before finally logging a service error in the team's 12th point of the set. Murgia assisted on seven of the 11 points in which she served. The standout would end the set with an incredible 12 assists; the team as a whole posted 17 assists in the set to Antelope Valley's four. The Beavers also logged 18 kills to the visitors' four.

The home team would drop the third set before returning to the form in what would be the final set of the match. A number of impressive kills helped the team to a 12-5 advantage in the fourth set before the lead swelled to as many as 11 points at 23-12. A kill from first-year Celine Wu and a final kill from Parker put a bow on the match as the team celebrated its commanding victory.

Parker led all players with a career-high 17 kills; Blend also set a career-high in the category, logging 12. Murgia's 28 assists topped her previous career high of 19 and led all players in the match. Caltech logged 42 assists against 27 from the Pioneers.

Parker showed her multifaceted skills throughout the match, leading all players in digs (16) -- just one shy of her career best. The squad earned seven more digs than their opponents.

The team earned a hitting percentage of .179 to Antelope Valley's .076; Murgia led the contest individually at .400.

After scooping the 3-1 win and taking a few hours of rest during a neutral site match, the team returned to the court where they faced the Warriors of Life Pacific University. Caltech earned an impressive 25-18 win in the third set against the strong competitor, but it was ultimately the visitors that earned the victory in four sets (25-10, 25-10, 25-18, 25-10). The Beavers beat out Life Pacific in the third set in kills (10 to six) and assists (nine to six).

Parker led all players in the match in kills, with nine; Murgia again led the team in assists (ten). Parker tied her career-high in digs, with 17. First-year Aliza Bakker scored three service aces in the contest.

Head coach Tom Gardner was pleased with the squad's performance in both matches.

"I'm proud of how hard the team battled and dealt with adversity throughout the day," said Gardner. "We feel good about our progress this weekend," he said.

The Beavers will now prepare for the Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz, who will come to town on Wednesday, Sep. 6 in a 6 p.m. showdown at Braun Gymnasium. Cheer on the Beavers in person or watch online at gocaltech.com/live.

Follow Caltech Volleyball on Instagram and follow Caltech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.