In front of a raucous home crowd, UC Santa Cruz won their home opener over rival Cal Lutheran 3-1 on Thursday afternoon.

The Banana Slugs (1-0) prevailed 25-20, 21-25, 25-20, 25-22. It was a small measure of revenge after dropping both matches last season to the Kingsmen, who fell to 1-2.

The visitors opened the first set with a 7-3 lead, but the Banana Slugs tied it at ten after an ace from Colby Hurdle and kill by Noy Fisher. Three more ties followed before the hosts went on a 7-2 run to take a 20-15 lead en route to taking the set.

In the second set, there were five ties. After CLU took a 21-17 lead, a 4-0 run by the Banana Slugs tied it at 21-all. CLU, however, answered with the next four points to take the set and tie the match.

Set Three opened with CLU up 4-0 and 12-6. UC Santa Cruz then went on a 9-3 run to tie it at 15-all. After three more ties, a 5-0 run- with two more aces from Hurdle- gave the hosts a 23-18 lead before they took the set on Zachary Thompson's kill.

Set Four was close as well with 14 ties before the Banana Slugs finished on a 5-2 run to take the match, which included a pair of Fisher kills.

Overall, UC Santa Cruz outhit CLU .288 to .188. Colton Jeffrey had a match-high 18 kills while Fisher had 12 in his college debut. Jeffrey also had a team-high six digs. Hurdle finished with team-highs of three aces and five blocks. Mohan Duvvuri had 23 assists to move into the Top Ten on the school's career chart.

Both the Banana Slugs and the Kingsmen will participate in the 2023 Slug Slam Friday and Saturday, with the Banana Slugs beginning things at 8:30 am against North Park.