Heading into their biggest match of the year, No. 14 UC Santa Cruz got a good test from visiting Simpson University, but held on for a hard-earned 25-20, 25-20, 31-29 sweep at the West Field House.
The Banana Slugs go to 7-0 on the season with their sixth-straight sweep.
 
UC Santa Cruz never trailed in the first set, but despite a quick 6-2 early deficit, the visiting Redhawks didn't not let up. Simpson tied it at 11-all.  It stayed close after that, but after a Simpson kill pulled them to within 20-19, UC Santa Cruz ran off a 6-1 run, finishing with kills by setters Leo Tuncer and Mohan Duvvuri to win and gain a 1-0 lead.
 
Set Two had five ties until a 6-2 run gave the Banana Slugs an 18-14 lead, finishing with a block from Riley Norman. Simpson took advantage of two Banana Slugs errors to get within 18-16 before the hosts closed with a 7-4 run to win the set and go up 2-0.

The third set was wildly entertaining. Simpson had a 9-2 run midway through to gain their biggest lead of the night at 15-11. That woke up the Banana Slugs, who answered with an 8-0 run book ended by a Colton Jeffrey kill and a Trevor Jackson ace to lead 19-15.
Simpson responded and gained the lead back at 23-22, but kills by Tuncer and Jeffrey gave UC Santa Cruz match point. A Simpson kill tied it at 24, and extra back-and-forth volleyball commenced. UC Santa Cruz was able to end it after a Simpson service error, and a block by Tuncer finished the set and the match.
 
The Banana Slugs had a 46-36 advantage in kills and served six aces to two by the Redhawks. Simpson had a slight 12-8 advantage in blocks. Jeffrey had a team-high 14 kills. Riley had eight kills to go with four blocks and two aces. Jackson also had two aces, and Tuncer had a season-high 33 assists. UC Santa Cruz finishes the weekend on Saturday evening with their highly anticipated showdown against Division I seventh-ranked Stanford University at Kaiser Permanente Arena.