Box Score 1 | Box Score 2  
THOUSAND OAKS - UC Santa Cruz closed the 2023 CLU Invite with a pair of victories Saturday.
UC Santa Cruz held off a determined Benedictine team to win 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-13, 25-20) and then swept Illinois Tech 25-14, 25-19, 25-13.

Match One
After a close loss in Set One, the Banana Slugs took control in the second set, and were up 20-15 on Noy Fisher's ace. Benedictine however went on a 6-2 run to pull within 22-21 on a referee's reverse call. The Banana Slugs maintained their composure though and finished the last three points to take the set and tie the match. UC Santa Cruz went up 6-1 in the third set after a block from Colton Jeffrey and Trevor Jackson, forcing Benedictine to use an early time out. The lead went to 12-3 on another block by and the Banana Slugs built the lead up to 20-10 before coasting to take a 2-1 lead.

Colby Hurdle led UC Santa Cruz with a season-high 13 kills. Jackson added seven kills and a team-high seven total blocks. Mohan Duvvuri had 30 assists and Maxwell Mednick had 12 digs. UC Santa Cruz out hit Benedictine .205 to .092 and had eight aces to the Eagles' four.

Match Two
Against the Illinois Tech Redhawks, the Banana Slugs came out of the gate quickly. They hit .562 and .565 in taking the first two sets. The Redhawks were up 2-1 in the third before a 4-0 run capped by Leo Tuncer's ace gave UC Santa Cruz the lead for good. After an Illinois Tech kill made it 5-3, the Banana Slugs responded with a 6-1 run, and finished the set and match on another 6-1 run capped by a kill from Cebrián Carter.

The Banana Slugs finished hitting .500 while holding Illinois Tech to .138. Ethan Makishima had a team-high 12 kills on 15 swings. Duvvuri had 17 assists while Tuncer added 14 assists along with four kills and two aces.
Mednick finished with four digs to pass Lake Merchen as the school's all-time leader in career digs (On 12-3 point to force an attack error). Mednick now has 707 in his career.
The Banana Slugs (15-5) will have next weekend off before traveling to the East Coast for a four-match road trip.