THOUSAND OAKS (1-12) - Fourteenth-ranked UC Santa Cruz men's volleyball lost 3-0 (19-25, 19-25, 18-25) at No. 12 Cal Lutheran in the season opener for both schools.

The Kingsmen were able to get the first point off an out of bounds block from UC Santa Cruz. However, Leo Tuncer came in with a kill (1-1). From there, the Banana Slugs were going back to back with Cal Lutheran. To tie the game up at 15-15, Banana Slugs setter Logan Taylor performed a miraculous bump which surprised the Kingsmen defense as they ended up surrendering the point. Serving for the next point, Nico Espinoza beamed the ball at Cal Lutheran, who were unable to control it and Riley Norman snatches the opportunity for a kill off the free ball to put UC Santa Cruz ahead by 1 point (16-15). Unfortunately, Cal Lutheran was able to recover as the back and forth went on and the Banana Slugs dropped the first set 19-25.
 
The second set was close with 10 ties. Santa Cruz started off with a continuous 1 point lead but Cal Lutheran stayed on their tail and ran away with a lead in the middle of the set. The Banana Slugs kept up the fight, but ultimately the Kingsmen won the set 19-25 and went up 2-0 in the match.

In the third set, Cal Lutheran went a point ahead off a missed serve, however the Banana Slugs corrected their error by gaining a 2-1 lead off 2 straight points, including a kill from Tuncer. The Kingsmen kept it close, but the Banana Slugs got creative and a sneaky setter attack by Taylor gave them an edge. Tuncer served an ace to lengthen the lead to 6-3. The Kingsmen come back strong and tie it up to 8-8. The third set started off strong for the Banana Slugs with high intensity and the score continuing to go back and forth. However the set did not end in the Banana Slugs' favor and finished with a score of 18-25 for Cal Lutheran.
 
Norman had a team-high of 8 kills and 2 assists. Taylor had 23 assists in his college debut. Tuncer added 7 kills and Kyle Ownbey 6. Tuncer had UC Santa Cruz's only ace.
 
The Banana Slugs finish the CLU Invitational on Saturday with matches against Adrian and sixth-ranked Vassar.