UC Santa Cruz men's volleyball lost 3-0 (22-25,17-25, 22-25) to Carthage at the West Field House to close the 2024 Slug Slam.
 
The first set started with Riley Norman striking a powerful blow that Carthage could only deflect out of bounds (1-0). A kill by Leo Tuncer brought it to 3-2, however soon after things went in Carthage's favor. The Banana Slugs fought hard to close the gap with a skillful tap over by Kyle Ownbey (5-8). UC Santa Cruz continued to stay on Carthage's tail with two consecutive kills from Noy Fisher and Tuncer, who were both assisted by Andrew Pak. The teams went on a series of ties with Ownbey tying it up for the final time with a kill to make it 19-19. UC Santa Cruz continued to put the pressure on but despite them leading in kills for the set (16-13), the Firebirds won the set on a ball handling error (22-25).
 
The second set started out with Carthage winning a point but the Banana Slugs retaliated with an ace from Norman to make it 2-1. Tuncer came in with a kill to take the Slugs up by one (5-4) After a series of attack errors, the Banana Slugs fell behind, but consecutive kills from Fisher and Tuncer made it a one-point game (10-11). Unfortunately, the Banana Slugs lost their momentum and Carthage took the set (17-25).
 
The third set saw UC Santa Cruz on the offensive as they started out strong with a floater by Ownbey. Pak's behind the head pass to Ownbey allowed the Banana Slugs to lead 3-2, and a Tuncer solo block was followed by a double block by Norman and Ownbey to give UC Santa Cruz the lead at 10-8. There was rallying back-and-forth and UC Santa Cruz dropped the lead, but Tuncer served an ace to make it 19-22. The Banana Slugs can't catch up in time despite a kill from Ownbey and Nico Espinoza and they drop the set (22-25).
 
Tuncer had a team high of 12 kills on 25 total attacks, 2 of them aces, along with 4 digs and a solo block. Norman had 10 kills on 25 attacks with 4 digs, and Ownbey had 8 kills on 11 attacks. Norman was named to the Slug Slam All Tournament team after finishing the weekend with 43 total kills.
 
UC Santa Cruz continues the homestand next Friday night when they host Menlo College at Kaiser Permanente Arena.