UC Santa Cruz men's volleyball beat Simpson University 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-15) at the West Field House.
 
The first set started with the Banana Slugs and the Red Hawks having a good rally before the hosts got the first point from a triple block by Dylan Foreman, Riley Norman, and Ethan Makishima. Foreman was able to get back-to-back kills making the score 18-15, and Leo Tuncer ended the set with a kill making the score 25-19.
 
The second set started with great saves by Andrew Pak and Norman and then Tuncer finished it off with a kill adding the first points to the scoreboard. First-year Evan Erickson debuted and had a good block and then a kill in the backcourt, making the score 11-7 with the Banana Slugs in the lead. Tuncer finished the second set with a kill making the score 25-19.
 
The third set started with the Banana Slugs getting the first points from a bad serve from the Red Hawks, a service ace from Makishima, a block by Tuncer and a kill by Kyle Ownbey (4-0). There were three kills in a row by Tuncer, Makishima, and Norman making the score 11-6. The game ended with a service ace by Norman.

Norman had a team-high of 10 kills on 19 total attacks, in addition to 4 digs and 2 aces. With the 2 aces, Norman passed Branden Torado for eighth place on the school's career chart with 47. Foreman and Tuncer both had 8 kills, with 6 digs from Tuncer and 4 digs by Foreman.  Jalen Suwa had the team high with 9 digs and Pak had 25 assists. Overall, UC Santa Cruz hit .369 to .151 by the Redhawks.
 
UC Santa Cruz next takes on Buffalo State at the Buffalo State Invitational on Friday, February 2nd at 3:00 PM (PST).