The UC Santa Cruz men's volleyball team took on the University of California, Merced at the West Field House, and won convincingly 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-18).

The first set started with the Banana Slugs getting the first two points from a beautiful set by Andrew Pak to Riley Norman for a kill. Then on the ensuing point, Pak hit a service ace to help the Banana Slugs stay in the lead (2-0). The Banana Slugs got four consecutive points with a Bobcats service error, kills from Norman and Kyle Ownbey, and a service ace by Dylan Foreman (10-5). The Bobcats came back up from the deficit, however, but the Banana Slugs secured the first set with a service error by the score of 25-22. 

In the second set, the Banana Slugs started with a service ace by Pak and a kill by Ownbey for a 2-0 lead. There were many great plays with a kill by Ownbey and a long back-to-forth rally ending with a kill by Norman (11-8). After Nico Espinoza's fantastic kill, Ethan had a service ace (19-12). The set ended with a service ace by Norman, who made the score 25-19. 

Norman started the third set with a high intensity kill (1-0). There was a beautiful play with a save from Espinoza leading to a perfect set by Pak and a finish by Norman, making the score 12-6. It was a fast set which ended with a service error by the Bobcats making the score 25-18. 

Norman had a team-high with 14 kills on 25 attacks. Jalen Suwa led the defense with 9 digs, and Pak had the most assists with 34. The Banana Slugs hit .250 in the match compared to .083 by UC Merced. The Banana Slugs also had a 7-2 service ace advantage.

UC Santa Cruz men's volleyball will next play against Aurora University on February 16th in River Forest, Illinois.