NAPERVILLE, ILLINOIS -- A battle of nationally-ranked teams was all it was advertised. In the end, No. 13 UC Santa Cruz survived a hard-fought effort from host No. 14 North Central in the Banana Slugs' 3-2 win (21-25, 25-15, 25-17, 24-26, 16-14).
 
The win was the fifth in a row for UC Santa Cruz, who improved to 16–9 and broke a three-match losing streak to the Cardinals (13-9).
 
After struggling in the first set, the Banana Slugs found their offense. They hit .387 and .391 in the next two sets while holding the Cardinals to a combined 0.117 to go up 2-1. There were seven ties in set four until a kill from Nico Espinoza started a 6-0 run that put the Banana Slugs up 18-14. Riley Norman's kill got the Banana Slugs to match point, but the Cardinals responded with a 5-0 run to win and set up a decisive fifth set.
 
Set five kept the same energy as the first four. The Banana Slugs got to match point again after consecutive kills by Norman, helped by a diving save by Logan Taylor. However, the Cardinals once again forced another tie.
The Banana Slugs this time responded with another kill to get back to match point, and Kyle Ownbey finished the match with a perfect floating kill to the middle of the court for the win.
 
Norman led the UC Santa Cruz offense with 17 kills on 41 attempts, as well as a team-high 17 digs and the team's only ace. Espinoza and Leo Tuncer both had 13 kills, and Taylor had season-highs of 33 assists and seven digs. After a perfect Midwest road trip, the Banana Slugs return to Santa Cruz for a Senior Day clash with fifth-ranked Cal Lutheran on Saturday afternoon.