THOUSAND OAKS, Ca. – The UC Santa Cruz men's volleyball team earned their second-straight sweep and third-straight sweep, defeating the Calvin Knights 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-15) and the Mount Union Purple Raiders 3-0 (29-27, 25-16, 25-19). Riley Norman and Kyle Ownbey led the team in game one with nine kills and eight kills respectively while Noy Fisher dished out three service aces. The Slugs hit at a .309 clip against the Calvin Knights while holding Calvin to a -0.36 hitting percentage. UCSC hit at a .316 hitting percentage against Mount Union with Riley Norman recording 16 kills with Dylan Foreman and Kyle Ownbey recording 11 and 10 kills.
 
UC Santa Cruz 3, Calvin 0
UCSC opened the match on a 6-1 run and didn't look back as they charged forward, outscoring the Knights 13-8 to get to a 19-9 lead late in the first set. Dylan Foreman and Kyle Ownbey led the attack in that stretch with Foreman recording four kills while Ownbey recorded three. Calvin couldn't get much going as UCSC outscored the Knights 6-5 down the stretch to take set one 25-14.
 
Calvin had the early advantage in set two, working to a quick 3-1 lead before battling their way to an 8-6 advantage. The Slugs regrouped and countered with a blistering 9-1 run that forced a Calvin timeout with UCSC out in front 15-9. The run featured blocks from Ownbey, Evan Erickson, Noy Fisher, and Riley Norman along with an ace from Ownbey. The break was effective for Calvin as they responded with a 11-3 run to regain the lead at 20-18. In a game of runs, the Slugs managed to respond once again, outscoring Calvin 7-2 down the stretch to take set two 25-22.
 
The Slugs struck first in set three, but Calvin hung with them as the two teams worked to a 6-6 tie. UC Santa Cruz played great from there on out, holding the Knights to just nine points while UCSC earned 19 of their own to take the set 25-15. The Slugs saw kills from Evan Erickson, Noy Fisher, Kyle Ownbey, Caio Valente, and Riley Norman.

UC Santa Cruz 3, Mount Union 0
The Purple Raiders struck first and pushed the pace with an 8-5 lead in set one, but the Slugs were able to counter with a 14-7 run with four kills from Riley Norman and three from Kyle Ownbey to take a 19-15 lead and force a Mount Union timeout. Out of the break, both teams scored three points, giving UCSC a 22-18 lead, forcing the Purple Raiders to talk things over once again. Out of the second timeout, the Slugs managed to get to set point at 24-22 but Mount Union survived, tying the contest at 25-25 before taking a 27-26 lead to force a UCSC timeout. The break was all the Slugs needed as they took three unanswered points out of the timeout to win the set 29-27 following a Mount Union service error and attack error before Dylan Foreman earned the final kill.
 
In set two, Mount Union earned the first point, and the two teams kept things close with UC Santa Cruz taking a 9-5 lead before the Purple Raiders jumped right back to tie things at 9-9. The match stayed tight with the two teams fighting to a 13-13 tie. UC Santa Cruz managed to go on a 6-3 run with two kills from Riley Norman and a kill from both Dylan Foreman and Ethan Makishima, forcing a Mount Union timeout. Out of the break, the Slugs stormed to the finish with a 6-1 run to take set two 25-16.
 
Set three felt eerily similar to set two as the two teams traded blows in the early going, once again working to a 13-13 tie as David Polster and Dylan Foreman both turned in three kills. UC Santa Cruz outscored Mount Union 9-5 to take a 22-18 lead and force the Purple Raiders to take a quick break. The Slugs couldn't be slowed down this time as they ended the match with a 3-1 run in style, delivering the final blow with an ace from David Polster to take the set 25-19 and cap off their third-straight sweep.