SANTA CRUZ, Ca. – The UC Santa Cruz men's volleyball team earned their fourth-straight sweep on Thursday night, defeating Dominican University 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-15). The victory puts the Slugs at 4-1 on the season but 4-0 in Division III. UC Santa Cruz will take on Cal Lutheran tomorrow evening at 5:00 p.m. in the West Field House.  Riley Norman led the team in kills against the Stars, recording 13 kills with a .409 hitting percentage. Kyle Ownbey had 10 kills and a .643 clip while Andrew Pak dished out 27 assists.
 
How It Happened
UC Santa Cruz got off to a quick start, taking an early 7-4 lead before the Stars fought back to tie the game at 10-10. The set remained close as both teams nearly went point for point to a score of 20-20. UCSC was able to pull away down the stretch with a 5-2 run that saw kills from Dylan Foreman and Riley Norman to give the Slugs set one at 25-22.
 
Dominican had the early edge in set two, striking first before taking a small 4-2 before the Slugs could counter to make it 6-4 with a 4-0 run. The Stars were able to regain momentum and work to a 12-9 lead, but UCSC responded with a strong 7-2 run, using kills from Andrew Pak, Kyle Ownbey, and David Polster to take the lead at 16-14 and force the Stars to call a timeout. UCSC continued to swing out of the break, working to a 20-16 lead but a 5-1 run from the Stars forced a UCSC timeout with the set tied at 21-21. Out of the break, the Slugs regained control and worked to a 25-23 set win as Ownbey put the finishing touches on the set with another kill.
 
After an early back and forth battle, the Slugs broke through, taking their 5-4 lead to a 9-5 lead to force an early Dominican timeout. The Slugs outscored the Stars 5-3 out of the break to extend the gap to 14-8, forcing another Stars timeout. Dominican couldn't quite respond as the Slugs outscored the Stars 11-7 from there, using kills from Norman, Polster, Foreman, Ownbey, and Ryan Williams to take set three 25-15 and earn their fourth-straight sweep.