SANTA CRUZ, Ca. – The UC Santa Cruz men's volleyball went five sets with the No. 8 Carthage Firebirds but ultimately fell 3-2 (25-22, 22-25, 24-26, 25-16, 15-13) on Saturday night. Dylan Foreman led the attack with 23 kills while Riley Norman had a double double with 14 kills and 13 digs. Andrew Pak and Caio Valente dished out the assists tonight with 25 and 24, respectively. The Slugs will be back in action tomorrow evening when they host SUNY New Paltz at 5:00 p.m.
 
How It Happened
Carthage struck first in set one, starting the match on a 7-3 run to build an early lead.  UC Santa Cruz was able to counter, responding with a 10-6 run that saw kills from Riley Norman, Dylan Foreman, Kyle Ownbey, and Noy Fisher to tie the set at 13-13. A 7-4 run put the Firebirds back in front, forcing a late UCSC timeout to talk things over. The Slugs managed to cut tie things at 22-22 with a 5-2 run but the Firebirds took set one 25-22, scoring three unanswered points.
 
Carthage struck first again in set two, but the Slugs were quick to counter, using a 6-0 run to force a Carthage timeout. Out of the break, the Firebirds responded with an 8-3 run to tie the set at 9-9. Carthage built a 12-9 lead before the mounted their comeback and tied things at 18-18 with kills from Norman, Foreman, and Ownbey. The Banana Slugs were able to carry that momentum down the stretch, outscoring Carthage 8-4 with kills from AJ Contreras, Norman, Foreman, and Ethan Makishima.
 
The Banana Slugs had an electric start to the third set as Riley Norman recorded four straight service aces to headline a 5-0 run to get things started. UCSC continued to lead as they outscored Carthage 8-6 to go up 13-6 and force a Carthage timeout. The Firebirds break was just what they needed as they answered with a 9-4 run, cutting the deficit to 17-15 to force a UCSC timeout. The Firebirds were able to continue clawing back, cutting the UCSC lead to one at 20-19. The Slugs were able to fend off the Carthage comeback, narrowly outscoring the Firebirds 6-5 down the stretch with Dylan Foreman, Noy Fisher, and Riley Norman all recording kills to help seal the 26-24 set win, putting the Slugs up 2-1 in the match.
 
UCSC struck first in set four and had the early edge at 5-4, but Carthage took control at 9-8 following a 5-3 run. The Firebirds quickly extended the lead to 14-10 to force a UCSC timeout and continued to attack from there, outscoring the Slugs 9-5 to force the second UCSC timeout as they went up 23-15. UC Santa Cruz responded with a kill from Riley Norrman out of the break but back to back points from Carthage gave the Firebirds the 25-16 set four win, sending the match to a decisive fifth set.
 
Service errors by both teams opened set five with the Slugs and Firebirds trading early attacks to work to a 4-4 tie. The Slugs navigated their way to an 8-4 lead with a 4-0 run, using blocks from Riley Norman, Dylan Foreman, and Kyle Ownbey, a kill from Foreman, and an ace from AJ Contreras to take the four point lead. A 5-1 run from Carthage reset the tone of the set as the two teams were tied at 9-9. The Slugs regained the lead at 12-11 with a 3-2 advantage as Foreman, Makishima, and Contreras all recorded kills. With tensions rising in the match, the Firebirds were able to outscore the Slugs 4-1 in the final moments, sealing the 15-13 set win to hand UC Santa Cruz the 3-2 loss on Saturday night.