PLYMOUTH, Wi. – The UC Santa Cruz men's volleyball team earned a convincing 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-14) sweep over the Lakeland University Muskies on Friday. Dylan Foreman led the team with nine kills and a .429 hitting percentage. Caio Valente led the team with 27 assists and nine digs against the Muskies. UCSC was strong on attack, recording a .414 hitting percentage while holding the Muskies to a .014 clip overall.
 
How It Happened
The Slugs struck first with kills from Riley Norman and Dylan Foreman before jumping out to an early 7-3 lead. The Muskies rallied back briefly, cutting the lead to 7-5 but UCSC managed to respond with an 8-4 run, taking the lead at 15-9 to force a Lakeland timeout. The Muskies took the next two points out of the break, but UCSC couldn't be stopped as they outscored Lakeland 10-6 down the stretch to take set one 25-17.
 
Set two featured a much closer opening as Lakeland earned the first point before the Slugs and Muskies worked to an 11-11 tie before a 5-0 run from the Slugs put them on top 16-11. The Slugs held the Muskies to just five more points in the set, taking set two 25-16.
 
The Slugs continued to attack with ease as they stormed to an 11-3 lead with kills from Riley Norman, Ethan Makishima, and Dylan Forman. Lakeland scored three straight points, but the UCSC momentum couldn't be stopped as they worked to a 21-11 lead to force a Muskies timeout. Lakeland couldn't find the answer in the end as UCSC outscored the Muskies 4-3 to cap off the sweep with a 25-14 set three win.