SANTA CRUZ, Ca. – The UC Santa Cruz men's volleyball team earned a convincing 3-1 (25-17, 25-23, 22-25, 25-21) victory over NCAA Division II opponent Menlo College. The Banana Slugs held the Oaks to just a .101 clip on the night while recording a .173 hitting percentage on the night with Nico Espinoza recording 20 kills to highlight the Slugs' attack. Ethan Makishima and Dylan Foreman both turned in five blocks with Foreman picking up 13 digs to anchor the defense with Marcus Donchuanchom who also had 13 digs. Riley Norman also had a strong night for the Slugs with 12 kills and 11 digs while Caio Valente facilitated the offense with 40 assists. With the victory, the Banana Slugs are now 14-5 on the year, increasing their win streak to seven straight game. UC Santa Cruz will be back in action on March 14 and March 15 when they travel to Southern California to take on Marian, North Park, Illinois Tech, and NCC at Cal Lutheran.
 
How It Happened
In front of a packed West Field House, the Banana Slugs didn't hold back on Senior Night for the home crowd, striking first to spark an early 8-3 run with kills from Kyle Ownbey, Nico Espinoza, and Dylan Foreman. Menlo was quick to respond, closing the gap to 9-7 and later 10-9 but the Slugs played to the tune of a 12-4 run to go up 22-13, setting the tone in set one. Menlo managed to climb to 17 points in the set, but a Riley Norman kill put the finishing touches on the set as UCSC took game one 25-17.
 
The two teams traded early leads in a game of runs with Menlo leading 3-0 before the Slugs countered to lead 5-3 before the Oaks responded once promptly to regain the lead at 6-5. The pattern continued with three separate lead changes, but the Slugs built a two point lead after a 6-1 run gave them an 18-16 lead with Caio Valente, Norman, and Espinoza all recording kills in the run. The Oaks wouldn't go away as they tied things at 18-18 but UCSC outscored Menlo 7-5 down the stretch to take set two 25-23.
 
Menlo had the early advantage in set three as they used an 8-3 run to start the game but UCSC began to chip away as they closed the gap to two points at 10-8 and later 14-13. Menlo made a quick move to fend of the Slugs pressure, using a 5-1 run to go up 19-14. The Banana Slugs made one last push in an attempt to secure the sweep, closing the gap to two points at 23-21 but Menlo found the remaining two points to take set three 25-22.
 
In set four, the Slugs quickly worked to a 5-1 lead, but the Oaks fought back, rallying to an 11-10 lead before making it 16-13 with a 5-3 run. From there, the Slugs turned up the heat in the West Field House, using a 7-1 run to go up 20-17 with kills from Ownbey and Valente along with service aces from Espinoza and Noy Fisher. The Slugs and Oaks went back and forth down the stretch with UCSC outscoring Menlo 5-4, winning the game 25-21 on an Oaks service ace to secure the 3-1 victory.