SANTA CRUZ, Ca. – The No. 13 UC Santa Cruz earned a 3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-17) victory over the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons to open the 2026 Slug Slam tournament in the West Field House on Thursday evening.
Riley Norman led the team's attack with 12 kills and a .474 hitting percentage along with five service aces.
Noy Fisher also had a strong night at the service line with five aces while Liam Taylor and
Andres Espinoza anchored the defense with the duo both picking up eight digs. UC Santa Cruz hit .316 on the night with 38 kills while dishing out 11 aces on the night to CUW's 24 kills and four aces. The first two sets of the night featured close battles in the early going before the Banana Slugs quickly pulled away to take control of the contest. The Banana Slugs will be back in action tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. when they host No. 7 Vassar.
Match Highlights:
- After working to an early 8-8 tie in set one, UC Santa Cruz rattled off six unanswered points to take control at 14-8 with a kill from Noy Fisher and Riley Norman.
- The Falcons later suffered an 8-0 run from UCSC with the Slugs seeing kills from Norman, Evan Erickson, and AJ Contreras to go up 23-13. Norman later put the finishing touches on the game with another kill followed by a set winning ace at 25-12.
- In set two, the Falcons built a narrow 7-5 lead, but UC Santa Cruz surged forward with a 10-2 run with kills from Nick Nayak, Norman, Contreras, and Erickson to regain the lead at 15-9. The rest of the set was much more even with the Falcons outscoring UCSC 12-10 overall, but Noy Fisher delivered the final kill to take set two 25-21.
- UC Santa Cruz opened set three on a 4-0 run with kills from Noy Fisher and AJ Contreras.
- The Banana Slugs continued to outpace the Falcons to a 17-11 lead as Riley Norman recorded three kills while Nayak added two.
- After a brief CUW timeout, the Banana Slugs outscored the Falcons 8-6 down the stretch with Noy Fisher ending the contest with a block to secure the 25-17 set win and 3-0 sweep on the night.
