SANTA CRUZ, Ca. – The No. 13 UC Santa Cruz men's volleyball team earned a convincing 3-1 (22-25, 26-24, 25-12, 25-19) victory over the No. 7 Vassar Brewers on Friday afternoon.
Riley Norman led the team with 15 kills on the night, recording a .414 hitting percentage while picking up eight digs.
Kyle Ownbey was flawless on attack, recording a .692 hitting percentage with nine kills on 13 attempts with zero errors.
Noy Fisher recorded six service aces in the victory while adding eight digs.
Logan Taylor facilitated the offense with 25 assists while
Caio Valente chimed in for 12. The win improves UCSC to 3-0 on the young season with their next match on Sunday at noon against the No. 8 NYU Violets.
Match Highlights:
- The Banana Slugs got off to a great start, using a 6-3 run with kills from AJ Contreras, Riley Norman, and Noy Fisher en route to the early lead.
- Vassar quickly battled back into the set, working to a 17-17 tie before narrowly stealing set one 25-22.
- Set two saw the teams nearly go point for point all the way to a 17-17 tie. The Brewers managed to go on a 5-0 run to take a 21-17 lead but UCSC responded with a 6-2 run to tie things at 23-23.
- A Vassar kill put the Brewers on top 24-23, but a costly service error tied the game before Riley Norman put the nail in the coffin with back to back service aces, giving UCSC the 26-24 set two win.
- Set three saw the Banana Slugs jump out to an early 7-3 lead but surging forward to a 16-9 advantage with kills from Noy Fisher and Kyle Ownbey.
- UC Santa Cruz continued to play well, working to a 21-11 lead before closing out the set on a 4-2 run with kills from Kyle Ownbey, Nick Nayak, and Evan Erickson, taking the third set 25-12.
- Vassar had the early narrow advantage at 5-4 in set four, but UCSC recorded eight unanswered points to shift the tides at 12-5. The two teams traded blows for nine straight points before the Slugs used a 5-2 run to go up 21-12.
- Despite UCSC working to a 24-14 lead, Vassar used a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 24-19 before an untimely attack error gave UCSC the final point to secure the 25-19 set win and 3-1 victory overall.
