THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The No. 5 Carthage College men's volleyball team closed out their trip to California with a 3-2 victory over UC Santa Cruz on Saturday afternoon at the Soiland Rec. Center.

The Banana Slugs (7-8) started with a slim 11-9 lead over the Red Men (4-1). UC Santa Cruz put together a 14-8 run to take the first set 25-17. It was a back-and-forth effort to start the second with the Banana Slugs taking a 9-7 advantage. Carthage took control of the set at 15-13 with a kill from Zach Bulthuis however, UC Santa Cruz tied it at 17 and later regained the lead at 19-18. Although the Red Men knotted it at 23, UC Santa Cruz collected the final two points to take the set.  

After Carthage began with a 7-4 score with a kill from Matt Slivinski in set three, the Banana Slugs tied it at 16 and went on to take a one-point margin. The Red Men regained the lead with a kill from Slivinski making it 21-19 until UC Santa Cruz rallied tying it at 26. A Banana Slugs service error and a block from Zach Bulthuis and Jacob Allard gave Carthage the set 28-26. 

Following the Red Men going up 8-6 in the fourth, a kill from Parker Connolly pushed the advantage to 15-9. A 10-6 run for Carthage knotted the match at two-sets apiece. 

In the final set, UC Santa Cruz broke out to a 7-5 score, but the Red Men retaliated tying it at 10. Carthage came away with the decisive two points taking the victory 15-12. 

The Red Men return to the court on Friday, February 7 traveling to Aurora at 7 p.m. 

Head Coach JW Kieckhefer

"Wow! What a week! The battles we have been in for the last three matches will help us immensely for the rest of the season. I thought we did a fantastic job of making adjustments with our block and back court defense throughout the match. Zach Bulthuis did an incredible job coming in off the bench tonight to energize the group. We have had to earn these wins and I couldn't be more proud of this group."

Quick Facts

• The Carthage offense hit an impressive .444 in set three and .333 in set four. 
• Matt Slivinski collected a new career-best in kills with 28.
• Braeden Waumans was two kills shy of his career-best set against UC Santa Cruz the previous year as he finished with 17 in the match. 
• Jacob Allard registered a new career-high in assists with 64. 
• Bryce Thomas added 10 kills and 12 digs while Kyle Cohan tallied 11 digs. 

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