SANTA CRUZ, Calif.— Cal Lutheran men's volleyball opened the 2022 season by splitting two 5 set matches at the Slug Slam Invitational.
After an opening loss to Stevenson, the Kingsmen took down the Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz, perennial powerhouses, for the first time in program history.
Cal Lutheran vs. Stevenson
The Kingsmen's first match of 2022 was a 5 set battle that saw both teams settle into their play styles and work through opening match jitters throughout the match.
The Kingsmen were led by sophomore outside hitter Logan Mark's 14 kills in the loss.
Cal Lutheran vs. UC Santa Cruz
The second match of the day saw the Kingsmen hit their stride.
The Banana slugs had a fast start to set one, jumping to a 5-1 lead. The Kingsmen pulled even at 7-7 and then took control behind the first of two long serving runs by sophomore right side Jake Tucker.
Santa Cruz closed the gap to a two point deficit at 18-16, but another serving run from Tucker pushed the Kingsmen out for good. The set was sealed at 25-19 with a kill from Seamus McDonagh.
Set two was tight from start to finish. Neither team was able to pull away. The score was tied at 22, 23, 24, and 25 before the Banana Slugs took the final two points for a 27-25 win.
The Kingsmen staked their claim on set 3 early with another long serving run from Jake Tucker which gave them a 9-2 lead. With that lead in hand, the Kingsmen controlled the rest of the set all the way to a 25-13 win.
The fourth set was defined by short runs from both teams. With the Banana Slugs up 22-17, the Kingsmen made a final push to make it 20-22 but Santa Cruz was able to close out the set 25-21 to send the match to a fifth set.
In the fifth set, with the score tied at 4-4, Cal Lutheran took control going on an 11-4 run to close out the match on a kill from senior outside hitter Sean Fitzpatrick. The 15-8 win gave the Kingsmen the match at 3-2 for the first win over the Banana Slugs in program history.
The Cal Lutheran offense was paced by outside hitters Sean Fitzpatrick (16 kills) and Logan Marks (15 kills). Seamus McDonagh guided the offense with 46 assists.
The defense was led by Eli Moore's 20 digs and Borys Horiuks' 5 total blocks.
The Kingsmen will return to the court for day two of the Slug Slam Invitational to take on Menlo College at 11:00am and SUNY New Paltz at 8:00pm.
Box Score: CLU 2, Stevenson 3 - CLU 3, UCSC 2
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Release by Steven Lohn, Assistant Sports Information Director
