THOUSAND OAKS, Cal. —California Lutheran University men's volleyball hosted the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs in the final regular season contest for the Kingsmen. Cal Lutheran ended the 2022 regular season with a 3-0 sweep and continued to make a compelling case for their inclusion in the NCAA tournament.
The first set was a tight affair with both teams scoring well, carrying hitting percentages well over .300. With the score tied at 23-23, the Kingsmen got a big kills from middle hitter Borys Horiuk to reach game point and setter Taylor Marks finished off the set with an ace for a 25-23 win.
The Kingsmen jumped out to an early 5-0 lead behind Jake Tucker's serve. The Banana Slugs clawed back to tie the set at 14-14. A series of Kingsmen runs from there put Cal Lutheran in position to take the win 25-19 on a Santa Cruz service error.
Set three was a close game all the way till the end. The Banana Slugs hit over .300 yet again, but they were unable to hold back the Kingsmen who racked up an astonishing 20 kills in the set. The set was tied 24-24 when a Jake Tucker kill put Cal Lutheran ahead and a Santa Cruz hitting error finished the game off 26-24 to give the Kingsmen a 3-0 sweep.
Jake Tucker led the Kingsmen with 13 kills on the night, just ahead of outside hitter Ben Weber who tallied 12 kills.
Libero Eli Moore led the defensive effort with 13 digs including a number of key digs to keep the Kingsmen in the game late in set three.
With the regular season complete, the Kingsmen will not wait to see if the resume they have built over the course of the season will be enough to merit an at large bid into the NCAA tournament. After reaching a top 15 ranking and closing with an 18-9 record, the Kingsmen have made their case.
Box Score: CLU 3; UCSC 0
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Release by Steven Lohn, Assistant Sports Information Director
