Though separated by 2,250 miles, Lakeland and the University of California at Santa Cruz have played fairly regularly in the Muskies' nine years as a varsity program, to the point where the Banana Slugs are one of Lakeland's most-played opponents. The teams are meeting for the third straight season and the second straight year at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium. Last year UC Santa Cruz defeated the Muskies in four sets March 25, 20221, prevailing 25-14, 20-25, 25-18, 25-13 in an early afternoon matinee. The match marked just the second time in eight meetings that Lakeland took a set against the Banana Slugs. Including today's match, the series is now split with three meetings at Santa Cruz, three on neutral courts and three at Lakeland. The teams' first-ever meeting came Feb. 21, 2015 in Kenosha in a triangular hosted by Carthage, where UCSC posted a 3-0 sweep.

Lakeland last time out: Lost at Concordia Wisconsin 3-0 last night
The Muskies dropped their third straight Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match, falling to the Falcons 25-21, 25-19, 25-22. Cam Ekum led Lakeland with 12 kills and 18 assists and also added eight digs, and he also set a new Lakeland varsity single-season record with his 41st service ace of the year, breaking the record of 40 set by Tyler Boyce in 2014. The Muskies played from behind much of the match despite hitting .202 as a team for one of their best attacking performances of the season. Matt Misheck also finished with nine kills, Martin Carrillo contributed 13 assists and Alex Burgos tallied a career-high nine digs.

UC Santa Cruz last time out: Defeated St. Norbert 3-0 earlier today
The Banana Slugs are playing their second game of the day as part of a day/night doubleheader that included an hour of travel in between. UC Santa Cruz defeated the Green Knights 25-15, 25-19, 25-23 earlier today in De Pere to kick off a three-day, six-match tour of the upper Midwest that includes four matches against NACC schools. Phillip Grote finished with 10 kills in 19 attack attempts, Dylan Foreman added eight kills, eight digs and three service aces and Max Mednick also added a match-high 15 digs.

The Banana Slugs-named after, per the school, "a bright yellow, slimy, shell-less mollusk commonly found on the redwood forest floor"-are on their second Midwest trip of the season. UC Santa Cruz is one of just two NCAA Division III members in California, and along with Cal Lutheran the two are also the only Division III men's volleyball programs in the Mountain and Pacific time zones. The school regularly has to get creative in scheduling and the slate frequently  includes trips across the country, as well as matches against programs in NCAA divisions I and III and NAIA members.

Season winding down: Lakeland's season is quickly winding down, with just three matches left including tonight. It has been another shortened season for the Muskies, with a total of 11 non-conference matches in the first half of the season canceled due to COVID-19 considerations. Lakeland has one home match remaining after tonight, with the team's Senior Night taking place next Friday night against Illinois Tech. The Muskies have also already been eliminated from consideration for the NACC Tournament, with a 3-7 conference mark already ensuring Lakeland will not be able to finish in the top six to qualify for the six-team tournament.