#13 UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs (12-9 overall)
at Lakeland University Muskies (7-12 overall)
Thursday, March 28, 2024    Noon
Woltzen Gymnasium

Lakeland/UCSC Match Notes   PDF

Coming off a big conference win Tuesday night, the Lakeland University men's volleyball team steps out of conference one more time this season and renews its oft-played series with the University of California Santa Cruz Banana Slugs at high noon Thursday at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

Broadcast Information:
Live video & statistics: http://www.lakelandmuskies.com/muskieslive.

Series history: 11th meeting, UC Santa Cruz leads 10-0
Though separated by 2,250 miles, Lakeland and the University of California at Santa Cruz have played regularly in the Muskies' 11 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 fifth straight season and the third time in four years at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium. Last year the schools faced off in a triangular hosted by Wisconsin Lutheran College, with UC Santa Cruz winning in four sets, 25-17, 21-25, 25-22, 25-13, marking just the third time in 10 meetings that Muskies took a set against the Banana Slugs.

The teams also met two years ago at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium in an early afternoon matinee, with the UC Santa Cruz prevailing 25-19, 25-15, 25-18. Of the teams' meetings, four have been played at Lakeland, four on neutral courts and three in Santa Cruz. 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: Defeated Edgewood 3-2 Tuesday
The Muskies played their ninth five-set match of the season but continued their success in those matches of late, posting their fourth straight win in a five-setter by edging the Eagles 23-25, 25-18, 25-18, 24-26, 16-14. Lakeland made a move up the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference standings, surpassing both Edgewood and Concordia Chicago to move into eighth place in the hunt for one of the eight spots in the NACC Tournament. Ben Busalacchi and Eli Weinrich finished wtih 13 kills each, Jakob Donohue recorded a career-high 11 kills and Levi Everts just missed a tripledouble with 11 kills, 11 assists and nine digs.

UC Santa Cruz last time out: Defeated No. 16 Marymount (Va.) 3-2 March 9
The Banana Slugs have been idle for over two weeks since their last competitions, when they played four matches over three days at the Cal-Lu-Fornia Invitational hosted by Cal Lutheran. UC Santa Cruz closed the tourney with a five-set win over the nationally ranked Saints, including 15-8 in the deciding set. Riley Norman posted 15 kills and 13 digs and Ethan Makishima added 10 block assists in the win.

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 the only Division III men's volleyball programs in the Mountain and Pacific time zones. The team regularly has to get travel-this year's schedule also included a trip to Buffalo, N.Y.-and the slate frequently includes trips across the country, as well as matches against programs in NCAA divisions I and III and NAIA members. After today's match, the team will travel down one hour south to Mequon and will take on Concordia University Wisconsin at 7 p.m. tonight.