THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — No. 12 Cal Lutheran men's volleyball swept No. 14 UC Santa Cruz in their season opener on Friday night. The scores of the match were 25-19, 25-19, 25-18. The Kingsmen were ranked No. 12 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Preseason Poll. 

The Kingsmen hit .386 as a team including .435 in the first set and an impressive .611 in the third. Jordan Cooper led the way with 11 kills, Michael Stahl was next with nine, Borys Horiuk added seven, and Ben Weber had five. 

Taylor Marks kept the ball moving at the setter position. He totaled 31 assists with five digs, two kills, and one block assist. Horiuk led the way at the net with four total blocks and Cooper served two aces. 

With the score tied at 19 in the first set, the Kingsmen rattled off six straight points and took an early lead. Weber and Cooper recorded a kill, Weber served an ace, and Noah Rigo and Stahl combined for a block during the run. 

The second set saw the Banana Slugs up 11-9 when the Kingsmen made their move. They had a 9-1 run and took a commanding 17-12 lead. They never looked back and took the second set. The Kingsmen carried that momentum to the third set and swept the Banana Slugs. 

The Kingsmen get right back into action on Saturday and host Adrian at 1 p.m. and No. 6 Vassar at 4.