Men’s Volleyball Battled Nationally Ranked Banana Slugs

MEQUON, Wis. – On Thursday, the CUW men's volleyball team took a break from conference play to face another quality nonconference opponent in the nationally ranked Banana Slugs of UC-Santa Cruz. 

The Falcons were able to steal a set before it was all said and done but ultimately fell 3-1 with scores of 22-25, 25-18, 22-25, and 20-25.

With the loss, the Falcons fall to 10-9 overall.

Set one showcased a tight contest as the Falcons took a 12-11 lead on a swing from sophomore Will Wood (Savage, Minn.).  

After a quick Banana Slug run, CUW responded with three straight points to level the score at 17 after a pair of UCSC errors and a powerful play near the net from senior Andy Ellingham (Burlington, Wis.).

But the Banana Slugs would slightly pull away and take the first set by a slim margin of 25-22.

The early part of the second frame played to a similar tune as the first set, with neither team establishing a considerable lead, as both teams made runs throughout the contest. 

But toward the set's midway point, the Falcons would string together five points as sophomore Tate Miller (Anthem, Ariz.) and junior Lucas Beres (Germantown, Wis.) contributed points to help CUW build a seven-point lead, 19-12. 

Back-to-back kills later in the set moved CUW closer to the 25-point summit, while a kill from Andy Ellingham and a UCSC error clinched the set for CUW at 25-18. 

In that second set, the Blue and White hit .273 while limiting the Banana Slugs' high-powered offense to just a .051 attack percentage. 

After the break, the Banana Slugs regrouped and built a quick lead in the early portion of the third set before Lucas Beres ended CUW's scoring drought. 

Later in the set, a cross-court attack from Andy Ellingham and a service ace from Kellen Gonzales forced a Santa Cruz timeout, with Concordia shrinking their deficit to just one. 

A swing from Tate Miller, which fell in the middle of a trio of Banana Slugs, ultimately leveled the score at 10-10.

The set continued to be tight as Will Wood leveled the score at 15-15 on a pass from junior Logan Kebisek (Brookfield, Wis.). 

Santa Cruz continued to apply pressure to CUW and made a small run to reach the 20-point mark first. 

But Concordia continued to battle and brought their deficit to just two as Tate Miller had an ace to make the score 23-21 before UCSC scored two straight and took the 2-1 advantage in the match. 

The fourth set saw the Falcons unable to climb out of a small hole they fell into early in the match. 

But determined to force a decisive fifth set, the Falcons continued to rally as senior Spencer Herman, from a Kebisek pass, moved the Falcons closer to the score of the Banana Slugs, while a kill from Logan Kebisek from Herman settled the score at 17-14 in favor of Santa Cruz. 

However, the Banana Slugs responded with a pair of points of their own and were able to outlast the Falcons despite the flock's valiant comeback effort to take the fourth set 25-20. 

Spencer Herman had a team-high 14 kills in the effort, while Andy Ellingham recorded a .455 attacking percentage with seven kills on 11 attempts. 

Meanwhile, Logan Kebisek assisted on 37 points. 

Defensively, sophomore Parker Pearson recorded 16 digs, while Lucas Beres, Andy Ellingham, and Spencer Herman all had four total blocks. 

Kellen Gonzales and Tate Miller had two service aces from the service line. 

The Falcons will look to the R. John Buuck Fieldhouse to host the Scarlet Hawks of Illinois Tech for Senior Day, with the first serve slated for 1:00 p.m.