January 29, 2006
Slugs Conquer Spartans in 4 Games

SANTA CRUZ, CA -- The fourth-ranked UC Santa Cruz Men's Volleyball Team extended their win streak to five matches by defeating San Jose State University in four games (26-30, 30-23, 30-17, 30-17).

The Slugs (5-1, 2-0 NCAA DIII) committed 18 service errors during the match. The errors behind the line, though, were made up for at the net as the team out blocked SJSU 15.0 to 8.0.

Senior setter Matt Reynolds had 55 assist, 13.75 assists per game, and set four hitters to double-digit kills. This is the fifth match that Reynolds has averaged over 12 assists a game.

Bryan Shires (Outside Hitter, So.) earned 20 points, 15 kills and 5 blocks. Outside hitter, Tyler Madden (Sr.), had 14 kills, 2.5 blocks and an ace on his way to 17.5 points. Shires and Madden each added eight digs. Freshman Chris Konish (Outside Hitter) earned 5 kills on 8 attempts.

Sophomore middle blockers Dave Henderson and Jesse Garber each had an impact on the match. Henderson added 14.5 points, 10 kills, 2 aces and 2.5 blocks. Garber, 16 points, continued his impressive hitting with 12 kills and 0 errors on 23 attempts. He also had 4.0 blocks. The middle blocker’s counterpart, senior libero Eric Reid, recorded 10 digs for the Slugs.

The Slugs hit a notable .565 and .520 in games three and four, respectively while holding SJSU to .085 for the match.

The Spartans (0-2) were lead by Barry Ivers' 19 kills and Jeremy Penaflor's 13 digs.

The Slugs head to Southern California, February 2-4, to play NCAA DI teams #4 UC Irvine, #6 UCLA and #9 UC Santa Barbara. The team’' next home match is February 11 versus Fresno State.