SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- The Arcadia men's volleyball team picked up a pair of wins on its final day of competition in California to open the season. The Knights began with a 3-0 win over ninth-ranked UC Santa Cruz, and followed with a 3-2 win over Menlo.
 
The Knights leveled their record at 2-2 to begin the season, while UC Santa Cruz fell to 1-3 and Menlo is now 0-1.
 
Arcadia 3, #9 UC Santa Cruz 0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-22)
Jason Manley pounded out 14 kills and hit .545 in the Knights' sweep of the Banana Slugs. Tied 11-11 in the first set, Arcadia scored nine unanswered points to take a 20-11 lead. Arcadia forced the Banana Slugs into five attack errors during the run, then closed out the set with a kill from Manley and an ace from Austin Braas.
 
The Knights took an early 7-3 lead in the second set and never trailed in taking a 2-0 lead. In the third set, the Knights once again took an early lead, jumping out to a 9-2 advantage. UC Santa Cruz managed to fight back to within two at 16-14 and then tie the set at 20-20 on an AU attack error. After trading points, the Knights took the lead for good on a kill from Manley, then got another ace from Braas to make it 23-21. Manley closed out the 25-22 win with his 14th kill.
 
Braas finished with seven kills and added four blocks and four aces. Quinn Baily added seven kills, Anthony Devantier had 27 assists and five blocks, and Paraskevov led the team with nine digs.
 
Arcadia 3, Menlo 2 ( 15-25, 25-18, 25-20, 17-25, 15-12)
Braas posted 13 kills and six blocks, and Baily added 11 kills and four aces as AU dropped Menlo 3-2. After dropping the first set 25-15, the Knights bounced back with convincing wins in sets two and three. In the second set, the Knights turned a 12-11 lead into a 21-14 advantage with a 9-3 run. In the third set, the tide turned late as AU turned an 18-17 deficit into a 22-18 lead with five straight points. Baily led the surge with a kill and a pair of aces and Manley added a kill as well.
 
After Menlo tied the match at 2-2 with a win in the fifth set, Arcadia sealed the win by taking the fifth set 15-12. The Knights never trailed in the fifth and led by as many as four (8-4) in the early going. Menlo kept it close an trailed by just one (12-11) following a kill from Akash Dhothar. A kill from Baily got AU to 13 in the race to 15 points, and a service error by Menlo followed by a block from Devantier and Robie Moctezuma sealed the win.
 
Manley added eight kills for the Knights, and Devantier posted 34 assists with five blocks and six digs.
 
The Knights are back in action on Saturday at Ramapo beginning at 11 a.m.