THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The second round of the 2012 NCAA Division III Volleyball Cal Lutheran Regional sent two more teams home while an all-SCIAC match-up went by the wayside with Puget Sound upsetting Chapman in the opening semifinal before Cal Lutheran defeated league foe La Verne in the second match as the national field was cut to 16 teams today.
In the first of two semifinal matches today, No. 12 Puget Sound (21-5) upset second regionally ranked and nationally No. 21 Chapman (24-7) in three sets to move on to the final.
The Loggers cruised to a first set victory, 25-18, and after earning the second set by a 28-26 margin, stole the third, 25-22, to advance to play another day in the single-elimination tournament. The Puget Sound defense proved to be too much for Chapman.
UPS came up with 18 block assists, led by four apiece from Harvey and Nicolette Reynaud. Kristin Best and Brehove each finished with three block assists. The Loggers were led by a 14-kill, 16-dig double-double from Jackie Harvey, whose kill tally led all players. She hit at a .344 clip with just three errors in 32 swings, adding a pair of service aces. Jenni Brehove set the ball 40 times to lead the field. Christina Chun led the match with both 20 digs and four service aces. Marissa Florant also reached double figure digs with 12 for the winning squad.
For the Panthers, Ashleigh Gideon and Kate Ferrin each recorded 13 kills with Gideon adding 13 digs for a double-double. Ferrin hit .423 in the match with just two errors on 26 attempts. Corrine Ostrovsky also earned a double-double by finishing with 37 assists and 10 digs for the Chapman. In total, four CU players recorded double figure digs with Carleigh Mueller leading the team with 18 and Morgan Slater chipping in with 15. Chapman came up with just one solo block in the contest with Ostrovsky and Val Geiger combining for the stop. Slater also added two service aces in the loss.
The second semifinal match marked the third meeting between No. 7 Cal Lutheran (29-4) and No. 25 La Verne (22-6) with the Regals earning a 3-1 victory to move on to the Regional Championship match on Sunday.
Cal Lutheran got out to a hot start, taking the first set 25-22, but La Verne evened the score in the second, dropping the Regals 25-19. CLU rallied back, opening the third set with a 4-0 run but the Leopards would not go away without a fight. They battled back into it, but the home squad pulled away for the 25-18 win. The final set would need extra points, despite CLU holing an early 10-point advantage. ULV chipped away before the Regals stole the set 28-26.
Kylie McLogan showed why she was named the SCIAC Athlete of the Year, recording a 28-kill, 27-dig double-double, adding the only CLU service ace and combining for two of 10 CLU block assists. Lauren Rohach was responsible for three block assists while Shannon Pearson and Pua Mo'okini-Oliveira tallied two apiece. Pearson hit .368 with nine kills and McLogan finished at a .362 clip on 58 swings. Allie Eason also had a solid game with 19 kills and the only CLU solo block of the match. Jena Chavez handed out a career-high 59 assists and Rachel Smith added 21 digs in the win.
The Leopards were paced by a 22 kill night from Brittany Yaxley, who finished with a .362 hitting percentage. Randi Taylor-Toomay was the only other ULV player in double figure kills with 10. Kendall Kraiss assisted on 43 points and finished with 13 digs for a double-double of her own. Morgan Donohue led the Leos with 18 digs and had their only solo stop of the night. Kayla Cribbs was responsible for four block assists and Catie Logan tallied a trio of service aces for ULV.
The 2012 NCAA Division III West Regional Championships match will take place Sunday, Nov. 11 at noon in the Gilbert Arena with the winner advancing to the Elite Eight and punching a ticket to Holland, Mich. to play Nov. 15-17 for a National Title. CLU and UPS have not met on the court in 2012.
NCAA Regional: Bracket
Tournament Central: Cal Lutheran Regional
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clusports
