SAN ANTONIO, Tex. - The Cal Lutheran volleyball team returned to action this morning when they took on Concordia (Tex.), winning in three sets, 25-10, 25-18, 25-14. In the second game of the double-dip, CLU took on its second Top 5 opponent in as many days, falling to No. 4 Christopher-Newport (Va.) 3-1 (25-18,27-25,26-28,25-23).
Game 1
CLU showed no ill effects of the early start time of 8 a.m. (6 a.m. Pacific Coast Time) and cruised to a three-set sweep. Coach Roesel employed a balance attack once again with five players recording five or more kills. Rachel Smith led the way with seven kills while her teammate Lauren Rohach had six kills on 12 attacks with one error, good for a .417 hitting percentage. Kyle McLogan and Allie Eason each finished with five kills.
Setter Jena Chavez handed out 27 assists combined in the three sets.
Defensively, the Regals were led by R. Smith and McLogan who had 13 and 12 digs respectively. Thanks to their strong defense, CLU limited Concordia to a -.128 hitting percentage in the first set and only a .071 in the second set.
Two Regals made their season debuts. Senior Erin Hedrick made her first appearance of the season recording a dig and junior Hayley Tamangni finished with two digs in her first outing.
Game 2
Similar to their game with Emory, CLU proved they can compete with the elite teams but couldn't quite close the deal, falling to No. 4 Christopher-Newport 3-1.
After being defeated 25-18 in the first set, the Regals went neck and neck in the second with Christopher-Newport, breaking game point twice before ultimately falling 27-25.
The Regals hit their offensive stride in the third set, hitting .250 as a team and winning a back-and-forth match, 28-26.
However, CLU couldn't complete the rest of the comeback losing their final set of the tournament in close set 25-23.
After being held under double-digit kills in back-to-back games for the first time all season, McLogan found her groove again finishing 27 kills in the four sets. Rohach finished second the team with 10 kills. Rohach has upped her attacking production since arriving in San Antonio. For her last three games, Rohach is averaging eight kills per game more than double her average in the seven previous games.
CLU falls to 8-3 with the split today. The Regals head home and open SCIAC play against La Verne this Wednesday, Sept. 18 at 7:30 p.m. in Gilbert Arena.
Box Score: CLU 3 Concordia 0
Box Score: Christopher-Newport 3 CLU 1
