THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., - The Cal Lutheran volleyball team was back in action Saturday falling to Chapman 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-22, 25-17) in the afternoon before rallying in the night-cap as they cruised past Redlands 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-15).
In Chapman's first match-up with Cal Lutheran since becoming a member of the SCIAC, the Panthers wasted little time in knocking off the reigning league-champions. It marked the first SCIAC regular season loss in nearly a year for the Regals, last being defeated by Occidental last October.
CLU's defense which has stepped up since an injury has sidelined All-American setter Jackie Russell for the past few weeks, finally wore down against Chapman. The Regals were strong in the early going limiting CU to a .220 hitting percentage in the first set and only a .080 in the second but the Panther hitters kept pounding away and eventually hitting .316 in the third and .290 in the last set.
Sophomore Kylie McLogan had one of her best offensive performances of the season with 21 kills and only five errors on 41 attacks. Her .390 hitting percentage for the game was a season-high.
Freshman Caitlin Fransen came off the bench to have her best offensive game yet at a Regal, tallying a career-high eight kills and no errors on 20 chances.
Chapman was led by Ashleigh Gideon who had 15 kills and 12 digs and Val Geiger who finished with 12 kills.
With the win CU improves to 12-3 and 6-1 in the SCIAC.
In the night-cap, the Regals found their groove offensively finishing with a season-high .427 average.
The first set saw freshman Allie Eason convert seven kills on only nine swings. On the night, Eason tallied a career-high 17 kills with no errors only 28 swings, good for a .607 average, nearly .500 points higher than her season average.
Rachel Smith shifted from libero back to outside hitter and finished with nine kills while Shannon Pearson finished with eight kills.
Setter Jena Chavez dished out 23 assists.
The third set saw sophomore Kennedy Peters reel off four straight service aces as the Regals cruised to a third set win and the sweep.
With the split on the day, CLU improves to 12-4 and 5-1 in the SCIAC. The Regals are now tied for first with Chapman for the top spot in the SCIAC.
Redlands falls to 5-8 and 1-6 in the SCIAC.
The Regals return to action next Tuesday when they travel to Pasadena to take on Caltech at 7:30 pm.
Box Score: Chapman 3 CLU 1
CLU 3 Redlands 0
