THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The top-seeded and No. 3 Cal Lutheran volleyball squad remained unbeaten against Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) teams tonight by defeating No. 24 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (25-17, 26-24, 25-14) in the 2013 SCIAC Post Season Volleyball Tournament championship match.
The environment was absolutely one of playoff caliber volleyball tonight as the Regals controlled the momentum behind an excited home-crowd tonight. En route to their third SCIAC Post Season Tournament title in four years Cal Lutheran also locked up the 200th career victory in the head coaching career of Kellee Roesel.
On a night when CLU hit .383 as a team, Kylie McLogan put down a match-high 21 kills nearly equaling the total of the entire CMS unit (27). On 34 swings she hit at a .529 clip for the Regals. Allie Eason was just as effective and recorded timely and key kills, finishing with 14, also leading the Violet and Gold with 13 digs. The sophomore and Lauren Rohach both hit over .400 at .407 and .429, respectively. Jackie Russell had another steady night with 38 assists and a trio of service aces to share the team-lead with McLogan.
Defensively, also breaking into double figures for digs with Eason was Nicki Tetherow who contributed 11 while Russell added seven. Hayley Tamagni had three of the 10 block assists and Pua Mo'okini-Oliveira had a pair.
In the first set, Cal Lutheran broke a 5-5 tie with a three-point run to take a lead they would not relinquish, opening up gaps of five at 15-10 and seven at 21-14, forcing CMS head coach Kurt Vlasich to use a pair of timeouts. After the second break, Mo'okini-Oliveira immediately finished the next play with a kill and Russell followed with a service ace. On set point, Nicole Kerkhof kept CMS alive for another point with a kill. Just as she started the game with a kill, Eason finished it the same way, clinching the first set for Cal Lutheran.
Starting the second set right where the first concluded, Eason led off with another kill. As the intensity elevated in the second set the teams were tied at 6-6, 7-7 and 8-8. CLU then put together a string of four consecutive points that included a pair of kills from Eason, an ace from Russell and a kill from McLogan to open a four-point, 12-8, advantage. CMS hung around and used a block, an ace and two kills from Quinn Morrison to get back in striking distance.
The Athenas took their first lead of the day at 17-16 on a hitting error by CLU. When Claremont-Mudd-Scripps earned its second consecutive point, Roesel brought her group back to the bench to talk things over. The teams would teeter-totter for the rest of the set. When Eason turned in a kill for a 24-23 advantage, CMS used another timeout. Regina Mullen got a kill to tie things at 24-24 and Eason followed with another one of her own before the game ended on a net violation from the Athenas.
The final set belonged to the Regals from the get-go and they cruised to the victory that started and ended with Eason and McLogan kills, respectively. At 10-5, CLU reeled off eight straight points for a 13-point cushion. During that stretch Russell notched a pair of aces, Tamagni was part of three block assists with Mo'okini-Oliveira teaming up for a pair and McLogan joining forces for the other. Fittingly, a McLogan kill finished the set, clinched the match and claimed the title.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (23-6) struggled in the first set, hitting just. 080, but recovered to finished with a team hitting percentage of .174 after putting together clips of .211 and .217 in the final two games. CMS got seven kills apiece from Kerkhof, Mullen and Audrey Breitwieser and Hillary Bruegl handed out 24 assists. On the defensive front, two players had double figure digs, led by Megan Coleman with 13 while Bruegl tallied 10. Monica Nguyen had the only solo stop of the night and Morrison finished with three of the eight CMS block assists.
Cal Lutheran (30-1) earned the SCIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament, while CMS will now await its fate. On Monday, Nov. 11 at 8:00 a.m. via NCAA.com CLU will find out whether or not they will serve as a Regional site Nov. 15-17. The official qualifiers and bracket for the tournament will also be released at that time.
Tournament Central: 2013 SCIAC Post Season Volleyball Tournament
Box Score: CLU 3, CMS 0
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