ATLANTA, Ga. - In a battle between two of the top Division III volleyball teams in the country, the No. 7 Cal Lutheran Regals upset the host No. 2 Emory Eagles in the 2013 edition of the Emory Invitational. CLU finished 4-0 over the weekend and reached double figures with their tenth win of the fall as well.
The tournament finale pitted the two powerhouses against one another. While Emory had home court advantage with a packed house, it was the visiting Regals who maintained their composure, dazzled the crowd and used their athleticism to their advantage.
"We knew what we came to do here and we did that with our first three wins," an ecstatic head coach Kellee Roesel went on, "I always tell my team, 'The harder you work the luckier you get' and it happened for us tonight. Getting this win against Emory was the icing on the cake."
After opening with a pair of close 25-23 games, in which the teams were never separated by more than four points, the Regals put away the Eagles in dominating fashion, earning a 25-15 third set and 3-0 sweep.
"Last year we took the first two games and Emory came back to win the next three, so I think a lot of us had that in the back of our minds and there was that redemption factor," tournament MVP Hayley Tamagni shared. "We knew we had to just play our game."
Another motivating factor for the Violet and Gold today was that CLU had an opportunity to watch Emory face Southwestern (Tex.) just before their match.
"We felt like we were a faster paced, more athletic team," Roesel shared after the win. "Emory definitely had the size with no one under 6-foot, but our players knew what they needed to do and played the best match of the weekend right there."
Leading the pack to playing at the highest level tonight was junior outside hitter Kylie McLogan who tallied 19 kills, 11 digs, and two block assists for 20.0 total points and a double-double.
"McLogan plays her best against the best and proved tonight that she is the best outside hitter in the country," Roesel said.
Sophomore Pua Mo'okini-Oliveira, who led all players in the morning match with nine kills, was the only other player on the court with double figure kills with 11, adding three service aces, and three digs. Allie Eason recorded a match-high 17 digs while chipping in with seven kills and four assists tonight. Jackie Russell, who surpassed the 4,000 career assist plateau over the weekend, provided 30 assists against the Eagles. Kennedy Peters tied McLogan by tallying 11 digs. Tamagni put down six kills, adding two block assists and two digs.
Earning her way into the starting lineup after playing a bench role for three years, the hard work and dedication that Tamagnihas put in is clearly paying off. At the conclusion of the tournament she was awarded Emory Invitational MVP honors.
"She has worked so hard and has done so many good things," Roesel shared after the match, "She deserves everything she gets."
Also earning All-Tournament honors were Eason and Peters along with Chastity Lacy (CNU), Sydney Miles (EU), Cat McGrath (EU) and Kaitlyn Foster (SU).
"Allie continues to play at a high level, "Roesel added, "And after a rough outing at Westmont on Tuesday, Kennedy regrouped and played well in her new position as the CLU libero this weekend."
CLU opened the day by cruising to a 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-21) victory over Millsaps. Mo'okini-Oliveira had nine kills on 14 swings for a .500 hitting percentage as the Regals hit at a .322 overall clip and limited Millsaps to a .048 hitting effort. McLogan and Tamagni each had seven kills and Eason added six. Hannah Orlandi put down four kills on seven swings without an error for a .571 hitting percentage. Splitting time setting, Russell and Jena Chavez recorded 25 and 12 assists, respectively. Peters had a match-high 11 digs and Caitlin Fransen had the only CLU solo block of the match.
Today was no different than all season with everyone chipping in.
"It was an all-around, group effort today, " McLogan went on, "Everyone did a good job of knowing their roles, which makes it a lot easier to stay in the game when everyone does what they are supposed to do."
Roesel, who has never defeated an opponent ranked that high in her tenure, takes a lot of pride in the victory.
"Emory is a perennial contender and are an extremely well coach team," she said. "Jenny McDowell is a mentor to me and this win means more to me than any other win in my career."
Cal Lutheran (10-1) will look to add to their win total when they take to the court again on Friday, Sept. 20 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opener at Whittier. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 3, MC 0
Box Score: CLU3, EU 0
CLU Twitter: https://twitter.com/clusports
Follow Kylie: @k_mclogan and Pua: @puamookini
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