CLAREMONT, Calif. - The No. 2 Cal Lutheran volleyball team swept through the first round of Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) competition, and began the second round with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 26-24) sweep on the road against Pomona-Pitzer to remain undefeated in conference play.
Michelle Lawrence and Allie Eason led the offensive charge for the Regals recording 12 and 11 kills, respectively, and each tallied eight digs. CLU withstood a barrage of attacks from Pomona-Pitzer's Allie Frappier, who had a game-high 41 attacks resulting in 19 kills in the match.
In the first set, the Regals and Sagehens traded blows until Sarah Pappas, who led the team with three blocks and added eight kills, rallied CLU with three key plays in a row to jump out to a 13-8 lead. The series started off with a set from Hannah Orlandi that Pappas spiked over the net for the kill. The following play featured Pappas and Eason teaming up for a key block and then Kennedy Peters set up Pappas for yet another kill.
Having gathered all of the momentum, the Violet and Gold surged ahead taking a commanding 19-10 lead. Pappas added another block in the set and a service ace by Nicki Tetherow capped off the ten point run. Three consecutive errors from the Sagehens gave the Regals the first game by the score of 25-14.
A service ace from Peters to start the second set allowed the Regals to pick up where they left off and they controlled the game throughout on their way to a 25-16 win. Lawrence led the way with three kills and a service ace during the second set.
The Sagehens would not go down without a fight and in the third set they battled from behind to try to force a fourth frame. With CLU holding a 15-10 advantage, Frappier led the Pomona-Pitzer rally with three kills in a matter of minutes to bring the score to 17-16. A few key blunders from the Regals and yet another Frappier kill gave the Sagehens the 23-22 lead. After an attacking error from Frappier, Pappas came up with a critical kill to put CLU back on top and on game point, Lawrence came through for the Regals picking up the kill on the assist from Jena Chavez.
Chavez and Peters tied for team-high honors with 20 assists apiece and were key in distributing the ball all over the court. Tetherow led the team with 12 digs to go along with two service aces on the night. Dianna Rohrer was instrumental in the victory, recording seven kills with a hitting percentage of .467.
Cal Lutheran (20-1, 9-0 SCIAC) will return home to take on Occidental tomorrow night on a busy Homecoming weekend. The match is slated to begin at 5:00 p.m. inside Gilbert Arena.
Box Score: CLU 3, PP 0
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