THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - An energetic environment inside of the Gilbert Arena was present as No. 2 Cal Lutheran hosted Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) foe La Verne in a battle for the top spot in the league standings. Though the Leopards attempted to play spoiler, an exciting match saw the Regals down the Leopards 25-21, 25-15, 18-25, 25-18 to remain undefeated in conference action this fall.
A huge blocking game and stellar serving were two keys to success tonight as the Regals rolled to their 34th consecutive SCIAC victory dating back more than two seasons. Overall, CLU had nine solo stops and eight block assists while at the line they served up eight aces.
Leading the way tonight for the Violet and Gold were Allie Eason and Michelle Lawrence who provided a 15 kills, 15 digs double-double and five solo blocks, respectively, to lead all players. Nicki Tetherow continued to be a force on the court with four service aces to go along with 13 digs as the libero. Kennedy Peters also handed out 20 assists with Jena Chavez tallying 14, adding two aces to her line.
In the first set, the Regals and Leopards battled back-and-forth for the majority of the game. Eason started off with the first kill of the night and used a service ace to put CLU on top 4-3. The tides turned in favor of the visiting squad and LV pushed their lead to 14-10 before Sarah Pappas got the momentum back on Cal Lutheran's side with a kill. Consecutive kills from Pua Mo'okini-Oliveira pulled the Regals back within a pair at 16-14 and with Nicki Tetherow serving CLU reeled off five straight points for a 19-16 advantage. Eason put the set away with three consecutive kills to put the first game in the books at 25-21.
Peters started off the second set by serving five straight points, making it difficult for the Leopards to get a good possession. Pappas and Mo'okini-Oliveira worked together to get two blocks and a kill apiece to stretch their early lead 4-0, which forced the Leopards to take a timeout. LV slowly chipped away and got within a pair at 13-11 on back-to-back blocks from Kelsi Robinson. The Regals, however, quickly extended their lead to 18-12 on more production from Mo'okini-Oliveira and Pappas. Ace serves by Dianna Rohrer and Tetherow helped the Regals execute another win that was finished off by a Hannah Orlandi kill. The 25-15 victory gave CLU a 2-0 lead in the match.
Unfortunately, the Regals struggled in the third set, ultimately dropping the game 25-18. CLU had a handful of errors to start off the set and the Leopards took advantage by opening an 8-3 lead early. La Verne outside hitter Brittany Yaxley made it difficult for CLU to catch up by making a tough appearance at the service line and leading her team with six kills in the third set. Despite the loss, Eason did a good job of keeping the team in it by putting down five kills in the game.
The final game of the night got the crowd on their feet and the energy was apparent as CLU reciprocated the 25-18 result in their favor to take the match. Again, Eason started the match off with a kill and the Regals never trailed. Lawrence recorded one of her five solo blocks to give Cal Lutheran a 9-3 lead and at 11-4 La Verne used a timeout. Though the Leos closed the gap to one at 15-14, the home team controlled the pace of play over the final 10 points, which featured another block from Lawrence and second game-ending kills from Orlandi en route to the match victory.
La Verne (11-3, 6-2 SCIAC) was led by Destinee Sales with 10 kills while Yaxley finished with nine though she led the Leos with four blocks.
Cal Lutheran (18-1, 7-0) will be on the road for their next two matches, starting at Whittier on Tuesday, Oct. 7 when teams are set to take the court at 7:30 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 3, LV 1
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