THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Tonight the No. 3 Cal Lutheran volleyball team hosted their first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) match of the season. The Regals earned a 3-1 victory against the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens.

CLU won the first set 25-15 with a big help from, sophomore Michelle Lawrence and freshmen, Hope Stewart. With seven kills from Lawrence in the first set, she helped the Regals maintain their momentum while keeping the lead throughout the set. Sarah Pappas played a significant role as well, contributing a couple of back-to-back blocks to expand the lead 23-14 in game one. Lawrence was a big threat in the back row where she earned a kill to get the Regals a 10-point lead at 24-14 before Stewart ended the set with a kill.

In the second set, the Regals hit a downfall and lost their momentum. The game started off with three kills from Allie Frappier to give Pomona-Pitzer a 5-3 lead. However, Jenna Chavez responded by serving the four points in a row to turn the deficit into a 7-5 advantage. PP got back in it and with a 7-7 tie Frappier did the same by recording four straight points to sway the game back in favor of the Sagehens. The visiting team went on a streak, expanding their lead 17-10 and eventually stealing the set.

After a break the teams returned to the court and the Violet and Gold came right back to play. The Regals started off the set with a kill from Pua Mo'okini-Oliveira. Knotted at 5-5, Stewart and Lawrence again teamed up to get CLU ahead at 7-5 on back-to-back kills. Pappas put down a pair of her own kills, which increased the lead to 10-8. Another Lawrence kill forced the Sagehens to take a time out. Throughout the whole set the Sagehens were playing catch-up, but never overtook the Regals. Diana Rohrer recorded a pair of key blocks towards the end of the set to push the lead 22-19. After a long rally, Pappas used a solo block to take the third set by a 25-21 margin.

The fourth and final game got started with Kennedy Peters serving and Pappas setting the tone of the match early with two kills in a row. The Regals expand their lead 4-1 and again never trailed, though PP made things interesting. With Chavez serving five straight points, Hannah Orlandi earned a kill to end the longest rally of the night between the two teams. Rohrer then put up consecutive blocks, pushing the score to 12-4. The Sagehens fought back and scored six straight points led by Frappier and libero Michelle Schultz to make the score 19-13. Coming off the bench, Carson Nicodemus ended the Sagehens' run with a no-doubt-about-it kill and Dani Gonzalez made an appearance to serve, winning that point for a 21-15 lead. Rohrer and Lawrence each recorded a kill to get the Regals up to 24-16. A service ace, that barely landed inside the court lines, from Lawrence ended the game and match and sent the CLU fans and players into celebration.

Both Lawrence and Stewart finished with double-doubles as the sophomore transfer led the Regals with 22 kills and 19 digs while her freshman teammate put down 10 kills with 11 digs in the first start of her collegiate career. Chaves and Peters again split the setting job, recording 29 and 21, respectively and Chavez put down a pair of aces. Rohrer continued to be consistent with a .467 hitting percentage tonight that included seven kills without an error in 15 swings. Pappas was also solid with nine kills in 19 chances.

Defensively, CLU tallied 19 block assists with Lawrence leading the pack again with five while Rohrer had four and Orlandi and Pappas each had a trio. Nicki Tetherow had another strong defensive night for the Regals, recording 26 digs.

Pomona-Pitzer (6-5, 0-2 SCIAC) was paced by a 25-kill, 25-dig night from Frappier as the only Sagehens player in double figures offensively. Jessica Finn set the ball 19 times and Elizabeth Sun chipped in with 12 assists. Libero Michelle Schultz was next in line with 22 digs.

Cal Lutheran (12-1, 1-0) will be back in action on Tuesday, Sept. 23 when the Regals travel to Occidental for a 7:30 p.m. meeting with the Tigers inside of Rush Gymnasium.

Box Score: CLU 3, PP 1
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