THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Two American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-25 teams converged in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) match-up inside of the Gilbert Arena tonight with the No. 2 Cal Lutheran Regals defeating the No. 19 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas in three sets (25-18, 25-19, 27-25).
Before a packed house on a Friday night, the Regals took to their home court for just the second time this season, excluding the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational, and they certainly gave the fans something to cheer about. A match that was controlled by the host team from the start was a significant one as the CLU team extended its SCIAC win-streak to 30 matches dating back almost two years to the date to Sept. 29, 2012.
The match started in dominating fashion with CLU using five kills from Sarah Pappas who started things off with her first. The second point of the game came from Hope Stewart in the back row, which set the tone for the remainder of the set. The Regals kept the lead for the entire game thanks to great defense from Nicki Tetherow and Jenna Chavez. At the service line, Michelle Lawrence earned an ace to make the score 16-10, which prompted CMS to take a timeout. On the side out, the Athenas Mariah Riggs put down a kill to get her team within three at 16-13. Hannah Orlandi and Dianna Rohrer quickly ended the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps streak with a joint block. Dani Gonzalez came off the bench to serve three straight points and increased the lead 20-13, forcing the Athenas to take another timeout. Stewart recorded her second ace serve of the night, increasing the lead 24-16, followed by Pua Mo'okini-Oliveira kill to put the first game in the books.
Early in the second set neither team seized the momentum and the score teeter-tottered back and back for 13 straight points. With some help from the Athenas, CLU earned a 16-13 advantage, though the visiting team chipped away to pull within a point at 16-15. Stewart quickly disposed of any notion that the Athenas would get back in it with three consecutive kills to sway the pace of play. Down the stretch the Regals executed and held on for the 25-19 win.
The most exciting game of the night came in the third set that needed extra points to determine a victor. CLU took a 2-0 lead on a pair of errors from CMS and continue to execute with a big block by Pappas and Mo'okini-Oliveira for a 3-0 advantage. Tetherow aided the Regals on the defensive end with game-saving digs throughout the set, and early consecutive kills off those digs came from Rohrer. Another three-point run from CMS was ended by a kill from Lawrence who played a significant role in the final set.
A block from Rohrer and Mo'okini-Oliveira increased the score 16-11 and Lawrence put down a solo stop to add to the team tally. Out of a CMS timeout the Athenas responded with a pair of blocks, a kill and a service ace, which in turned forced CLU to use a timeout at 17-15. Right out of the break Lawrence ended their streak with a kill down the line to gain back the momentum. Following another block from Lawrence and Rohrer, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps started making some more noise as the gap decreased to a single point at 21-20. A second timeout from the Cal Lutheran bench allowed the Regals to regroup.
Stewart got the side out with a kill for a 22-20 lead, but CMS scored twice on tips over the block allowing them to catch up once again. At 22-22 Pappas and Lawrence tallied back-to-back kills one more time. With the game close, Orlandi hit the line for a 26-25 advantage and on the ensuing play when the Athenas attempted to side out they were unable to get the ball over, sending the CLU sidelines and crowd into celebration.
Cal Lutheran used numerous weapons throughout the night, but it was again freshman Stewartwho stood out with a match-high 13 kills as the only player in double figures, adding three service aces. Right behind the rookie was the sophomore pair of Lawrence and Pappas. As one of the most balanced players on the court match-in and match-out this season, Pappas put down nine kills on 16 swings for an incredible .562 hitting percentage. CLU also looked to Lawrencefor nine kills, which came at timely points in each game tonight. Chavez and Kennedy Peters again served up the ball with 20 and 23 assists, respectively. Defensively Cal Lutheran recorded six solo blocks including a pair from Rohrerwith Lawrence, Mo'okini-Oliveira, Pappas and Stewart each notching one as well.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (12-4, 3-1 SCIAC) was led by nine kills apiece from Audrey Breitwieser and Nicole Kerkhof while Breitwieser and Clara Madsen tallied 19 and 20 assists, respectively. Megan Coleman finished with 21 of the 50 team digs.
Cal Lutheran (14-1, 3-0) is back in action tomorrow night at Redlands. The teams will take the court for first serve at 6:00 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 3, CMS 0
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