THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - They were dramatic, exciting, intense and ultimately very painful to endure.
The Cal Lutheran women's volleyball team suffered two gut-wrenching road losses in opposing fashion the last two Friday nights.
The Regals held a two-set lead over La Verne on Oct. 16 before falling in five sets.
Last Friday, they trailed Claremont-Mudd-Scripps by two sets before falling in five sets.
Against CMS, the Regals won a marathon third set 31-29 to flip the momentum and extend the match. They raced out to a 4-0 lead in the fifth set and had a match point, only to lose 16-14.
The good news for CLU is it recovered each time to win the following night at home.
"What happened, happened, and we knew we needed to just move on and not dwell on the past and just use it for motivation," CLU junior Michelle Lawrence said. "Those losses really need to just push us to want to get better and come out and win those fifth sets instead of losing if it happens again."
The five-time defending champion Regals are locked in a tight race with La Verne and CMS for the SCIAC title.
CLU (21-4, 11-2) entered Tuesday night's match against Chapman in a three-way tie for first place in the loss column with La Verne (19-4, 13-2) and CMS (21-5, 11-2).
All three programs are nationally ranked. CLU is No. 9, CMS is No. 10 and La Verne is No. 18.
"We know that every other team we are going to play is going to try and play the best game of their lives against us," Lawrence said. "I think we expected it against La Verne and Claremont, but we didn't fully expect them to play almost perfect games."
Lawrence is in her second season at CLU after transferring from Colorado State. She was moved from outside hitter to opposite hitter earlier in the season after the new lineup performed well at the Emory Invitational.
Although Lawrence had only played opposite once before when she was 16 years old in club, she is excelling at the spot.
Lawrence is leading the SCIAC in kills per set with 4.07 and is third in total kills with 301. She is averaging 2.96 digs per set and 0.93 blocks per set.
"I am having a lot of fun with the move. I really just want to do whatever is best for the team," Lawrence said. "I think my height and blocking capabilities help me in that position. I am just excited to be able to explore what it's like."
CLU knows it will likely have to run the table to extend its SCIAC title streak to six straight seasons, even if it requires sharing the title.
Following Tuesday night's match against Chapman, the Regals host Redlands on Friday night and play at Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday.
"We just need to use it to fuel our fire and make ourselves better," Lawrence said. "I think we are viewing it more as a challenge and know that we can't let down or else we can get beaten."
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