THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The No. 4 Cal Lutheran women's volleyball team had another strong showing against its Southern California Intercollegiate Conference (SCIAC) opponent Chapman on Friday night with a 3-0 sweep (25-11, 25-21, 25-21) inside Gilbert Arena. With the win, the Regals move to 12-2 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
In the first set, the Regals came out of the gates swinging. It took nine points for the Regals to gain the lead, 5-4, before Dani Gonzalez stepped back to serve. Gonzalez gave CLU 12 serves before Chapman scored another point. The scoring run also featured three service aces for Gonzalez, making the score 17-4. The deficit was too much for the Panthers to recover from and the Regals claimed the set, 25-11.
The Regals took an early lead against Chapman in the second set, 10-7. The Panthers found their second wind and were able to take the lead with a six-point run to make the score 13-10. The Regals, however, were able to come back and tie it up at 16 all. Cal Lutheran put up five points to sway the score in their favor before the Panthers put up five themselves to make the score 22-21. The Regals grabbed the last three points in the set to pull out the win. Gonzalez had a service ace to end the set, her fourth of the night.
Chapman was not going down without a fight and it showed in the third set. The Regals were fighting for the lead from the beginning. CLU was down by two and Gonzalez helped again with a three-point scoring run to take the lead 10-9. The Panthers shot back with two service aces and a kill to take the lead 12-11. The points continued to shift back and forth from CLU to Chapman without either being able to hold a lead for more than two points. Eventually, the Regals were able to regain the lead and hold onto it until the finish, 25-21.
Michelle Lawrence led the scoring drive for the Regals today with 13 kills, a .500 hitting percentage and six digs. Hope Stewart followed suit with 11 kills and eight digs or her own. Sarah Pappas, Amy McKee and Monica Lundgren had eight, seven and five kills, respectively. McKee made her first collegiate career start and helped the Regals pull out the win. Gonzalez had a great day behind the back line with a career-high five service aces to go along with two assists and three digs. Nicki Tetherow held up the defensive end with 16 digs, the highest of the match.
Cal Lutheran (12-2, 3-0 SCIAC) will travel to Claremont, Calif to take on the No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas (11-0, 3-0 SCIAC) in a much anticipated match tomorrow night, Sept. 24 inside Roberts Pavilion at 6:00 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 3, CU 0
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