THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Cal Lutheran's women's volleyball achieved their fifth sweep of the season in convincing fashion over the Occidental Tigers with help from
Kira Mortensen's 14 kills and four blocks on Tuesday night. Scores of the match were 25-17, 25-20, and 25-11.
"
Kira Mortensen and
Tess Holbert had very efficient offensive games tonight," head coach
Kellee Roesel said. "Any Buffini continues to get better and better on defense as she progresses in the libero position. I'm proud of the athletes that were inserted into the match and they made a difference tonight."
In the first set where the Regals never trailed, they went on an early 8-0 run before the Tigers called a timeout to curb the Regals' momentum. Mortensen made her presence known, recording four kills and 6.5 points in the set. Occidental pulled within three points at one point before the Regals pulled away and cruised to a 25-17 set win.
Tarin Rueckert recorded a kill to start the scoring in the second set, a match in which she also notched two aces. Seven different players recorded a kill in the second set, with Mortensen leading the charge, recording six. The set was back and forth in the beginning, with five different lead changes and both teams never being separated by more than five points. The Regals eventually broke through late and took the set by a score of 25-20.
For the third straight set, the Regals scored the first point, and similarly to the first set, they only trailed once with the help of another 8-0 run mixed in-between. The defense also put up their best effort in the third set, only allowing 11 points and ending the match dominantly by a score of 25-11.
Caitlin Murphy,
Tess Holbert,
Sadie Peete, and
Alex Hayes all tallied six kills apiece, while Rueckert and
Keegan Corley added one each. To go along with Holbert's six kills, she also led the team with 28 assists, while
Amy Buffini was next with four.
On the defensive side of the ball, Buffini had a team-high 14 digs, while Peete was next with twelve. Murphy and Corley followed with seven apiece.
The Regals will look for their fourth win in five games when they play at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Friday at 7 p.m.
