THOUSAND OAKS, Calif —
Tess Holbert tallied 13 kills while hitting .667, with 35 assists, five digs, four blocks, and two aces to lead Cal Lutheran women's volleyball past Occidental 3-1 on Tuesday night. Scores of the match were 26-24, 25-6, 25-27, 25-16.
"The grit of this team is what keeps us in sets," said head coach
Kellee Roesel. "It takes all 20 to believe and they did that tonight against a well-coached occidental team. Tess had a career offensive night and
Amy Buffini was incredible in serve receive and defensively. Proud of this group as they continue to battle."
It was a career-high for Holbert as she swatted down the 13 kills. It is her 17th career double-double, seventh this season, but the first that included kills and assists.
Sadie Peete kept the career accomplishments coming and served five aces. She added her ninth game this season with double-digit kills and led the Regals with 17.
Kira Mortensen was next with seven kills,
Brooklyne Miko had six, and
Tarin Rueckert added five more. The Regals served 13 aces in all.
Caitlin Murphy served three aces, and Holbert and Rueckert had two each. Mortensen had a match-high nine total blocks and Buffini had 22 digs and six assists.
The Regals scored 80 points in total, getting to 25 in every set. Cal Lutheran faced adversity in the first set and fought back strong. Down 23-20, they went on a 4-0 run and took the lead. Mortensen and Peete recorded a kill and a block assist and Rueckert added an ace. With the score tied at 24, Peete swatted down back-to-back kills.
The Regals carried that momentum into the second set. They scored the first six points and were off and running. Up 9-4, the Regals scored 14 straight points and took a commanding 23-4 lead. They claimed the second set and had their sights set on a sweep. They scored 25 points in the third set but fell by two. The Regals kept the pressure on and were on a mission in the fourth. With the score knotted at 10, the Regals went on an 8-3 run with the match win in their grasp. They never looked back and took the match.
It was the third straight conference win for the Regals as they improved to 4-2 in the conference and 6-10 overall. The Regals continue the season at home as they welcome No. 6 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Friday at 7 p.m.
