DUBUQUE, Iowa — Cal Lutheran men's volleyball is the 2024 NCAA Division III National Champion!
The Kingsmen swept the Vassar College Brewers to claim the national championship 3-0 on Sunday afternoon. Scores of the match were 25-22, 25-23, 25-23. The Kingsmen followed a reverse sweep of Stevens with a sweep of Vassar.
Michael Stahl was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. Jordan Cooper, Taylor Marks, and Logan Marks joined Stahl on the All-Tournament Team.
"The Kingsmen can now call themselves champions!" Head coach Kevin Judd said. "These past two weeks showed that we were 17 strong."
Stahl was impressive with 23 kills while hitting with a .525 attack percentage. Ben Weber and Cooper were next with seven kills, Borys Horiuk had five, Parker Brown had three, and T. Marks had one.
T. Marks had a double-double as he kept the Kingsmen offense rolling. He dished out 43 assists and had a team-high 10 digs. L. Marks was next with eight digs. Horiuk had four total blocks, two of which were solo. Cooper, Stahl, and Matthew Wilcox added a solo block.
Trent Rigney and Jake Tucker both made an appearance. Tucker recorded a huge dig in the third set that led to a kill. The 17 strong also includes Vince Semon, Connor Crawford, Grant Hughes, Braden Swenningsen, Ryker Linn, Landen Meonske, and Noah Rigo.
Press Conferences for All Games
In the first set, the Kingsmen jumped out to a 4-2 lead but the Brewers tied the game at 4-4 and then again at 8-8. The Kingsmen then went on a 6-2 run with Stahl having three kills and Cooper and Horiuk adding one each. At the media timeout, the Kingsmen were up 15-11. The lead continued to be the same as the teams went back and forth in scoring with the Kingsmen up 18-14. The Kingsmen inched close as a solo block from Cooper had them up 20-17. The Kingsmen took the first set 25-22 as Stahl swatted down the final kill. Stahl led the way with nine kills in the first set.
The Kingsmen started strong in the second set as they opened with a 4-1 lead. Stahl led with a kill and block and Cooper and Brown added a kill. The Brewers fought back and eventually tied the set at 9-9. The score remained close with the Kingsmen up 15-14 at the media timeout. The second set was tied eight times before the Kingsmen took a late lead. Tied at 19-19, Stahl had three kills and Horiuk capped off a 4-2 run to make it 23-20. After a service error from the Brewers, the Kingsmen took a 2-0 lead in the match.
Vassar took a 3-1 lead in the third set as the Kingsmen responded with three straight points. Stahl and Cooper both had a kill in the run. The Kingsmen took a 10-8 lead as Vassar took their first timeout of the set. The score was tied at 10-10 and again at 15-15. The set continued to be tied at every point up to 20-20. Cooper served the Kingsmen's first ace to put his team up 22-21. It put the Kingsmen up for good, as they won 25-23, and swept the national championship!
