CLAREMONT, Calif. – Cal Lutheran women's volleyball (1-1, 0-0) earned its first victory of the season on Saturday, defeating Buffalo State in straight sets at the Pacific Coast Classic.
The Regals found themselves down 4-10 early in the opening set but were able to recover and tie the score at 13 apiece after back-to-back kills from
Tarin Rueckert. Another Rueckert kill gave Cal Lutheran a 16-15 lead, but the Bengals then rattled off six straight points to take a commanding lead late in the set.
Buffalo State (0-4, 0-0) managed a 24-21 lead, but the Regals showed resiliency by taking the next five points to win the first set in dramatic fashion, 26-24. The final three points came in the form of two
Kennedy Smith kills and a set-clinching kill from
Emily Ford off a
Kylee Grimm set.
In set two, Cal Lutheran strung together five straight points to take a 10-7 lead behind four more kills from Smith. Midway through the set,
Makenna Kawamura,
Olivia Fernandes, and
Keegan Corley collided in a defensive scramble, resulting in all three of them hitting the floor. The Regals were somehow able to recover and win the point.
Cal Lutheran held on to its lead throughout the rest of the set, and a kill by
Madeline Magnani gave the Regals a 25-17 set win.
Both teams battled in set three, with the score being tied 11 different times after 0-0. Down 19-20 late, the Regals won six of the last eight points to ice the match and claim their first victory this fall. Part of that run were kills from
Alex Hayes, Rueckert, and Ford.
Rueckert and Smith led the team with 11 kills each, and Fernandes contributed nine of her own. Grimm and Kawamura split work at setter again, adding 17 and 20 assists, respectively.
On defense, Rueckert tallied a team-high three blocks while Hayes, Smith, Ford, and Magnani amassed two each. Corley compiled a ridiculous 33 digs across three sets, while Kawamura had 11 and Fernandes had 10.
Cal Lutheran will be back in action next weekend with a trip up to Oregon. They will take on Linfield and Willamette on Friday before getting Pacific on Saturday.
