THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Cal Lutheran men's volleyball (1-0) kicked off its 2026 season with a home victory over Hope International (0-0) on Tuesday morning–25-22, 25-21, 25-20. The teams played an extra friendly set, which Cal Lutheran won 25-18. Connor Crawford led the Kingsmen with eight kills in the match.

With several key players graduating from the program, Cal Lutheran introduced some new regulars into the rotation. Brendan Hom got things going for the Kingsmen with an early kill before Crawford and Matthew Wilcox registered a block. Crawford managed his first kill soon after on an assist from Gavin Galanski. Neither team led by more than three until Cal Lutheran strung together a 5-1 run to take a 20-14 lead on a Galanski service ace. The Royals responded by quickly cutting the deficit to 20-19, but the Kingsmen held on to win the opening set 25-22 on another kill from Crawford.

Set two was a game of runs, including six combined runs of 3+ points from both squads. After Hope International took a 16-15 lead, a kill from Tyler Linville and a block by Linville and Mason Rowell put the Kingsmen back on top. The two teams traded points for the remainder of the set, with Cal Lutheran building on its lead with a 25-21 set win on a Brendan Hom kill set up by Keaton Hendry.

The Kingsmen were rolling in set three behind a kill from Brody Erickson followed by a block from Noah Smith-Slosar and Crawford to go up 15-10. They stretched their lead to 17-11 before the Royals got hot and tied it at 18-18. Four points later, it was 20-20. Cal Lutheran dug in and claimed the match's final five points to seal the victory, highlighted by two kills and a block from Rowell and a kill by Evan Ford.

Cal Lutheran won the friendly set that followed the match by a score of 25-18.

Crawford finished with a game-high eight kills, adding a team-high seven digs along with two block assists. Hom dropped in seven kills on just nine attempts for an impressive .778 attack percentage. Rowell followed suit with five kills in seven attempts, good for a .714 attack percentage.

Galanski, Hendry, and Garrett Ream rotated at setter, with each player playing one full set. Ream finished with the most assists with 10, while Galanski and Hendry produced nine and eight, respectively.

Wilcox managed three block assists, leading his team in that category. Rowell recorded the only solo block for the Kingsmen, while also tallying a block assist.

Cal Lutheran immediately hopped on flights to Hawai'i to take part in the Cal Luau Invitational this weekend. The Kingsmen's next match is scheduled for 2pm Hawai'i local time on Saturday against Westminster (MO).