THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Cal Lutheran women's volleyball closed out the 19th annual Cal Lu Fornia Invitational and its preseason slate with a split Saturday at Gilbert Arena, sweeping Hardin-Simmons 25-20, 25-17, 25-23 before falling to UC Santa Cruz 21-25, 25-20, 25-16, 22-25, 15-10 in the evening finale.
GAME ONE: CLU def. Hardin-Simmons (25-20, 25-17, 25-23)
Cal Lutheran controlled the match from the outset, hitting .289 as a team while holding Hardin-Simmons to a .222 clip. The Regals also held advantages in kills (45-36), digs (42-26), assists (41-34), blocks (7-6) and aces (5-4).
Tarin Rueckert led the Cal Lutheran attack with 12 kills while hitting .556 and added a match-high six blocks.
Cienna Alvarez followed with nine kills, while
Kaylee Clayton added eight.
Makenna Kawamura and
Kimmy Wilson each recorded 18 assists to help direct the offense, while
Keegan Corley anchored the defense with 19 digs. Alvarez added seven digs, and Clayton finished with six.
The Regals jumped out to an early lead in the opening set, using kills from
Emily Ford and several Hardin-Simmons errors to build a six-point advantage. The Cowgirls battled back to keep the set close, but three kills from Rueckert and another from Clayton helped Cal Lutheran pull away for a 25-20 win.
Hardin-Simmons flipped the script early in the second, racing out to an 8-3 lead. The Regals answered behind Rueckert and Clayton, who combined for two kills and two blocks during a run that tied the set at 11-all. After the Cowgirls regained a three-point advantage, Cal Lutheran closed the set on a dominant 13-2 run, with Alvarez recording five kills during the stretch to take a 2-0 lead.
Cal Lutheran carried the momentum into the third set, getting kills from
Aby Tibesar and Alvarez and an ace from Rueckert to establish an early rhythm. After a back-and-forth stretch, the Regals used a 7-1 run fueled by kills from Ford and Clayton and an ace from Corley to create separation.
Rueckert then delivered a kill and a block to bring Cal Lutheran to set and match point. Hardin-Simmons fought off five match points, but Rueckert finished the sweep with her 12th kill of the afternoon.
GAME TWO: UC Santa Cruz def. CLU (21-25, 25-20, 25-16, 22-25, 15-10)
Cal Lutheran opened its final match of the weekend with a strong first-set performance, but UC Santa Cruz rallied to force a fifth set before pulling away in the decisive frame.
The Regals held a 12-8 advantage in blocks, but the Slugs finished with the edge in kills (63-48), digs (100-84), assists (52-43) and aces (6-2).
Ford, Clayton and
Reese Balagot each recorded eight, eight and seven kills, respectively, while Tibesar led the Regals with a career-best eight blocks. Rueckert and Ford added three blocks apiece.
Kawamura paced the offense with 21 assists and added 13 digs, while Corley posted a team-high 25 digs. Alvarez contributed 10 digs, while Balagot added seven kills on a .227 hitting percentage.
The Regals came out firing in the opening set, building a 6-2 lead behind kills from Alvarez and
Madeline Magnani before extending the advantage to 13-4 with additional kills from Alvarez, Ford and Clayton. The Slugs steadily chipped away, cutting the deficit to 23-20, but a Santa Cruz service error followed by a Rueckert kill gave Cal Lutheran the final two points it needed to take the opener.
Santa Cruz answered in the second, but the Regals fought back behind Ford, who recorded a kill and back-to-back blocks to help Cal Lutheran regain its footing. The Slugs then used a 9-1 run to take control of the set and even the match.
The Slugs carried that momentum into the third, maintaining control throughout the frame. Cal Lutheran struggled to find its offensive rhythm, with several of its points coming off Santa Cruz errors, and the Slugs closed the set on a 5-1 run to take a 2-1 lead.
Cal Lutheran responded in the fourth, opening the set with four straight points behind kills from Ford and
Bayley Padia. Santa Cruz battled back from a six-point deficit to pull within one at 19-18, but the Regals answered with kills from Balagot and
Kennedy Smith to keep the lead and force a deciding fifth set.
Santa Cruz took control immediately in the final frame, opening a 6-3 lead before extending the advantage to 13-6. The Regals fought to stay alive with kills from Balagot and Clayton and a block from Rueckert, but the Slugs answered with the final two points to secure the five-set victory.
UP NEXT
The Cal Lu Fornia Invitational marked the end of preseason competition for the Regals, who now turn their attention to SCIAC play. Cal Lutheran opens conference action Thursday, September 24, hosting Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at 7 p.m.
