PASADENA, Calif. – Cal Lutheran women's volleyball made quick work of Caltech on Saturday afternoon, sweeping the Beavers, 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-19), at the Braun Athletic Center to open SCIAC play with back-to-back victories.
Following Thursday night's historic five-set win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, the Regals carried that momentum to Pasadena and delivered their most efficient offensive performance of the season. Cal Lutheran hit .320 as a team, nearly doubling Caltech's 24 kills with 46 of its own, while six Regals hit .333 or better.
The Regals battled through a back-and-forth opening stretch before beginning to pull away behind kills from
Aby Tibesar,
Cienna Alvarez and
Emily Ford.
Kennedy Smith then slammed three straight kills to extend the Cal Lutheran advantage to 18-14. The Regals closed the set on a 6-2 run, capped by kills from Smith and Tibesar before a Caltech service error gave Cal Lutheran a 25-18 opening-set victory.
Cal Lutheran came out firing again in the second, opening the frame on a 6-1 run fueled by Caltech errors and kills from Smith and Ford.
Tarin Rueckert and
Reese Balagot each added two kills as the Regals stretched their lead to 10-4.
Ford continued to make her presence felt at the net, recording a kill before teaming up with the Cal Lutheran block for consecutive rejections to put the Regals ahead 17-11. Rueckert added two more kills and joined Alvarez for a block as Cal Lutheran closed the set on another strong run to take a 2-0 lead with a 25-15 victory.
The Regals looked poised to finish the match quickly in the third, getting kills from
Olivia Fernandes, Rueckert and Alvarez before an ace from
Keegan Corley helped Cal Lutheran build an early advantage. Caltech answered with an 8-1 run, however, taking its first lead of the afternoon at 13-11.
Cal Lutheran immediately responded, locking in for seven straight points to reclaim control. Rueckert and Ford made plays at the net while Fernandes added a pair of kills to fuel the run. Ford's final kill brought the Regals to match point, and a Caltech attack error sealed the sweep at 25-19.
Ford led the Cal Lutheran attack with nine kills on 19 swings while hitting .368. Rueckert added eight kills on 15 attacks for a .467 hitting percentage, while Smith and Alvarez each recorded eight kills.
Reese Balagot chipped in six kills while hitting .417.
The Regals' setters also kept the offense rolling, with
Makenna Kawamura recording 19 assists and
Kimmy Wilson adding 15. Cal Lutheran's defense was anchored by Alvarez with 13 digs and Corley with 10, while Corley also served up two aces. Wilson added two aces of her own, and Rueckert finished with one.
At the net, Ford led the Regals with three blocks, while Rueckert added two.
With the win, Cal Lutheran improves to 6-5 overall and 2-0 in SCIAC play, while Caltech falls to 4-7 overall and 0-2 in conference action.
The Regals will hit the road again Tuesday, September 29, traveling to Redlands for a 7 p.m. match. The Bulldogs are 1-0 in SCIAC after sweeping Caltech earlier this week to start their conference run.
