THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Cal Lutheran Kingsmen water polo team started Tuesday with a 14-6 win against Caltech and the Regals volleyball team ended the night with a 3-1 win (26-24, 16-25, 25-23, 25-16) against Occidental as both teams competed in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (SCIAC) play.
Kingsmen Water Polo (CLU 14, CIT 6)
The Kingsmen (9-10, 3-4 SCIAC) traveled to Caltech as they took on the Beavers in the afternoon. The Violet and Gold jumped out to a 4-1 lead at the end of the first quarter and had a 10-2 lead at the half. CLU coasted the rest of the game as the Kingsmen defeated Caltech 14-6.
Wyatt Lowe led the Kingsmen on the day as the freshman accounted for a season-high five goals. Justin English, George French and George Lundgren all got in on the scoring fun as the trio each recorded two goals. Seth Hightower, Kevin Oetken and Zach Zamecki made it seven Kingsmen in the scoring column as they each added one.
The defensive stops led to all the goals. English led the team with three steals. Matt Albins, Taggart Diehl, Matt Fong, Oetken, Thomas Randles and Davey Thomas each had two. All four goalkeepers got some time in front of the net for Cal Lutheran. Nick Loomis protected the goal in the first with four goals and Jake Venckus made four saves in the second. Andre Rivas had two saves in the third and Jonathan Salandi made four saves in the fourth.
The Kingsmen scored eight more goals and only took one more shot then the Beavers. CLU had a shooting percentage of .538 and CIT shot .240.
Regals Volleyball (CLU 3, OXY 1)
The Regals traveled to Occidental for their match with the Tigers. In the first set, the game went back and forth before Occidental built a 16-13 lead. The Regals brought the lead back to one, 16-15, but after a timeout the Tigers pushed it back to three at 18-15. Occidental increased its lead and was up 23-18. After a well-executed timeout, the Regals ended on an 8-1 run as they stole the first set 26-24. Amanda Roberts and Molly Holloway both swatted down two kills during the run.
The Tigers bounced back in the second set and won 25-16 to tie the match at 1-1. The third set started just like the first two, with the score going back and forth. Occidental created some space a little bit further in the set and was up 17-12. After three straight points by the Regals, Oxy called a timeout. Cal Lutheran kept the pressure on as kills by Hope Stewart and Paris Dosch and then a block assist by Dosch and Sarah Hein tied up the set at 19. After another timeout by Oxy, CLU ended the set on a 6-4 run, won 25-23 and was up 2-1 in the match.
Set four was tied nine times with the last time being at 14. CLU scored four straight points, which included two kills from Stewart and one from Roberts, as the Regals took an 18-14 lead. Cal Lutheran kept the pressure on and claimed the fourth set 25-16 and the match 3-1.
The Regals have now won three matches in a row. They are 11-10 overall and 7-5 in SCIAC play. With the win, CLU jumped Chapman and moved into the fourth spot in the conference. The top-four teams advance to the postseason tournament.
Stewart led the Regals with 14 kills while Roberts and Holloway added 12 a piece. Holloway hit with a .667 clip. Steph Rolfson and Jamie Smith kept the CLU offense on point and tallied 24 and 18 assists, respectively.
Defensively, Dosch recorded four block assists and Hein added three more. The Regals had four players tally double-digit digs as Emma Cisneros-Luebke and Carly Rose Howard each had 13 while Roberts and Smith had 12.
Both teams return home for their next game. The Kingsmen host Pomona-Pitzer Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Samuelson Aquatics Center while the Regals welcome Whittier into Gilbert Arena Friday at 7.
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Interim Sports Information Director
