SANTA CRUZ, Calif.— The No. 8 Cal Lutheran men's volleyball team finished the Slug-Fest Tournament with a sweep as the Kingsmen took down the Marion Sabre 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-12) Sunday afternoon at Kaiser Permanente Arena.
CLU improved to 3-1 on the year. The Kingsmen went 2-1 at UC Santa Cruz's Slug-Fest Tournament. The only loss came against No. 5 SUNY New Paltz. It is CLU's second sweep of the year.
Junior Andrew Reina recorded his first double-digit kill match of the year and swatted down 10. He was efficient and hit with a .400 clip. He added six digs and four total blocks.
Junior Justin Dietrich was next with eight kills and had a hitting percentage of .429. He tied for second on the team with four total bocks and served two aces.
Junior Patrick Rowe tallied seven kills and senior Dasmen Stewart chipped in with five. Rowe added three block assists and Stewart had six digs and two block assists.
Junior Grant Nelson kept the offense going with 17 assists and Alec Bennett was next with nine. Junior Nick Christy led the Kingsmen at the net and tallied five total blocks. Freshman Eli Moore tallied his first double-digit dig match of the year with 10.
The Kingsmen defense was a force around the net as four student-athletes recorded three or more total blocks. Cal Lutheran held Marian to a hitting percentage of .054.
Set one was tied six times before Marian scored five straight for a 15-10 lead. CLU didn't back down and scored six of the next eight points and cut the lead to one. Dietrich served two aces during the run. Rowe and Stewart both added a kill while the duos of Dietrich and Stewart and then Rowe and Christy combined for a block. The score would eventually be tied at 22, and Reina gave CLU the lead after he connected on a kill. Cal Lutheran finished it off and Rowe swatted down a kill and Reina served an ace. CLU won the set 25-22.
The second set started exactly like the first with the score going back-and-forth. With CLU down 13-12, the Kingsmen responded with four straight points. Stewart had a kill and service ace and Nelson and Christy combined for a block. Marian answered and tied up the set at 17. The score was tied at 23 in this set before Cal Lutheran called a timeout. The Kingsmen came out ready to go as Dietrich swatted down a kill and then the defense forced the Sabres into an attacking error. CLU took the set 25-23 and had a 2-0 match-lead.
Cal Lutheran kept the momentum going into the third set and took a quick 13-6 lead. CLU continued to put up the points and doubled up Marian at 18-9. The Kingsmen never looked back as they won the set 25-12 and the match 3-0.
Up next for Cal Lutheran is a rematch with No. 5 SUNY New Paltz. The Kingsmen host the Hawks Friday at 7 p.m. in Gilbert Arena
Box Score: CLU 3, MU 0
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
