THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.— The Cal Lutheran men's volleyball team started the CLU Invitational with a bang as the Kingsmen swept the Fontbonne Griffins on Thursday night.
Scores of the match were 25-14, 25-23, 25-16, as Cal Lutheran swept their second straight opponent and third this season. The Kingsmen improved to 4-2 as the Griffins dropped their season opener.
The CLU Invitational features five teams, including the Kingsmen and Fontboone, as New York U., UC Santa Cruz and Vassar made the trip to Thousand Oaks.
Patrick Rowe led the offense with 14 kills and has tallied double-digit kills in every match this year. His .407 hitting percentage was his second highest this season and he added three digs and two assists.
Andrew Reina was the second Kingsmen to notch double-digit kills and added 13 while Justin Dietrich added nine with a hitting percentage of .692. Dietrich has impressed this year and recorded 49 digs with an attack percentage of .482.
The offense was kept on track by freshmen Jacob Cudiamat and Blake Zingerman. The duo has started every game at the setter position, splitting time today, as Cudiamat tallied 19 assists and four digs while Zingerman had 16 assists, three digs and two block assists.
Defensivly,Connor Hinthorn led the team with 10 digs and Dietrich showed his presence at the net with four blocks. The Kingsmen controlled the net, holding Fontbonne to a .085 attack percentage, and recorded their second highest percentage on the year with .337.
Cal Lutheran jumped out to a big lead in the first set, using a 10-2 run, and took a 14-5 lead. It was a quick first set as CLU won 25-14 and grabbed the momentum.
Fontbonne answered in the second set and had a 20-17 lead. The Kinsgmen responded scoring four of the next five points and tied the set at 21. Rowe and Hinthorn both tallied a block and Nick Christy had a solo block. The score was tied one more time at 23 as CLU had the final say. Kelly Jew and Dietrich swatted down back-to-back kills and Cal Lutheran won the set.
CLU looked to put away Fontbonne in the third set, but the Griffins would not make it easy as the Kingsmen had a lead at 10-9. Another run helped Cal Lutheran create the distance and the score quickly jumped to 15-10. The Purple and Gold never let the Fontbonne back in the set and won it 25-16 and recorded the sweep.
The Kingsmen continue the invitational on Friday as they host Vassar at 7 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 3, FU 0
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director